Author Archives: Lisa Terrier

Customer Purchases of Technology

Great news!  College faculty and staff can purchase many computer peripherals directly through Oracle Finance purchasing system.  Purchasing with this new system gives you the ability to price, budget, order, and directly receive items.  In addition, you will be able to track shipping and confirm charges are correct. We are here to guide, and recommend items you might be looking for; feel free to give us a call or email the ITS Helpdesk.  The Middlebury College Bookstore also has many accessory items in stock and can direct you to what will work for your setup.  

PURCHASE THROUGH ITS

Although you can purchase your own office peripherals, cables, and such, please remember you must work with ITS on purchases of computers, tablets, specialty monitors, and printers, as well as projectors, network switches, software, and TVs.  This will ensure you receive educational discounts, proper licensing, and appropriate warranties on college-supported equipment.  College funded computer purchases must be coordinated with Information Technology Services (ITS) prior to ordering, so ITS may review the specifications to ensure the equipment is compatible with the Middlebury College environment plus confirm in-house support is available.  For example, there are items ITS does not support, like departmentally purchased printers, or non-standard model computers.

PURCHASE ON YOUR OWN

We have put together a list of common accessories our campus customers have requested and we have tested.  Because items come and go in availability, and pricing changes, this list may go out of date.  Like I said, feel free to check in with the Middlebury College Bookstore or with us at the ITS Helpdesk, we are here to help.

QuickTime for Windows Removal

ITS is relaying to our campus customers an Alert from the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team about Quicktime on Windows.

Apple has “deprecated” the Quicktime program and is calling for computer users to uninstall the program.  Since this is a security risk, ITS has removed Quicktime on campus computers and replaced it with the VLC program which has been identified as a proper replacement.  Many computers on campus already have VLC installed.  Adobe is working on some patching of their products which may still depend on Quicktime.  Please let us know if you run into any troubles with programs you use here on campus, by contacting the helpdesk (helpdesk@middlebury.edu) or creating a helpdesk ticket.

Thank you for your part in keeping our campus safe and secure.

Banner Outage

Update:
Both BannerWeb and Banner INB are back up and running.
Thanks again for your patience.
——

We are currently experiencing a unplanned outage affecting both BannerWeb and Banner INB.

We are in contact with the Ellucian Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and they have mobilized their response staff to address this issue.

We regret any inconvenience this service interruption is having on your day, and will have this issue resolved as soon as possible.

Please check the System status page for updates.

Welcome to “Self-Service” Software Installation

ITS has been working on options for our customers to install licensed software on their college-owned computers using convenient, “self-service” methods that provide control over when the installations take place. (We are not licensed to provide software on personally owned computers, only college owned.)  To learn how this works on college Windows computers, please visit  KACE Self-Service information.  If you have a college Mac, visit Mac Self Service information for details.

Initially, we have made a few of our most commonly-requested Adobe products available through self-service for both Mac and Windows platforms, as well as the new Microsoft Office 2016.   We will be working to add software titles in the next few months.  Please note that not all software is purchased with licensing to be available for every computer on campus.

Self-service installations work best when you are here on campus using a wired (Ethernet) connection to our network.  Use of VPN or wireless connections may work but they will be much slower and are more likely to experience issues.

We are excited to offer this new service and want to hear about how it worked for you.  Feel free to share your feedback, questions, or concerns with our Technology Helpdesk.

KeyServer update – This Friday

This Friday November 6, 2015 from 6:30-8:30am – ITS will be updating a software license server (KeyServer).  The only software that will be offline during this time is the Final Draft software.  We hope this will not cause any inconvenience and that those using the software can build this downtime into their plans.  Please feel free to contact me directly if you have concerns.

Promotions

I am so pleased to announce that Zach Schuetz and Brett Wells have been promoted from Computing Specialist 2 to Senior Technology Specialist.  Both Zach and Brett have earned their promotions by demonstrating leadership and initiative, each taking on projects and challenges and finding solutions to ongoing issues that have resulted in improved processes for ITS.  Brett and Zach are outstanding examples of one of ITS’ organizational values:

“3.Teamwork – no room for I don’t need to worry about that, that’s not my job.  Trust and value the team to be accountable for team’s results, not just your own.  Help find solutions to known issues, take the initiative, collaborate with colleagues, reach out to managers if need be but not by throwing colleagues under the bus.  Offer and take advantage of peer review, be open to other’s ideas, share your knowledge – teach.  Value different skills sets. Don’t be afraid to commit to a goal that makes you dependent on your colleagues.”

http://www.middlebury.edu/offices/technology/its

Please join me in congratulating Zach and Brett on their well-deserved promotions.
Lisa Terrier

Heartbleed and the changing of the passwords

As noted in messages from LIS, we are requiring all individuals to change their Middlebury password as a precaution in response to “heartbleed” security threat.  If you have not yet changed your password since these email messages were sent, that is since Thursday, April 10th after 4 pm EDT, you were required to do so before this Thursday, April 24th at 4 pm EDT.

If you haven’t yet changed your password go to http://go.middlebury.edu/activate/ . (Please note that if you use a smart phone or tablet, you should turn off the device while you change your password.) If you need help changing your password, you can contact the Help Desk at 802 443 2200 or via the Help Desk ticketing system at http://go.middlebury.edu/whd.

Stay Safe.

Microsoft to end technical support for Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003

Microsoft will end support for the Windows XP operating system and Microsoft Office 2003 software on April 8.  Microsoft will no longer release security updates or provide technical support for either product after this date.

Both Windows XP and Office 2003 will continue to function, but computers running either product will become increasingly vulnerable to malware and other forms of cyber-attack.

Due to the risk these vulnerabilities create, the Information Security group considers it necessary that Middlebury College students, faculty and staff have an upgrade to better protect personal and College data.

If you are not sure whether you are using Windows XP, Microsoft has created an easy-to-use website you can use to help at http://amirunningxp.com.

If you have a College-owned device that is running Windows XP, please contact the helpdesk at helpdesk@middlebury.edu, or create a ticket at  https://webhelpdesk.middlebury.edu/ to discuss the best course of action. The Technology Helpdesk has already begun the process of migrating all College-owned computers to Windows 7.

Students, faculty, and staff with personal computers running Windows XP will need to upgrade their computer operating system to be able to connect to the Middlebury network or VPN at some point in the future, so please take action as soon as possible.

For questions or assistance, contact the Helpdesk at X2200 or visit https://webhelpdesk.middlebury.edu/ to create an online ticket.