For the next three months, Fordham IT will test the effectiveness of sending just one email per month to Fordham faculty and staff. This email will contain information about new services and resources, workshops, trainings, and maintenance. Where appropriate, links are provided to the IT calendar, which can be viewed on the home page of our website, fordham.edu/IT, our Twitter feed (@FordhamIT), and here on our blog. This message is also posted in the portal’s announcement channel, located on the home tab.
We will continue to communicate messages about time-sensitive security issues, outages, and emergencies on an as needed basis. In addition, we will occasionally send out additional emails to announce major changes in services and resources, as well as special events.
Look for the next update on April 5, and then the first Tuesday of each month thereafter.
Summary of Fordham IT March Updates
1. IT Customer Care Goes Online April 4 with a New Service Portal
2. Save the Date! Faculty Technology Day | May 24 | Lincoln Center Campus
3. Microsoft Imagine Academy: Fantastic Learning Resource for Students, Faculty, and Staff
4. Work Begins on New Unified Communications System
5. New Antivirus Software
6. Virtual Desktops: Coming Soon to a Device Near You
7. Need to Create a Survey? Try Qualtrics
8. Schedule Your Department’s Business Continuity Plans and Team Table Exercises
9. Reminder: Do Not Update Your PC to Windows 10
10. Faculty Workshops through April 7
Detailed Update
1. IT Customer Care Goes Online April 4 with a New Service Portal
Need technical assistance or service? Soon you’ll have the option to contact IT Customer Care online! You’ll find the new service portal to be an easy and efficient way to ask for tech help. Look for the new Tech Help tab appearing on April 4, in My.Fordham.edu.
Join us at a Town Hall:
April 7, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.Virtual Town Hall (URL to be provided in the announcements section in the portal at My. Fordham.edu)
April 13, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Rose Hill, Flom Auditorium, Walsh Library
April 19, 2:00 p.m.- 3:00 p.m. Lincoln Center, 12th Fl. Lounge, Lowenstein
Town halls and other events are listed on the Fordham IT calendar, which can also be viewed on our homepage: fordham.edu/IT. More details coming soon.
2. Save the Date! Faculty Technology Day | May 24 | Lincoln Center Campus The theme for this year’s Faculty Technology Day is Teaching Strategies in a Digital Age. Dr. Jose Antonio Bowen, president of Goucher College and a pioneer in active learning and the use of technology in the classroom, will provide our keynote. A full schedule of events will be announced shortly. We hope you can join us for a day of rich discussion, networking, and learning about technology for teaching and research.
3. Microsoft Imagine Academy: Fantastic Learning Resource for Students, Faculty, and Staff Microsoft Imagine Academy provides online courses and certification preparation for products across the Microsoft sphere. All Fordham University staff, faculty, and students have free, unlimited access to this rich resource. Courses are designed for beginners to pros:
- Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, Powerpoint and more!
- Web Development
- Database Development
- Programming
- Visual Studio
Access Microsoft Imagine Academy in your portal’s faculty, employee, or student tab, in a dedicated channel located in the right-hand column. Click on the link and enroll today!
Read more about Microsoft Imagine Academy on our website and the here at the Fordham IT News blog, and look for announcements about trainings and other support events to introduce you to Microsoft Imagine Academy’s rich content. If you have questions or other technology training needs, please contact Calvin Byer, Assistant Director of Technology Training and Development, at training@fordham.edu.
4. Work Begins on New Unified Communications System Work has begun on a state-of-the-art Unified Communications system for Fordham University. This April, we will begin to replace over 5,000 handsets with new Cisco phones, as well as make substantial renovations to data closets, install core equipment, train staff and much more. We expect to complete this project in approximately 18 months. Training will be provided.
In addition to basic telephone functionality, Unified Communication provides robust communication and collaboration capabilities. Features include:
- Searchable directory on the phone
- Improved automatic call distribution and routing
- Enterprise faxing
- Integrated video conferencing
- Call forwarding of your extension to your cellphone or computer
- Make calls on your computer as if it was your university phone
- Enhanced voicemail management
- Bluetooth connection from your mobile to your university phone
More information will be available soon on our website, at Unified Communications.
5. New Antivirus Software Bitdefender Gravity Zone will replace the University’s current antivirus software, Symantic Endpoint. Bitdefender provides better antivirus protection and has lower impact on desktop performance than Endpoint.
Over the next few months, Fordham IT will replace the antivirus software on all University-owned managed desktops; no action is required from those who use these computers. Students, faculty, and staff will also have access to a version of Bitdefender that can be used on all personal devices. A link for downloading the application will be made available soon on the Fordham IT Antivirus Protection page and in the portal.
6. Virtual Desktops: Coming Soon to a Device Near You The Virtual Desktop Initiative (VDI) is a new computing platform for Fordham University faculty and staff who use Windows-based devices. It provides 24-hour access to software applications, as well as personal and shared network storage, where ever you have an Internet connection.
VDI enables users to access their own virtual Windows desktop or virtual application from almost any device, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, and traditional desktops. No matter which of these devices you use, your virtual desktop and files always look the same and are readily available anywhere on or off campus. More information coming soon.
7. Need to Create a Survey? Try Qualtrics. Fordham IT now provides the web-based survey tool, Qualtrics, free of charge to all Fordham faculty, students and staff. Chosen in collaboration with Fordham’s Office of Research, the Qualtrics Research Suite allows users to easily design and implement surveys while also providing robust tools to evaluate the results. More information on using Qualtrics is available here. Login to our Qualtrics environment directly at fordham.qualtrics.com.
8. Schedule Your Department’s Business Continuity Plans and Team Table Exercises It’s that time of year to schedule team tabletop exercises (TTE) and to review, update or create departmental business continuity plans (BCP).
A TTE is intended to give your department or office an opportunity to review its current BCP and determine what changes, updates and/or additions need to be made to the BCP. The emphasis is not on finding fault with a plan but on the exercise and making your BCP better.
To maximize the benefit of the TTE and to most effectively update your BCP, we need a good cross section of staff from your entire department. This approach helps secure a strong response to any future emergencies or disasters.
TTE and BCP reviews will be conducted during the weeks of April 18-22, May 23-27 and June 20-24, 2016. For questions and to schedule a review, please reach out to Calvin Graham, IT Risk Analyst, at 718-817-0703 or via email at cgraham14@fordham.edu.
9. Reminder: Do Not Upgrade Your PC to Windows 10 Fordham IT does not recommend that you upgrade your PC’s operating system to Windows 10. This application may cause problems when you attempt to sign into My.Fordham and other applications requiring your AccessIT ID and password. If you’ve already upgraded or have questions, please contact IT Customer Care.
10. Faculty Workshops through April 7 All workshops and events for faculty are listed on the Faculty Technology Workshops webpage and on the Fordham IT calendar, which can be viewed on the homepage of our website, fordham.edu/IT
Explore 3D Printing!
**This event is for students, but faculty are welcome
March 22, 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Lincoln Center LL416 (Faculty Technology Center)
RSVP at EventBrite
Explore IT Replicating the Future: History and Applications of 3D Printing
Dr. Stephen Holler (Physics Department)
March 30, 12:00 p.m.-1:00p.m.
Lincoln Center LL 309
Live Rose Hill video conference: 1 Fordham Plaza 902P
RSVP at EventBrite
Techshop Creating and Editing Video Files
March 30, 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Rose Hill Keating B-27
RSVP at EventBrite
Techshop SMARTBoards: More than Just Projection
April 5, 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.
Lincoln Center LL 400
RSVP at EventBrite
Augmented Reality for Effective Teaching and Promoting Our Campus
April 7, 12:00 p.m.-1:00p.m.
Lincoln Center LL 309
Live Rose Hill video conference: 1 Fordham Plaza 902P
RSVP at EventBrite
Questions? Contact IT Customer Care: 718-817-3999 | HelpIT@fordham.edu
Keep in touch with Fordham IT
Twitter: @FordhamIT or twitter.com/FordhamIT
Facebook: facebook.com/FordhamFTC
Blog: itnews.blog.fordham.edu/
Website: fordham.edu/IT
IT Event and Maintenance Calendar