Computing FAQ for Faculty and Staff

This document contains frequently asked questions about CUA computing in academic and administrative offices by CUA faculty and staff.

Contents

Questions and Answers

Who provides and configures the computer in my office?

The Center for Planning and Information Technology (CPIT) is the central IT organization for the university. CPIT provides faculty and staff members with a desktop computer for their academic or administrative work. (Desktop computers in The Columbus School of Law are installed and configured by the Law School's Computer Services group.) Each computer is delivered with a standard set of software.

How do I request assistance if I am having a problem with my computer hardware or software, or if I have a question about computer issues in general?

The CPIT Information Center is open for telephone calls from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm Monday-Friday, and for walk-in service from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday-Friday. You can submit an online trouble ticket 24 hours a day at help.cua.edu. Computer technicians visit offices to repair computer problems from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday-Friday.

How do I request emergency support after hours?

CPIT will dispatch a technician after hours only for outages that affect multiple users or critical infrastructure such as the network. Department heads have been informed of the procedure for requesting after hours emergency service. Please contact your supervisor if you believe such service is necessary so that he or she may request it.

If you know that you need to use certain computing equipment after hours, please test it the way you will be using it beforehand (i.e., during the standard work week) to ensure that there is sufficient time to resolve any problems you may encounter.

Remember that you can browse the Computing Help section of the CUA web site for information that may help you resolve your problem.

I am a new employee. How do I get a network logon username and password?

Network logon accounts are created automatically when your employee information is entered by the Human Resources or Provost Office, but you must contact the CPIT Information Center to have your account activated. You will be told your network username and password at that time.

I don't like my assigned username; can it be changed?

Usually not. Network logon usernames are assigned automatically using an algorithm that takes into account maximum length requirements and other factors, including the fact that certain applications used at the university do not allow user IDs to be reused. Many other computing resources are based on this assigned name. It is therefore technically difficult to change these names once assigned.

The only time that network logon username change requests are accommodated is when a person's legal name has changed and the new name has been registered with the Office of Human Resources. The Director of Academic Technology Services must approve the request. Changing to the account new name is time-intensive for the person whose legal name has changed since data must be moved to a new account.

Where should I store my files?

Files that you create for your department work should be stored on one of your department's assigned network file shares. Please check with your supervisor or chair to learn which share should be used for particular projects.

Both faculty and staff are assigned a personal home directory (the "M: drive")  that can be used to store work files that do not need to be accessed by anyone else in your department. This home directory is a network share to which only you have access. (See the next question also.)

You should not store your files on your computer's hard drive. The hard drive is not backed up by CPIT, so if the drive crashes or experiences other problems, your files may be lost permanently.

Files containing covered data must be stored on the proper network file share, never on your computer's hard drive or removable media.

How much data can I store on my M: drive?

Each employee who has a CUA network logon account is assigned space on the central file server for storing their work-related files. This file server space is known as your "home directory" and is mapped to the M: drive on Windows, or mounted on Mac OS X, automatically when you log onto a computer on the main campus network. The file server is shared among all employees, so you should limit your storage there to no more than 2 GB. Starting in spring 2012, this limit will be enforced automatically.

If you are faculty, and need additional storage space for your research or teaching, please use help.cua.edu to notify Instructional Technology about your needs.

How do I read my CUA e-mail?

Faculty and staff should use Microsoft Outlook to access e-mail from their campus desktop computer. To access e-mail from outside the campus network, you can browse to mail.cua.edu to use a web-based interface.

Your e-mail username is <network logon username>@cua.edu. E.g., if your network logon username is ALINCOLN, your e-mail address is ALincoln@cua.edu.

Can I use Cardinal Mail, or have my CUA e-mail forwarded to a provider of my choice?

No. The e-mail service for faculty and staff continues to be Microsoft Exchange. Your faculty/staff e-mail address remains username@cua.edu. University e-mail should not be forwarded or otherwise transfered to a third-party e-mail account as the messages are university records.

E-mail sent by university faculty and staff is expected to be related to university academic or administrative business and is stored on university-owned servers or computers. E-mail messages sent by university employees through the university's e-mail system are university records.

I am a student employee with a staff account. Can I use Outlook?

Your staff account is assigned to you for doing business work for the university as an employee. When you are logged onto your staff account, you should use Microsoft Outlook to access your staff e-mail.

Your staff account access, including to Outlook e-mail, will be terminated when you are no longer actively employed by the university.

You should continue to do all your academic and research work using your student Cardinal Mail account. Do not use your staff e-mail account for this purpose.

Should I reply to this official-looking message asking for my CUA username and password?

Absolutely not! You may receive junk e-mail (spam) that claims to be from the CUA Help Desk, the e-mail or web administrator or "management," asking you to confirm their CUA username and password. Often, the pretext given in these junk e-mail messages is a system upgrade or potential violation of terms and conditions. These messages are scams designed to "phish" (fish) for your logon credentials in order to compromise the computer systems. You should NEVER send your CUA username and password in e-mail. Instead, please contact the computer Information Center to report receiving a suspicious message.

Why should I use a password protected screen saver?

Many faculty and staff members have access to confidential information that is stored in Cardinal Station, network file shares or in e-mail folders. If you walk away from your computer even for a few moments, someone could enter your office or work area and gain access to this information. It is therefore very important that you always use a password-protected screensaver that is set to activate after 10 minutes or less of idle time.

To enable a screen saver in Microsoft Windows, use Start -> Control Panel -> Display -> Screen Saver. Select a screen saver, select 10 minutes or less for the Wait period, and make sure that "On resume, password protect" is checked.

My office has hired a temp for a few days; can I let this person use my computer account?

No. ""Permitting another individual to use your account, either by sharing your credentials or by logging in on behalf of another" is an activity that is explicitly prohibited by the university's Acceptable Use policy. You should never tell anyone, including CPIT support staff, your network logon password. Neither should you log on to your account yourself, but then let someone else use it.

Each university employee or contractor must have his or her own computer account if he or she must log onto university computers or access network resources such as file shares. Please contact CPIT to request that a computer account be created for your temporary worker. You should do this at least two business days before the account is needed.

I am a university administrator and my administrative assistant needs to access my calendar and files; can I let my assistant use my computer account?

No. "Permitting another individual to use your account, either by sharing your credentials or by logging in on behalf of another" is an activity that is explicitly prohibited by the university's Acceptable Use policy. You should never tell anyone your network logon password. Neither should you log on to your account yourself, but then let someone else use it.

Each department has a common shared area on the central file server where departmental files can be stored. Folders can be created on the common share to better organize these files. One or two additional shares can be requested by a department for special purposes; the department may specify the people who should have access to these additional shares.

You can share your cua.edu Outlook calendar with other CUA users. To do this in Outlook 2010, on the Home tab, in the Share group, click Share Calendar. In the Sharing Invitation that results, enter the person that you want to share with in the To box, for example, your administrative assistant. Specify the amount of detail you want to share, and send the invitation.

Your administrative assistant can then open your Calendar. To do this in Outlook 2010, in Calendar, on the Home tab, in the Manage Calendars group, click Open Calendar, and then click Open Shared Calendar. Type a name in the Name box. The calendar will appear alongside any calendar already in the view.

Should I turn my computer off when I go home?

Yes, your computer, monitor and any equipment that is directly attached to your computer, such as a printer or scanner, should be powered off when you leave for the day. This reduces the university's power consumption and improves the security of the network.

Do not power off network equipment such as departmental network-attached printers. These are already configured to enter an energy-saving "sleep" mode after a period of time, and must remain powered on to be accessible from the network.

How do I get access to financial/budget data for my department?

The financial system is accessed through Cardinal Station. (The financials system must be accessed from a computer on the main campus network.) To request access to the system, download the Request for Access to Cardinal Financials form (Microsoft Word) and follow the instructions on the form.

I like to use Internet Explorer toolbars and other similar software; is this a bad idea?

Yes. Most Internet Explorer toolbars are configured to send information about your browsing habits or other computer activities back to their manufacturer. Since you do not know what information is being sent, you should not use these toolbars. Internet Explorer 6 with Service Pack 1 and higher, and other browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, have the builtin ability to block pop-up windows, making the use of an add-on toolbar unnecessary for this purpose.

If you are a faculty or staff person with access to sensitive data such as personal information about students or employees, financial information or student grades or records, you should never install extra software such as IE toolbars, desktop search software or other free software downloaded from the Internet on your computer.

I need additional software to do my job; how do I get it?

The software provided on the computer issued to you by the university is normally sufficient to accomplish most work-related functions. Most faculty and staff do not require any additional software to do their research or work. If additional software is required, it is purchased by your department unless there is a valid volume license agreement in place for the software.

If you do require extra software, your department, whether academic or administrative, should first contact CPIT by submitting an online ticket or calling the Information Center. CPIT will determine whether a volume license is already in place for the software and whether the software is likely to conflict with other installed software or with the operation of the campus network.

Only software purchased by the university or through a university-related grant should be installed on computers that are owned by the university; do not install personally-owned software on university computers. Your department must maintain records of all software purchases for audit purposes.

I want a new computer/bigger monitor/different mouse/personal printer/extra peripheral. How can I get it?

Desktop computers provided by CPIT to offices are in a mini-tower comfiguration, and at present include a flat panel LCD monitor, internal speaker, CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive, standard keyboard and optical scroll mouse.

CPIT provides shared network laser printers in or near each department for your academic or administrative use.

CPIT provides this standard equipment only, so your department would need to purchase any additional computer equipment or accessories. For computers, please read the "Purchasing Computing Hardware with University Funds" document. Please follow your normal departmental procedures to request these. Your department should contact CPIT before purchasing additional printers, as only certain models and configurations can be supported.

Older computers are replaced when the hardware is deemed obsolete for continued service; there is not a regular replacement cycle due to budget limitations. Please consult your supervisor if you believe your computer is too slow. Your department can request that one or more of its computers be evaluated by CPIT for replacement or upgrade.

I bought a wireless router/Airport appliance at the computer store. Can I connect it in my office?

No. Improper installation or configuration of networking devices such as hubs, switches, routers and wireless devices can severely disrupt the operation of the campus network. All networking devices intended for use on the campus network must be specified, purchased, configured and installed only by CPIT for this reason.

Examples of devices that must not be used include wireless routers and access points such as those made by Linksys, Netgear and others; Apple AirPort; Apple Time Capsule.

Wireless networking is being deployed in phases campus-wide. You can check the "Wireless Networking" page to see which buildings have wireless networking at present.

How do I access CUA resources from outside of campus?

Most CUA computing services such as access to your home directory, personal web site, Webmail and Cardinal Station are available to you from anywhere on the Internet by following links from home.cua.edu. No extra software is required; just use a standard browser. Most people find that they are able to do what they need using only web browser access.

Faculty or staff who do need to access to certain administrative systems from home should contact their dean or supervisor so that he or she may request this access on your behalf. Remote access to CUA's administrative systems is provided through terminal services. If you are running Windows XP or Windows Vista, you can access terminal services using the Remote Desktop Connection utility found under Accessories. Apple Mac OS X users will need to download and install the Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection utility. (This tool also is included with Microsoft Office 2004 for Macintosh.)

After an initial evaluation period, it has been determined that CUA will not support virtual private networking (VPN) access to campus for security reasons at present. As related technologies are updated over time, this decision will be reevaluated. If you are faculty and need access to your Windows desktop for academic research reasons, please contact CPIT.