Friday, May 31, 2013

Self Service upgraded to use single sign on.

It's now easier to log in to your Banner Self Service account. ITS has performed an upgrade that allows the Manhattan College community to log in with their Jaspernet ID and password. This is the same login that you have been using for many other services such as email, moodle and the portal.

For now the old method of using your Campus Wide ID and PIN can still be used, but will be phased out over time. If you do log in “the old way” there will be no difference in functionality.

During this transition period the same Self Service login page that you have always been using will give you two options to log in. The “the new way with your Jaspernet ID and password” or the “old way” with your campus wide ID and pin.




Thursday, May 30, 2013

Combined Storage Gmail and Drive

Google has announced that they are combining Gmail and Drive Storage.  Initially Gmail had 25GB of storage and Drive had 5GB.  Now you will have a combined 30GB to be shared by both services.  This allows for greater flexibility so that you can put your storage where you need it.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Campus Telephone System Upgrade - Completion Scheduled for June 2013


Work has resumed to complete the campus telephone system upgrade.  While some work was done during Spring Break, plans to complete the upgrade had been deferred to the end of the semester to avoid interruptions.  Technicians will be on-site the week of 5/28 to prepare wiring and system components.  We expect end-user office telephone handset replacements to start the week of 6/3.  Subsequent announcements will be posted as a timeline is developed and each area is designated for telephone handset replacement.

In general, the deployment schedule will designate one building per day for telephone handset replacement.  During that designated time, users should expect interruptions in telephone service in the affected building.  Please review the post-upgrade steps posted at the telephone upgrade website http://www.manhattan.edu/phone  which includes checking your “old” voicemail and configuring your new voicemail box.

Please be on the lookout for new messages in the coming days that will detail the final upgrade plans.  The same information will be posted at the telephone system upgrade website -  http://www.manhattan.edu/phone

Questions or concerns should be sent via email to telephone@manhattan.edu

Date and Time Questions now in Google Forms!

You can now ask date and time questions in Google Forms.  See the Google + post for more details!
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+GoogleDrive/posts/dfpVxqn1ouW

Friday, May 17, 2013

Banner Database Hardware refresh July 13 – 14


Banner Database Hardware refresh July 13 – 14.
After ten months of planning and testing ITS is ready to perform our long awaited Banner system hardware refresh. Like many things we do behind the scenes in RLC the end user impact should be as small as possible, and aside from some downtime to move the database to its new home our goal is that the negative impact on the Manhattan College Community is minimal if not non-existent.

Why is ITS doing this?
Simply put, it is time to replace some old hardware that is fast approaching end of life. We tend to replace servers on a three to five year cycle. After three to five years the reliability of server hardware begins to significantly diminish while the cost to own and operate can rise with respect to service costs, power consumption, and the lost hours of productivity we need to maintain aging hardware.

Why is this good for the college?
Aside from our critical Banner system being on newer more reliable hardware several opportunities were available to us during this refresh that were not in our previous generation. We have moved most of our Banner systems and other servers to a virtualized platform. This has led to cost savings hardware, power and cooling in the server room as well as being more centrally monitored and managed. We are also transitioning our databases to Red Hat Linux which helps us consolidate our expertise for more efficient troubleshooting.

What do I need to do?
If you or your office use the Banner System we will be contacting you. ITS will be compiling testing procedures for all departments to ensure that after the upgrade is completed everything you do will “Just Work.”  We will need help compiling these lists and running through testing but we will not inconvenience you more than we absolutely have to.

If there are any issues at any time that ITS may not know about or that you feel are not being properly addressed please do not hesitate to contact us by emailing bannerhelpdesk@manhattan.edu.  This will create a helpdesk ticket as well as forward directly to several ITS administrators.  

For those very few things that don’t just work, we will be providing heavily augmented support for the two weeks after the upgrade. Some of you may be familiar with our “Banner Hotline” that we have used in the past after upgrades to route users directly to Level 3 support for Banner issues. We will again use this system so that if something is not working properly you have direct access to the ITS personnel who will be troubleshooting your issue.

Thank you in advance for all of the time and hard work that will go into this major initiative and as always we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.


Updated information will be available at the following page dedicated to this upgrade:
http://itsblog.manhattan.edu/p/enterprise-architecture-upgrade-summer.html

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Sending Attachments Via Google Drive

You can now attach files to your emails via Google Drive.  The beauty of Google Drive is that it allows for easy collaboration.  There is no longer a need to worry about edits getting lost due to multiple editors working on a passed around file.  With Google Drive multiple editors can work on the same exact document at the same exact time and all edits are tracked.  You can even see your colleague typing as you do!

Another benefit of Google Drive attachments is that your attachment size limit goes from 25MB (traditional attachment) to 10GB (Google Drive attachment).

Google Drive also gives access control.  Only users that you grant access to can see the file.  So your email can be forwarded, but unless you grant access or your collaborator does, the file can not be accessed.

As part of the Google Drive attachment function, before sending the email, the attachments will be scanned to see if the people to which you are sending the file have access or not.  You will then get a warning if they do not have access and you will be asked if you wish to grant access or not.  For more information on how to send an attachment via Google Drive please click here.

http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2480713

Monday, May 13, 2013

Leo and Mahan Networks ONLINE

Physical Plant was able to quickly restore power to the ITS network equipment in Leo.  All networking and internet access to Leo and Mahan should be back to normal.  If you are experiencing any further issues please contact Client Services at x7875.

Leo and Mahan Networks OFFLINE due to power issue

ITS is currently troubleshooting a network issue affecting the LEO and Mahan buildings.  Network equipment is offline in these buildings due to a power issue.  ITS is working with the physical plant department to restore power to network equipment in the affected locations.

Updates will be posted as more information is available.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Spring 2013 Technology Showcase Survey

Whether or not you attended the Technology Showcase this year, we would really appreciate your feedback.  We will be planning future Showcases and want to make them as valuable an experience as possible to you.  Please take a few minutes to take this brief survey.  Click here for the survey.

Network Outage Resolved

The issue that our Internet Service Provider had earlier this afternoon has been resolved.  If you are still having network related issues, please email its@manhattan.edu or call x7973 so that we can assist you.

Network Outage

Due to an issue that our Internet Service Provider is having we are currently experiencing a network outage.  This outage affects our connection to the internet.  Internal services such as Banner, Moodle, and MyMC should not be affected.  We are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Gmail New Compose

As you may be aware, Google is pushing out a new Compose experience in Gmail.  To assist with the transition, they have provided the following resources:

Gmail’s new compose experience        




Gmail is rolling out out a new compose experience where you can write messages in a cleaner, simpler format that puts the focus on your message itself, not all the features around it.


Here’s how to try the new compose experience, as well as a quick look at key changes.



What’s different at a glance...



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  • A streamlined compose pane
  • Check your mail while typing




  • Drag and drop addresses
  • Compose two messages at once




How to try the new experience...


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After clicking the Compose button, click the “new compose experience” link at the top of the message.


If you change your mind, you can temporarily switch back to Gmail’s previous experience. Open the Compose window, click the More options icon, and select “Temporarily switch back to old compose.”  





A closer look at some changes...



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Entering addresses


Enter addresses as usual in the To field (labeled Recipients when you’re not adding addresses).


While adding addresses, click the Cc or Bcc link to display fields for entering those recipients, too.

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You can even drag recipients between fields.




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Finding the right contacts


If the contact you want doesn’t show up in the autocomplete list, you can click To, Cc, or Bcc to open a dialog for selecting contacts. Choose My contacts or All contacts from the drop menu or enter a query in the Search bar to narrow your results.


Check the box of each contact you want to add to your message (addresses you select appear at the bottom of the dialog). When you're done, click Select to add the addresses to your message.











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Modify addresses


  • Double-click an address to edit it.
  • Click its x to remove it.
  • Hover over an address to see details about the recipient.
  • Double-click an address and press Ctrl + c to copy it.
  • Press Ctrl + a to select all addresses in the To field.





Your window grows as you type!


To accommodate longer messages, your writing pane grows as your message gets longer.
To make the window even bigger, click the  icon to open it in a separate window. Use the other two icons to minimize or close the window, which also saves your draft.
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Formatting text


Click the  icon to see text formatting options, such as font size, bold, underline, and bullets.


Look for quote text and indentation options under the alignment icon
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Remove Formatting


Click the  icon to remove formatting from the text in your message. To view all emails in plain text, go to More Options and select Plain text.
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Attachments, photos, and links


Add attachments by dragging from your desktop or Drive to the body of the message.
Or click the  icon to browse for a file to attach.


Hover over the + icon to see more options for inserting files from Drive, photos and links.
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Tooltips and keyboard shortcuts


If you're not sure what an icon does, point at it to see a pop-up description.


For many actions, the description also includes a keyboard shortcut for performing the action without having to display the icon.

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Spell check, printing, and labels


Click the More options menu to see other tools, such as check spelling, plain text mode, print, and adding labels or canned responses.






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Reply, Reply all, & Forward


When replying to a message, open the Reply menu next to the recipient's name to display options to reply, reply all, or forward the message.






Edit your recipient list


Click in the recipient field...

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to open an edit field for adding or removing addresses.
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Change a message subject


When replying to a message, open the Reply menu next to the recipient’s name and choose Edit subject. This copies the message to a new thread where you can enter a new subject.





Compose multiple messages at once!


While composing one message, click Compose again to open another window. Minimize drafts you’re not working on now to keep them handy for when you want to finish them later.


Here is a video overview if you prefer:


For a more in depth look, click here