Health Crisis Preparedness
If the H1N1 flu pandemic or other emergency affects SU, causing campus to be
closed or operating at reduced capacity, it will still be important for faculty
to continue to be able to teach their classes, and for students to have the
technology to communicate with their professors.
To ensure teaching continuity, Information Technology will be prepared to
offer support and maintain services while the university deals with such a
crisis.
When such a crisis occurs, IT will communicate important information such as
closures and reduced hours here on our website, as well as through campus email.
To minimize the impact on the classroom, it's important for faculty, staff,
and students prepare for the possibility ahead of time. Being aware of such
things as the availability of software access in labs or files on network drives
and local computers, ensuring passwords are known and up to date, how and where
to receive assistance in fixing issues, and other considerations will help
reduce the disruption a closure could potentially cause.
Click the tabs above to see how a crisis will impact specific areas and
groups, and how to receive support.
Impact on the Help Desk
In the event of an epidemic outbreak on campus, it is possible that the Help
Desk may be operating with an extremely reduced support staff; or in the event of a full
campus closure would be closed completely. Information Techology will continue
to provide support to the campus even in the event of closure, however support
may be limited, and you may not be able to reach a representative directly. In
these cases, e-mail and voicemail, as well as our Help Desk website, will be the
most efficient ways to submit your request for assistance.
Campus Support
During a campus health emergency, the Help Desk will attempt to
remain open, possibly with reduced hours. However, it may be necessary
or mandatory to close the Help Desk for a period of time. If this
happens, help may still be received by faculty, staff, and students via
email submissions, voicemail, and the Help Desk website.
In addition, in the Faculty and Student tabs above, several methods
of self-service for common issues are listed. Also available are quick
reference guides, which you may use to learn how to perform frequently
requested tasks.
Also remember that web searches using a search engine such as Google
can often yield answers to common or not-so-common questions.
Turnaround will naturally increase as demand increases and
availability of technicians decrease. Use email for communication
whenever possible, and please be patient as IT works towards resolving
your issue as quickly as possible under adverse conditions. |
|
Impact on Labs
During a health crisis, it is likely that labs will be closed or running at
reduced hours, and with a reduced support staff. If labs are closed, then it is
possible that students will not have access to software that is only available
in those labs. Communication between students and faculty will be important in
this situation, as alternative assignments may need to be created due to
closures.
Lab Support
If the University is closed during an emergency, it is highly likely that
labs will also be closed. Information Technology makes every effort to keep at
least the TE labs open, even with reduced hours, but in a full campus shutdown
those labs may be unavailable.
Software Access
Students and faculty should be aware that when the labs are closed, many
students will not be able to access software necessary for some classes.
Students and faculty with personal computers may purchase the Microsoft
Office suite through the MSELA program. Note that this takes several weeks for
delivery, so it is a good idea to purchase this and install it well in advance
of a crisis.
There are also several free alternatives, (such as Google Docs, GIMP,
OpenOffice, etc.) to lab software that may be possible to use in lieu of lab
software.
However, there are some specialty software which may not have a free
alternative and may be cost prohibitive to own individual copies. In these
cases, preparation should be made with consideration to the lack of access in an
emergency, and plan alternative or substitute options should the labs be closed.
Printing
In addition, students who rely on the labs for their printing needs would not
be able to access these printers in the event of a closure. While there are some
alternatives both on campus and off, such as the print station in Fulton Hall
and businesses such as Kinko's, it is a good idea to have a small personal
printer available if printing is essential for your courses.
In addition, online collaboration such as with myClasses, Google Docs, and
email class lists may eliminate the need for printing altogether.
Network Drives
Shared drives such as the K drive, and personal network drives such as the P
drive, are not available from off-network. If labs are closed, then it is
probable that students and faculty will not be able to access those drives or
the files on them. Backing up files to a USB drive or other means of storage on
a regular basis will help keep your files accessible to you even in the event of
a campus closure.
Impact on Support
In the event of a health crisis on campus, support staff are also likely to
be affected and will be working with reduced personnel at a time when demand for
support escalates. This will create delays in responding to support needs. We
will respond to all requests for assistance as quickly as possible, but please
be prepared for some delay. Your patience in such times is appreciated!
Faculty Support
E-mail
E-mail will be the best method of contacting the Help Desk and Information
Technology in the case of a full-campus closure. E-mails received by the Help
Desk are automatically logged into our ticketing system. Keep in mind that
tickets received may have a significantly longer turnaround than during normal
business operations.
To submit a ticket via email, send an email to
helpdesk@salisbury.edu. Take care to
include as much detail about your problem in the email as possible, as well as
including contact information, especially a phone number where you may be
reached. As you will likely be out of your office when needing assistance, it is
important that we have a working number to reach you.
Self-Service Help Desk Online
In addition to e-mail, you may choose to submit a ticket directly using our
online Self-Serve Help Desk.
From there you may submit tickets, check the status of open tickets you've
already submitted, correspond with technicians assigned to your ticket, and see
headlines and known issues affecting the campus.
As with email, it will be important that you include as much detail as
possible when submitting your problem, and include accurate contact information.
Phone
The Help Desk may also be reached by phone at 410-677-5454. During a full
closure, it's likely that the department will be understaffed, and may be
checking the phones from a remote location. As such, it's quite possible that
you'll only be able to leave voicemail, and voicemail will fill to capacity
quickly. When leaving a voicemail, be sure to speak clearly, identify yourself
and your phone number, and give a brief description of the problem. We will call
you back as soon as we can.Again, we recommend e-mail as an alternative and
superior method of submitting your problem to the Help Desk.
Walk-in:
(Note that walk-up assistance is likely to be unavailable during a full campus
closure). In a crisis situation, our immediate priority is on email and phones.
If the Help Desk offices do remain open, keep in mind that we will be operating
with a reduced staff, and walk-in service may encounter significant delays. We
highly recommend in a crisis situation that if at all possible you avoid coming
into the Help Desk, and take advantage of any of the above options of seeking
help.
Website:
This website and the main Help
Desk Website contain important information and guides that will be of
assistance to you in the event that we are unable to help you in a timely manner
due to a health or other emergency.
Helping Yourself
Accessing E-mail off-campus.
You can access your e-mail off-campus using
Web Access. You will need your
email username and password to log in. Also, make sure that your computer time
is correct, and that you have the latest version of Java on your computer, as
both of those may sometimes cause errors if they are incorrect.
Password Issues
If you are having problems logging into your email or myClasses, you can
reset your password at
http://mypassword.salisbury.edu. You will need to know your EmplID or
Student ID number, your SSN, and your date of birth in order to use the Forgot
My Password option for the first time. We recommend that if you are having
problems with your password, that you use the Forgot My Password option and not
the Manage My Password option.
If you desire, you can log into that site at any time and edit your Questions
and Answers profile using the My Questions and Answers Profile option. This
gives you the option to set different questions and answers that you select from
a drop down menu.
If you're having problems with your GullNet password, you may use the Forgot
My Password link on the GullNet login
page. You will need your username, an answer to a security question, and
access to your e-mail account. Make sure when answering the security question
that you put it in exactly as the example shows. If it doesn't work, try it
again and double-check what you are entering matches the example.
When you receive the confirmation page telling you it is emailing the
password, click the button to return to the login screen, then check your email
using Web Access. When you receive your new password, select it by
double-clicking in the middle of the password, and then copy it (Ctrl-C). Return
to the GullNet login page, enter in the username in the appropriate field, place
the cursor in the password field and press Ctrl-V to paste it. We recommend you
change your password on login to something you will remember.
Don't forget, passwords must be eight characters or more, have one number,
one capital letter, and one lower case letter, and cannot match any previous
passwords or contain personal information.
GullNet Help
Once you're in GullNet, you may need assistance with a variety of tasks. The
main GullNet page has a
section dedicated to those tasks, with guides in Microsoft Word format.
Software Access and Collaboration
When campus is closed, access to the labs may not be available, so it is
important to prepare for alternatives to the normal methods of accessing
software. For the normal Microsoft Office suite, both students and faculty can
purchase copies for their home computers at a reduced cost through the
MSELA.
Because this takes several weeks for delivery, you will want to encourage your
students to do this before a crisis occurs.
In the case that campus is closed and you or your students do not have
Microsoft Office installed on your home computers, there are other options.
Google Docs is a free online suite of applications including word processing and
spreadsheets. OpenOffice is another Microsoft Office compatible suite of
applications, and is available for free online.
For photo editors, Gimp is a powerful Photoshop alternative, and is available
for free on multiple platforms.
For collaboration, in addition to myClasses,
Google Docs again is a powerful
free tool available for you to use to exchange documents and work
collaboratively. iTunesU and
YouTube will both allow you to upload video for
viewing or download, if your computer is set up with the ability to record and
save movies.
For sharing of files, in lieu of your K drives, box.net and other similar
services are available online for file storage and sharing.
Further Resources
Instructional Design and Delivery have created a website with resources for
preparing your class for a health crisis, including extensive instructions
and videos on myClasses,
Google Docs,
Jing for screen captures and image
sharing, and DimDim for web conferencing.
Impact on Support
In the event of a health crisis on campus, support staff are also likely to
be affected and will be working with reduced personnel at a time when demand for
support escalates. This will create delays in responding to support needs. We
will respond to all requests for assistance as quickly as possible, but please
be prepared for some delay. Your patience in such times is appreciated!
Student Support
E-mail
E-mail will be the best method of contacting the Help Desk and Information
Technology in the case of a full-campus closure. E-mails received by the Help
Desk are automatically logged into our ticketing system. Keep in mind that
tickets received may have a significantly longer turnaround than during normal
business operations.
To submit a ticket via email, send an email to
helpdesk@salisbury.edu. Take care to
include as much detail about your problem in the email as possible, as well as
including contact information, especially a phone number where you may be
reached. As you will likely be out of your office when needing assistance, it is
important that we have a working number to reach you.
Self-Service Help Desk Online
In addition to e-mail, you may choose to submit a ticket directly using our
online Self-Serve Help Desk.
From there you may submit tickets, check the status of open tickets you've
already submitted, correspond with technicians assigned to your ticket, and see
headlines and known issues affecting the campus.
As with email, it will be important that you include as much detail as
possible when submitting your problem, and include accurate contact information.
Phone
The Help Desk may also be reached by phone at 410-677-5454. During a full
closure, it's likely that the department will be understaffed, and may be
checking the phones from a remote location. As such, it's quite possible that
you'll only be able to leave voicemail, and voicemail will fill to capacity
quickly. When leaving a voicemail, be sure to speak clearly, identify yourself
and your phone number, and give a brief description of the problem. We will call
you back as soon as we can.Again, we recommend e-mail as an alternative and
superior method of submitting your problem to the Help Desk.
Walk-in:
(Note that walk-up assistance is likely to be unavailable during a full campus
closure). In a crisis situation, our immediate priority is on email and phones.
If the Help Desk offices do remain open, keep in mind that we will be operating
with a reduced staff, and walk-in service may encounter significant delays. We
highly recommend in a crisis situation that if at all possible you avoid coming
into the Help Desk, and take advantage of any of the above options of seeking
help.
Website:
This website and the main Help
Desk Website contain important information and guides that will be of
assistance to you in the event that we are unable to help you in a timely manner
due to a health or other emergency.
Helping Yourself
Accessing E-mail off-campus.
You can access your e-mail off-campus using
Web Access. You will need your
email username and password to log in. Also, make sure that your computer time
is correct, and that you have the latest version of Java on your computer, as
both of those may sometimes cause errors if they are incorrect.
Password Issues
If you are having problems logging into your email or myClasses, you can
reset your password at
http://mypassword.salisbury.edu. You will need to know your EmplID or
Student ID number, your SSN, and your date of birth in order to use the Forgot
My Password option for the first time. We recommend that if you are having
problems with your password, that you use the Forgot My Password option and not
the Manage My Password option.
If you desire, you can log into that site at any time and edit your Questions
and Answers profile using the My Questions and Answers Profile option. This
gives you the option to set different questions and answers that you select from
a drop down menu.
If you're having problems with your GullNet password, you may use the Forgot
My Password link on the GullNet login
page. You will need your username, an answer to a security question, and
access to your e-mail account. Make sure when answering the security question
that you put it in exactly as the example shows. If it doesn't work, try it
again and double-check what you are entering matches the example.
When you receive the confirmation page telling you it is emailing the
password, click the button to return to the login screen, then check your email
using Web Access. When you receive your new password, select it by
double-clicking in the middle of the password, and then copy it (Ctrl-C). Return
to the GullNet login page, enter in the username in the appropriate field, place
the cursor in the password field and press Ctrl-V to paste it. We recommend you
change your password on login to something you will remember.
Don't forget, passwords must be eight characters or more, have one number,
one capital letter, and one lower case letter, and cannot match any previous
passwords or contain personal information.
GullNet Help
Once you're in GullNet, you may need assistance with a variety of tasks. The
main GullNet page has a
section dedicated to those tasks in the left side menu, under Student
GullNet Help.
Software Access and Collaboration
When campus is closed, access to the labs may not be available, so it is
important to prepare for alternatives to the normal methods of accessing
software. For the normal Microsoft Office suite, both students and faculty can
purchase copies for their home computers at a reduced cost through the
MSELA.
Because this takes several weeks for delivery, you are encouraged to do this before a crisis occurs.
In the case that campus is closed and you do not have
Microsoft Office installed on your home computer, there are other options.
Google Docs is a free online suite of applications including word processing and
spreadsheets. OpenOffice is another Microsoft Office compatible suite of
applications, and is available for free online.
For photo editors, Gimp is a powerful Photoshop alternative, and is available
for free on multiple platforms.
For collaboration, in addition to myClasses,
Google Docs again is a powerful
free tool available for you to use to exchange documents and work
collaboratively. iTunesU and
YouTube will both allow you to upload video for
viewing or download, if your computer is set up with the ability to record and
save movies.
For sharing of files, in lieu of your K drives, box.net and other similar
services are available online for file storage and sharing.
Please be sure to email your professors during a health or other crisis
involving a shut down of campus to determine exactly how they wish for you to
proceed with your courseload.
ResNet
In a full campus shutdown, it is likely that students living in dorms may be
evacuated. However, students living in University Park may not. For those
students, internet access should continue as usual; however, as IT would be
operating with a reduced staff, possibly from a remote location, response to
outages may be longer than usual, and may not be able to occur until campus
resumes. Please map out alternatives to dorm internet just in case you need it.
