The following programs have been upgraded and are now available on Aquinas computers:

- Adobe Creative Suite CS4

- ArcView GIS 9.3.1

- Ashampoo Burning Studio 6

- Chem Office Pro 2008

- Maple 12

- ProSeries 2008

- Quickbooks Accounting Pro 2009

- Scientific Workplace 5.5

ITS is pleased to announce that "ITS Online" has moved to Google Sites. The Aquinas community can now access ITS Online from any location, on or off-campus, by visiting http://its.aquinas.edu.   You will be asked to log in with your Aquinas username and ELM password.  ITS Online has the following resources available…

The Online Knowledge Base

The Online Knowledge Base has been updated!  It is a great resource to answer common questions and problems relating to the Aquinas network environment (i.e. Office 2007.)  We have comprehensive information on several applications commonly used at Aquinas, including:  Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Windows XP, Google Documents, and T.A.P.

New Help Desk Software - ZenDesk

The ITS Help Desk is implementing a new Help Desk application called ZenDesk.  ZenDesk allows ITS to keep a record of requests, allocate support to the appropriate staff member, monitor the progress of each request and provide a reference point for new Knowledge Base articles.  By visiting http://its.aquinas.edu, you will be able to follow the status of your request, submit a new request and communicate directly with ITS. When you request help from the ITS Help Desk, you will become known as a requester and will receive an email from the ITS Help Desk with your request details and request status - pending any action that is required of you.  The first time you access ZenDesk, you will be asked to create an account.  Please log in with your Aquinas username and ELM password.

Check out the ITS Dept. webpage (http://www.aquinas.edu/computer) for important information regarding technology at Aquinas!

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

Please check out Student Essentials for more information relating to:

• Computer Lab hours, locations and printing
• AQnet
• AUP (Acceptable Use Policy)
• Student Computer Account Deletion
• Student Email Account Policy Information
• Forwarding Aquinas email to another email address
• Click here to find out how to automatically forward all your mail from your Aquinas email account to another email address.
• And others…

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
• Discipline specific software
• And others…

For new employees, please check out the New Employee Essentials page to learn how to set up a New Employee Orientation Session.

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 email techhelp@aquinas.edu.

Students, as well as faculty and staff, who have forgotten their password or have never retrieved their password have the option of retrieving their password through a web interface.  New students* will receive a letter from ITS in August 2009 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 their firstname.lastname email address. 

Students, faculty and staff who may have misplaced their instruction letter or arrive on campus without retrieving their password, Campus Safety, ITS, or the Library can print a new One-Time Access Key when they provide a picture ID. Please Note: Since this is a new One-Time Access Key, it will supersede the previous notice. Please be aware that if they have not completed the “Retrieve Initial Passwords” process they will not be able to reset their 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. 

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 Office Button 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.

Exchanging Files between different versions - Compatibility Pack

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

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

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:

1. Login to www.aquinas.edu/elm.
2. Click on "Account Maintenance" and then "Modify Address Mapping".
3. In the textbox, you can choose to enter your given first name or a recognized variant acceptable to the College.
4. Click to place a checkmark next to the "Activate" option. 
5. Click "Submit".
6. Next, log in to your Aquinas email (http://www.aquinas.edu/elm) and click "Settings" in the upper right hand corner.
7. Click on the "Accounts" tab then click "Add another email address you own".
8. In the "Email Address" text box, enter your new email address and click "Next Step".
9. Click "Send Verification". (This will test to see if the address can receive email.)
10. 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.
11. When the steps have been completed, you will receive a Confirmation Success! message.

*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.

Elimination of VCR Players 

The ITS dept. encourages the use of the DVD format for videos. Information from our vendors indicates that VCR/DVD combos will not be manufactured or will be available in limited quantity.  Be advised that the Media dept. has a way to convert teaching media that is on VHS to DVD. 

 

T.A.P. Training

Please call ITS (x2050) or Media (x2131) to schedule training.  This training is strongly suggested before using the technology.  Documentation is posted on the T.A.P. carts for easy reference.

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 floppy disks, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, DVD Rs, DVD 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.  Nevertheless, if you are done using your computer for the day, please sure to log out of the computer or shut the computer down.

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 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 Documents) Update this 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).  When you have finished working on them, please copy them back to your USB drive or email the new copy to yourself.