Helpful Reminders for AQ Faculty, Staff and Students

ITS Help Desk is here to help you with your technology questions and concerns. Please stop by AB 350 or  contact us at (616) 632-2050 or techhelp@aquinas.edu.

Please check out Student Essentials for more information relating to:

• Usernames
• Password Guidelines
• AUP (Acceptable Use Policy)
• Forwarding Aquinas email to another email address
• Check out the Google Help Center to learn how to automatically forward all your mail from your Aquinas email account to another email address.
• And more…

The Faculty and Staff Essentials page is available especially to assist faculty and staff in locating information about services and technology provided by ITS.  Be sure to check it out!

• Data Storage
• Computer accounts
• T.A.P. (Technology, Access and Presentation)
• And more…

Password Acquisition Procedure

Students, as well as faculty and staff, who have forgotten their password or have never retrieved their password, can retrieve their password through a web interface. All incoming freshman and transfer students who attend either a STAR day or Transfer Registration day will receive their One-Time Access Key during their event on campus.  These students will be able to use this access key to set up their account and access Aquinas network resources prior to school starting. All other new students will receive a letter from ITS in August 2011 with their One-Time Access Key which they will use in conjunction with their Aquinas ID number to choose their ELM password.  Before they choose their password they will be prompted for personal identifying information which they will be able to use later as a reminder in the event they forget their password.  The Password Retrieval process will end with the option to go to Account Maintenance to map firstname.lastname email address. (i.e. thomas.aquinas@aquinas.edu)  This will not replace an assigned email address (i.e.xxx001@aquinas.edu) but will be an additional email alias to which messages can be addressed.

Students, faculty and staff who may have misplaced their instruction letter or arrive on campus without retrieving their password, can visit Campus Safety, ITS, or the Library to receive a new One-Time Access Key (a valid photo ID is required). Please Note: Since this is a new One-Time Access Key, it will supersede the previous notice. Please be aware that if you have not completed the “Retrieve Initial Password” process you will not be able to reset your password online without receiving a new One-Time Access Key. Students, faculty and staff have the ability to reset their passwords by visiting http://www.aquinas.edu/computer/password and providing the same personal identifying information that they provided when creating their password. 

Email Mapping*

You have the ability to map a firstname.lastname@aquinas.edu email address (ex - John.Smith@aquinas.edu, J.Smith@aquinas.edu, etc.) to your official college-issued email address/login name. This email address is optional and will NOT replace your primary email address (username@aquinas.edu).  Mail sent to the mapped address will be delivered to the original email account.  It will not create a new account.

To change your email mapping settings:

• Go to http://www.aquinas.edu/elm from any web browser.
• If you are not already signed on, enter your ELM username and password and then click "Go."
• Click on "Account Maintenance" and then "Modify Address Mapping."
• In the textbox, you can choose to enter your given first name or a recognized variant acceptable to the College.
• Click to place a checkmark next to "Activate" and click "Submit."
• Next, open up your Aquinas email (http://email.aquinas.edu) and click on the gear icon in the upper right corner. Select "Mail settings" from the dropdown.
• Click on the "Accounts" tab then click "Add another email address you own."
• In the "Email address" text box, enter your new email address and click "Next Step."
• Click "Send Verification" (this will test to see if the address can receive email).
• Go to your Inbox and check for new mail.  You will receive an Aquinas College Confirmation email.  From this email, you can either click on the confirmation link or copy the confirmation code and paste it into the text box in the "Add another email address you own" window and click "verify." 
• To view additional settings, click on the "Accounts" tab.

*Please note that your primary email address (initial address provided by the College) will need to be used when invites from Calendar and Documents powered by Google are sent.

Microsoft Office 2010 Updates

Exchanging files between different versions - Compatibility Pack

Office 2010 documents (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx) are not compatible with older versions of Office (Office 2003 and earlier). A free compatibility pack download is available that will allow these earlier versions to open Office 2010 documents.  Keep in mind that the formatting and layout options using the new features in Office 2010 will no longer be available when opened in earlier versions of Office.  Files generated by Office 2007 applications should be fully compatible with Office 2010.

Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack download  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyId=941B3470-3AE9-4AEE-8F43-C6BB74CD1466&displaylang=en

Guarding against loss of edited email attachments

When you want to edit or save an attachment received from your Aquinas email, for example, a Word or Excel file, be sure to:

• Click the File tab and then Save As. 
• Navigate to the directory/folder you want to save the file in, name the file, and click Save. 

This will save the file in the proper location with a recognizable name.

If you open an attachment, edit it, and then click the Save icon, your document will be saved to a temporary folder on your hard drive.  When you close the Internet browser, the file in the temporary folder will be deleted.  Most often, this file is not recoverable.  If you have the Internet browser still open you can either open the file from the temporary folder and save it to the appropriate directory, or it can be copied to the correct directory.

MyAQ Class Roster Export

The MyAQ class roster export allows a class roster to be accessed in MyAQ and then exported to Excel. It does the formatting automatically for you!  To use this tool, click Start, Programs, Colleague, MyAQ and then MyAQ – Roster Export to Excel.  Instructions are provided when Excel opens. This export utility is only available on campus when using MyAQ in the Internet Explorer web browser.

The MyAQ budget export allows a budget report to be accessed in MyAQ and then exported to Excel.  It does the formatting automatically for you!  To use this tool, click Start, Programs, Colleague, MyAQ and then MyAQ - Budget Export to Excel.  Instructions are provided when Excel opens. This export utility is only available on campus when using MyAQ in the Internet Explorer web browser.

Please be aware that any information not stored on a network drive (F:\, G:\, H:\) is vulnerable and could be accessed or removed by anyone with access to the computer.  This includes CD-Rs, CD-RWs, USB drives, and files stored on the C:\ drive.

In order to protect your files, please be sure to lock your workstation any time you leave your desk unattended.  To lock your workstation, press Ctrl + Alt + Delete and click on Lock Workstation.  This will prevent others from accessing your email account, personal network drive, department drive and any other sensitive/confidential information that may be open or stored on your computer.  Locking your workstation will allow you to remain logged in and to have programs and files open without the security risk associated with leaving your computer unattended.  In order to access your account again, you will need to enter your password and press Enter (or click OK) on the “Workstation Locked” screen. Please remember that locking your computer does not prevent people from using the power button to turn off the computer, which may result in data loss for any unsaved files.  If you are done using your computer for the day, please be sure to log out of the computer or shut the computer down. As an added security feature, computer screensavers are also password-protected to prevent unauthorized access to a computer that has been left logged-in and unattended.

Please remember that all important files should be backed up to a secure location to guard against file corruption or data loss.  Please keep the following in mind:

• Your F:/ drive is your personal network drive on campus.  It is secure, backed up at a server level, and lost/damaged files can be more easily recovered than from USB drives or other storage methods.
• Keep a backup copy by emailing the file to yourself or storing it in another secure location (i.e. Google Docs).  Update this backup as you work on the file. 
• USB drives and email are a good way to transport files, but before you begin working on them, please copy them to your F:/ drive (your personal network drive on campus) and work with the file from that location.  This will reduce the likelihood of file loss/damage due to USB connectivity problems.  When you have finished working on them, please copy them back to your USB drive or email the new copy to yourself.

Data Confidentiality and Other College Policies

Please visit http://www.aquinas.edu/policies to review the Confidential Data Policy, Acceptable Use Policy, Student Email Policy and other important College policies.

Per College policy, department heads and budget managers must coordinate all hardware and software purchases for on-campus use with ITS administrators. This can be accomplished using the following procedures:

Hardware Requests:

Please be aware that the February 15 deadline for requesting new hardware through the annual refresh leasing plan has passed. All new hardware requests that come in during the 2011-2012 academic year will be added and reviewed next year as a part of the Summer 2012 Refresh Plan. The hardware request form can be accessed on-campus via the Intranet at: http://campus.aquinas.edu/its/forms/hardware_request.html.

Software Requests:

• Staff/Faculty wishing to purchase software for on-campus use must fill out a request form. This form can be accessed on-campus via the Intranet at: http://campus.aquinas.edu/its/forms/software_request.html
• This form must be completed and authorized by the department head or Vice President and submitted to the Director of Information Technology & Services for approval.
• ITS administrators will analyze the feasibility of the request as it relates to the current software standards and infrastructure of the College network. A response will be issued to the requesting department, stating whether or not the request can be met and providing any alternate solutions.
• If technically feasible, the request must undergo analysis for financial feasibility (unless funds are already available). This process will involve ITS, the department initiating the request, and possibly the Office of the Vice President for Finance. This process will identify funding sources for the request, either internal or external.
• Finally, a purchase order will be initiated by ITS to the selected vendor, following established College purchasing procedures. Once the software is received from the vendor, ITS administrators will coordinate its implementation with the requester.

Deadlines for requesting discipline-specific/department-specific software coincide with the Aquinas College Bookstore textbook ordering deadlines.

• Summer sessions – around March 15
• Fall sessions – around April 15
• Spring sessions – around October 15

Additional information is available at:
College Software Management Policy – http://its.aquinas.edu/software-management, also available at http://www.aquinas.edu/policies.

Business Office Manual – H:\employee\Business Office\Policy Manual and Forms\Business Office Manual.doc