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| Quick Notes
ITS Staff Milestones
Jeff Pitt, Director of Information Technology - 20 years Les Padzik, Information Technology Consultant - 25 years Chris Dranchek, Support Analyst - 35 years Neal Coffey, Production Manager - 30 years ITS Staff News
 | | Don Mackay |
Don Mackay has joined ITS as a Support Analyst in the ITS Service Center. He started in 1977 in the Department of Visual Communication, training and supervising 34 work-study students, plus 2 full-time graduate students, for tasks associated with production for Advertising Design, Communication Design, and Illustration courses in the pre-digital age. Several years ago his department moved to the Warehouse, where Don took a summer position with the VPA IT Group. After a couple of years, he was asked to work full time at the Warehouse, supporting all VPA IT requests, and managing the plot lab, and lab facilities. Don's two daughters graduated from VPA, one in Art Education, the other in Art Photo. Don hopes to someday move back to Santa Cruz, CA and pursue his interests. You can contact him at dsmackay@syr.edu and x4076. |
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Opening with a Roar!
Experience and innovations help deal with the year of the Lion
 | | (from left) Ron Kurdziel, Jim Pampinella and Tina O'Mara taking care of business on the Quad |
A team of almost 60 ITS employees, student staff and TEK Sytems temps fanned out across campus to welcome and support incoming students and their families during Opening week in August. From the residence halls, to South Campus apartments, to the "Taking Care of Business" tent on the Quad, team members were on hand to help students connect their computers and other devices to the University networks, and to assist with other technology issues.
 | | Judy Chen, Student Tech, at work in Lawrinson |
"Everyone did a great job! We closed a grand total of 800 hang tags requesting assistance in the residence halls, a 30% increase from last year" said Dawn Havill, ITS's Opening Project manager. While it was clearly the year of the Lion, since Lion was identified as the OS on 33% of the tags, Dawn believes the "high quality of service (and word of mouth) also led to the higher demand for assistance."
Students and parents were clearly impressed by the services they received, as shown in these comments provided on the follow-up survey:
- "I didn't have to wait to get help. ITS knew exactly what the problem was and how to fix it."
- "Having ITS staff available in the residence halls the first few days was wonderful."
- "Sooo helpful and sooo friendly."
- "Keep up the great quality of your service, folks!"
- "The person that helped me out was great!"
 | | (from left) Mike Wunderlich, Hugh McCabe and Trudi Porter please a parent at Brewster Boland |
Preliminary survey responses indicate that, as in the past, over 90% of students requesting assistance from ITS in the residence halls during Opening were very (70%) or somewhat satisfied (21%).
Jenny Gluck, Associate Chief Information Officer for Academic Services, attributes this success to the solid foundation of experience ITS has built. "ITS's Opening team, lead by Dawn Havill, used the documentation and improvements put in place last year as the basis for this year's success," she said. "A major innovation this year was to offer students the first choice of having their problems addressed in the residence hall lobby as well as in their room. ITS's large banners and posters on every floor increased visibility, too."
 | | Tom Downes and another happy customer |
During the five days of Opening (August 24-28), 7,820 residential students successfully connected 10,763 devices to the campus networks, an average of 1.4 devices per student, up 27% from last year. The ITS Service Center took 593 support calls, and 665 residential students received assistance in the residence halls. There were 2,305 requests for IT assistance, up almost 13% from 2010. This increase was due in large part to Lion OS client issues connecting to AirOrangeX.
"Thank you all for a very successful opening!" said Dawn to all the volunteers who helped ITS's Opening project. "This effort helped our newest students start the year off in a great way, and you made it happen."
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IT Professional Development
Staff on the cutting edge
Don Little attended the 2011 Campus Technology conference in Boston July 25 to 28, 2011. There were some very good sessions on classroom design. Three major themes emerged from the general conference: electronic text; data mining the learning management systems; and video production as part of normal class assignments and submissions. Sub-themes included virtualization, tablet computing, and cloud computing. Roland Shelton presented "Imaging Workflow for Graduate Admissions" at the 2011 AACRAO Technology Conference in Reno, NV, July 10 to 12, 2011. He also moderated the Imaging Roundtable, an informal Q&A on imaging and an opportunity for users to share experiences, issues and tips. The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) is a nonprofit, voluntary, professional association of more than 11,000 higher education admissions and registration professionals who represent more than 2,600 institutions and agencies in the United States and in over 40 countries around the world. The mission of AACRAO is to serve and advance higher education by providing leadership in academic and enrollment services. Josh Slade and Peter Pizzimenti attended VMworld 2011 in Las Vegas, NV August 29 to September 1, 2011. The conference offered in-depth training and hands-on experience in virtualization and cloud computing with more than 300 sessions and labs on everything from virtualizing enterprise applications and managing desktops as a service to security and compliance.
Training & Education
Bob Davis travelled to SANS Boston August 6 - 15, 2011, taking "SANS Security Leadership Essentials for Managers". This course focuses on teaching Information Security professionals how to manage an Information Security program. The SANS Institute was established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization and is the most trusted and by far the largest source for information security training and security certification in the world.
Publications
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Tech Updates
Keeping current with software, systems, issues and devices
 RIP Service Desk
The Service Desk (SD) system will be decommissioned on November 1, 2011. Orange Tracker replaced SD as SU's issue tracking system in February, 2010. Due to some system interdependencies SD has remained operational since then, although it is no longer used for new issues. ITS plans to retire Service Desk completely, although data from SD will still be available through the data warehouse.
If you access historical SD data, reference SD in a web page or form, or have a process that is dependent on the application, please update the content or process. For any concerns regarding the decommission of Service Desk, please contact Dawn Havill at dmhavill@syr.edu or x2551.
Checking on ITS system status
The System Status page on the ITS website can help you keep abreast of announcements and planned and unscheduled outages affecting ITS systems and applications. This includes:
- Unscheduled System Alerts: Notifications posted by the ITS Service Center in response to unplanned downtimes, interruptions or service degradations.
- Scheduled System Downtimes: Notifications of planned downtimes, interruptions or service degradations posted in advance after approval and review by the ITS Change Management Team.
The page also has links for you to subscribe to RSS feeds of Alerts and Scheduled downtimes, and to the notify_its listserv so you receive notifications of alerts and scheduled downtimes by email. Also posted here are the regular maintenance and backup outage periods, standard system maintenance times, and production freeze periods.
SU Twitter ranked #2
A big shout out to the SU Social Media Team! Klout, a social media ranking firm that measures influence of Twitter accounts on a scale of 1 to 100, now ranks Syracuse University second-most influential college on Twitter, trailing only Stanford University. See Klout's full rankings here, and read all about it at Syracuse.com here.
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ITS Support in Goldstein Student Center moves to Appointment Only
Need tech help on South Campus? Make a date!
Information Technology and Services (ITS) at SU operates a satellite Service Center in the ITS Computer Lab in 107 Goldstein Student Center. As technology matures and students are more capable with their digital devices there has been a steady decline in traffic at the Goldstein Service Center, to the point where it is no longer cost effective to maintain a full-time, year-round presence. With this in mind, the ITS Service Center located at Goldstein closed to walk-in traffic on Saturday, September 17, 2011. The Computer Lab will remain open.
Since Sunday, September 18, 2011, students have been able to request an appointment with an ITS Support Consultant at the ITS Service Center counter at Goldstein. Appointments are available at the following days and times:
- Tuesday and Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
To request an appointment visit http://its.syr.edu/goldstein.
Appointments must be requested at least 48 hours in advance to ensure a consultant is available. An email will be sent to the requester's SU email address to confirm appointment details. Students must bring their SUID card to the appointment. Those unable to make their appointments are asked to please reply to the e-mail confirmation at least 1 hour before it is scheduled to start.
Other ways to get technical assistance from ITS
As always, there are a variety of other ways to get technical support from the ITS Service Center:
Questions?
Contact the ITS Service Center at help@syr.edu or (315) 443-2677.
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IT Out and About
Connecting with the campus and beyond
Chris Croad is excited to be teaching for the iSchool, this time taking the helm for "IST-323: Introduction to Computer Security" this fall semester.
For the third year, Mike Wunderlich co-taught Small Business Development in SU's Summer College, including the facilitation of field trips, including to the GDC and Student Sandbox. This course gave high school students firsthand experiences developing strategies for the modern business world, helping them learn key principles of management, marketing and entrepreneurship with faculty from the Whitman School of Management and the iSchool. Separately, Mike presented the ITS portion of orientation for SU's Early College High School Program. Mike was also active with CNYOrange, the SU Alumni Club of Central New York, where as an Alumni Board member he again represented ITS at their New Student Sendoff event again this year, and chaired the committee for the Alumni club's Scholarship Golf Tournament, its largest fundraiser this year.
 | | Paula Maxwell |
Congrats to the ITS women who competed in the Athleta IronGirl Triathlon on August 7 at Oneida Shores Park! Heather Ketcham came in 8th overall among 1,053 finishers and 3rd in her division, with an official time of 1:32:46. Paula Maxwell (738th) noted that competing "was an item off the bucket list." This was Diane Oad's (876th) first triathalon and she was pleased with her swim and run but "would like to see a new bike in my future." For Debbie Kritsberg (967th) this was her second year. "I almost drowned in the swim. I'm a glutton for punishment," she said. Heather also competed in the Ironman 70.3 Syracuse triathlon on September 18.
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Heather Ketchem begins her 56-mile leg of the
Ironman 70.3 Syracuse triathlon. John Berry / The Post-Standard |
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London Calling
ITS brings the SU campus network to Faraday House
In late July, Lee Badman traveled to Faraday House, home of the Syracuse University London Program (SULP). Working with SULP staff during a very busy four days, Lee upgraded the Faraday House network environment and installed 100% wireless coverage throughout the facility. Featuring Cisco switches, thirty-five Meraki wireless access points, Meraki routers, and a new 100 Mbps internet link from British Telecom, the SULP IT environment is now on par with SU's own high-performance network. In fact, Faraday House now functions as an extension of the SU campus network, with the same experience delivered for wired and AirOrangeX users.
"Faraday House itself is a large, classy, busy facility and is a must-see for anyone from SU who ever has an opportunity to visit. Meeting the SULP folks was absolutely wonderful," Badman reports. "Marco Figueiredo is Faraday's IT support person, and a gentleman to work with. Marco and the rest of the SULP staff were helpful, accommodating, and obviously appreciative of their new network capabilities."
Badman's work on behalf of ITS follows an earlier visit by Andrew Joncas that was pivotal in quantifying the needs of the SULP center, and in making the human connections essential to the initiative's success. Going forward, SULP's network will be supported and monitored by ITS, with on-site staff having a fair amount of self-sufficiency in keeping the IT side of Faraday House running.
 | | Faraday House, home of the Syracuse University London Program |
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ITidbits
Facts and figures about IT @ SU
How you like them apples? About 90% of the computers sold by the SUB leading into this semester were Macs.
Since 2009 there have been more than 3,000 users of Adobe ConnectPro on campus, with campus usage increasing 34% in the last 12 months. Stored content exceeds 64GB.
SU's Digital Sign network is now running 48 player PCs driving 79 displays across campus. ESF has had the most steady growth. The iSchool is currently installing 3 additional displays that should be up by the end of the month.
On the SU campus ITS has seen nightly peaks of over 9,000 simultaneous wireless client devices connected to the campus network. The usual overall breakdown is about 70% 11g and 11n (2.4 GHz) and 30% 11a and 11n (5 GHz). Other SU sites show the following daily peaks for simultaneous wireless devices:
- Greenberg House, Washington, DC: ~30
- SU in LA: Only a few (just getting off and running)
- SU in London: ~50
- Lubin House, NYC: ~25
- Students in the Parkview Hotel: ~120
- Students in the Sheraton University Hotel: ~65
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Secure 'cUse is Coming!
Integrated program to raise IT security awareness on campus
ITS's Information Security group is working hard to develop Secure 'cUse, a security awareness and training program for SU's students, faculty and staff. Over the coming year, they'll produce posters, flyers and online videos geared to helping the SU community understand the risks to individual identity and to SU's information assets as a result of living in a connected world. As first steps, you can follow "SecurecUse" right now on Facebook and Twitter for tips and advice for keeping information safe, and to be informed of internet scams.
For more information contact Mani Gauri at x3359 or mkanika@syr.edu.
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Syracuse University launches official mobile app
Collaborative development puts SU in the palm of your hand
Syracuse University has launched its first official mobile application in the Apple Store. The app is expected to be available soon in the Android Marketplace and the Blackberry App World.
"This free app delivers a range of information about SU and the services offered on campus," said Nicci Brown, SU's Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communications. "And this is just a starting point-we expect this to be a continuously improving and more comprehensive tool for students, faculty, staff and other members of the SU community."
A team comprised of SU's departments of Advancement and External Affairs, Information Technology and Services, the Library, Enrollment Management, and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, the College of Law, and the School of Information Studies, collaborated to build the app, with development and production help from WillowTree Apps, Inc.
According to Jenny Gluck, Associate Chief Information Officer for Academic Services, and mobile app team lead, "The team is looking to get suggestions for enhancements and new functionality. Ideas and comments should be sent to help@syr.edu, or submitted via the "feedback" page in the app."
The app allows users to choose from among multiple themes and get the latest on SU news and events, search the directory for faculty and staff, check the campus map and weather, find library resources and free computers in the public ITS computer labs, and more.
Version 1.0 features include:
- News and Events: Latest SU news and information about important campus and University events
- Mapping: Users can see what SU buildings are near their current location. The SU maps use Foursquare's API with Google maps to help navigation around campus.
- Library: Search and access library resources, including SUMMIT classic catalog, IEEE Xplore ®, JSTOR, Encyclopedia Britannica and more
- Directory: Search for faculty and staff, and email or call with one tap
- Social Hub: Aggregate of latest twitter feeds from SU
- Weather: Current Syracuse weather outlook
- Multiple themes: SU's main theme, and themes with resources from SU's schools and colleges.
- Quick ticket: Request tech help from ITS
More information about the official SU mobile app can be found at http://sumobile.syr.edu/.
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Protect yourself from digital device theft
Common sense steps will protect your gadgets and data
As the number and value of mobile computing devices such as laptops, tablets and smartphones continue to grow across campus, so does the risk and incidence of device theft. You can protect your devices from theft, and yourself from resulting data loss and identity theft, by following this advice.
- Keep your devices close at hand. Don't leave them alone, even for a minute.
- Keep your devices out of sight when you're not using them. A cabinet or drawer is ideal, especially if it can be locked.
- Label or tag your devices with your name and phone number (NOT your social security number). This not only deters casual thieves, it makes it easier to identify your property if it is stolen or lost and recovered, and may prevent it from simply being resold over the internet via an online auction. FBI statistics indicate that 97% of unmarked computers are never recovered. Use a permanent marking or engraving, or metal, tamper-resistant commercial asset tags. Stop Theft tags, available at the SU Bookstore, have proved effective. Register your devices with their manufacturers. Registering will "flag" a device and if it is ever sent in for service increases the chance you'll get it back. If your device is stolen or lost, be sure to notify the manufacturer.
- Record your serial numbers and store them in a safe place. In the event your device is stolen, the police can use serial numbers to identify your stuff and get it back to you. If you bought your computer at the SU Bookstore they keep a record of your serial number should you need it.
- Record your Media Access Control address (MAC address) and store it in a safe place. On handhelds and tablets this is also known as the Wi-Fi Address. The MAC address is a unique identifier that differentiates a device from all other devices. This address is visible to network administrators, enabling detection of specific devices and their physical location. To find out your device's MAC address, follow the instructions in Answers.syr.edu .
- Install and use tracking and recovery software and apps like LoJack (available at the SU Bookstore) or Prey to help find and recover your gear. There are both paid and free versions of this type of software, and each provides different levels of features. Search online to find the best combination of cost and functions to meet your needs.
- Use a security cable on your laptop. Make it a habit of locking your laptop, even when you're working on it, regardless of where you are. Be sure to tether your laptop to a strong, unbreakable object that won't move. Do not leave your device unattended. Security cables and locks are available at the SU Bookstore.
- Back up your data. Often! That way, even if your device is stolen you won't lose the information it carries.
- Protect your personal data with the disc encryption feature that's included with your computer's operating system, such as BitLocker for Windows or FileVault for Macs. That way, nobody but you can see or copy the files or information on your device.
- Use passwords on your devices to prevent unauthorized access to your data. Thieves' access and misuse of your data could prove even more damaging and expensive than the loss of your hardware.
- If your device has "remote wipe" capabilities, which allow you to log in to an online account and erase the data on your device, set it up to use this service. And use it as soon as you discover the device is stolen or missing. Depending on your device, this may be free or available for purchase.
If your device is stolen, IMMEDIATELY contact SU's Department of Public Safety (DPS) at 005 Sims Hall, (315) 443-2224, AND
SU's Information Technology and Services Department at ndd@listserv.syr.edu. Their Networking team may be able to find the missing device.
Quickly contact both DPS and the ITS Networking team with as much as you know about the device (MAC addresses, serial numbers, stored user credentials for AirOrangeX, where it was last used, time and location of theft, and your name, street address, email address and phone number). Your speedy report will increase the likelihood that your device will be recovered, and may help prevent others from becoming victims.
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IT Connections is published monthly by Information Technology and Services at Syracuse University. Please submit story ideas and news items to Chris Finkle.
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