Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

Information Technology Services (ITS) is participating in the annual Techqual+ survey to assess the quality of technology services on campus,  and we need your help.  Your input is critical in helping us to gather information so that we can identify and plan appropriately to provide the best technology services possible.

Participants may enter a drawing for a $50 gift card.  Four winners will be selected!

Your participation in this survey is completely optional and your responses are anonymous. No personally identifiable information about you will be collected during the survey.  You will be given an opportunity to participate in this year’s gift card drawing at the end of the survey and, if you choose to participate, you will be redirected to a separate website to provide your email address.  The email address you provide for the gift card drawing will not be associated with your survey responses.  Gift card winners employed by the University of Memphis are subject to appropriate IRS tax withholding and reporting.

To participate in the survey, click the following link:

https://survey.techqual.org/dl.aspx?g=e9ea1b17-217e-4511-b0bf-12c0f42957e2

Your feedback is important because it helps us develop action plans that assist in continual improvement. The survey closes May 9, 2014 at 4:30 p.m.  I sincerely appreciate your taking the time to participate in this process. If you have any questions about the survey please feel free to contact me.

Regards,

Ellen

Dear Colleagues,

The Heartbleed Bug is a vulnerability in the popular OpenSSL cryptographic software library. This weakness allows stealing of the information protected, under normal conditions, by the SSL/TLS encryption used to secure the Internet which can include the names, passwords, and actual content of secure information.

​As of April 10, 2014, all ITS managed services have been patched to mitigate this threat.  Additionally, our campus intrusion prevention and detection system has been updated to block external attempts from malicious actors.  After review, we do not believe there is any need to change your UofM campus UUID password at this time.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Help Desk 24/7 at 678-8888.

Thank you,

Ellen

Dear University of Memphis Undergraduates,

How are you using technology?  Do you own a desktop computer, notebook, tablet, or smartphone?  Ever heard of MOOC’s?  What about e-textbooks or e-portfolios?  Are you using social media? These are examples of questions the national ECAR survey on Student Technology Experiences helps us answer and the survey is now open. The survey helps us understand how you are using technology compared to participants from other universities.

We are interested in improving student experiences with information technology, and your response is very important to us. Your participation in the study is voluntary, and your responses will be completely confidential.

It will take approximately 15 minutes to complete the survey and your participation would be greatly appreciated. The survey will remain open until April 11, 2014. Please click this link to complete the survey:

https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1524684/ECAR-Student-Study-2014?eid=9257&us=y

Thank you in advance for your participation.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Dr. Robert Jackson at rjax@memphis.edu.

Ellen

Colleagues,

ITS has received some questions regarding extension of XP support, and we are actively exploring this possibility with Microsoft. Although we are continuing discussions with Microsoft, our latest information indicates that such an agreement would be costly for the University and may not be the best use of financial resources.

We encourage everyone to continue efforts to upgrade to a supported operating system to remain in compliance with University policies.

Thank you,

Ellen

Colleagues,

Microsoft’s support of Windows XP and Office 2003 will end on April 8, 2014. After this date, there will be no new security updates, non-security fixes or technical content updates from Microsoft.

Please note the risks associated with maintaining an unsupported machine, and take steps to minimize your risk.

• Security Risks: Unsupported and unpatched environments are vulnerable to security risks and cyber-attacks.
• Software Vendor & Hardware Manufacturer’s support – Software vendors are unlikely to support new versions of applications on Windows XP.  Research also notes that most PC hardware manufacturers will stop supporting Windows XP on the majority of their new PC models.
• Windows XP is not supported for Office 2013: Office 2013 requires that the client operating system be Windows 7 or later.

Actions to Consider:

• Get current with Windows and Office: Newer versions of Microsoft Windows and Office increase PC security and management, and user abilities. Upgrade your personal device to a supported version of Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. Windows XP and Office 2003 will no longer be installed on university-owned systems.
• Isolate Systems: in compliance with University policies UM1566 and UM1691, unpatched, insecure, and outdated operating systems will not be allowed on the network.
• Review impact:  Ensure that unsupported systems do not contain sensitive data.

If you have additional questions or concerns regarding Microsoft XP or Office 2003, please contact the Service Desk at Extension 8888.

Thank you,

Ellen

Dear Colleagues,

Information Technology Services (ITS) initiates discussions annually throughout the University to inform the continual improvement of the ITS Strategic Plan.  Historically, these planning sessions were scheduled for the December – January timeframe and were aligned with the March deadline for budget presentations.

ITS is shifting our strategic planning cycle to late summer/early fall in response to the new budgeting approach, Responsibility Centered Management (RCM), which is scheduled to begin FY2015 and will require budget presentations in the October/November timeframe.  Additionally, this move will allow us to capitalize on recommendations from the Redefining the University Library Committee.

Regards,

Ellen

Dear Colleagues and Students,

UMDrive.memphis.edu is a web-based file storage service used by faculty, students, and staff.  This service plays a critical role in teaching and learning, research, and administrative processes throughout our university.

As part of our commitment to continual improvement, ITS is reviewing UMDrive to determine how to improve our file storage services.  A survey was recently conducted to gather feedback for this purpose. Unfortunately, this has led to speculation of UMDrive’s imminent decommission, and this is inaccurate.

We understand that any changes to this critical service will require a very high degree of communication and coordination. I assure you that the project team responsible for recommending any changes to our file storage services will include participation from students, faculty, and staff.

ITS will keep you advised of future developments.

Thank you,

Ellen

As mentioned in my previous post, ITS has completed the upgrade of eCourseware (Desire 2 Learn) over the holiday break.  Please note the following important information regarding usage and training on eCourseware:

Here is the  Training Schedule for the new version of eCourseware.  Registration for these sessions is available through Learning Curve (faculty only).

Customized videos, covering the basic tools of eCourseware, can be found at Teaching and Learning Videos. Faculty may also access these training videos .  Please note:  login is required for both.

Individual consultations can be scheduled at Consultation Ticket

If you have additional questions:

• Email umtech@memphis.edu
• Call the Help Desk at 901-678-8888. Help Desk staff are being given additional training in eCourseware and will be able to answer many of your questions

Thank you,

Ellen

A TBR-wide upgrade of eCourseware (Desire 2 Learn) will occur during the holiday break.  Please be aware of the important dates, times, and services below:

• 12/27/13 – The eCourseware system will go offline at 12:01a.m.  You will not be able to log in to the system (and if you are logged in at that time, your session will be terminated), and you will receive a maintenance message explaining that the system is being upgraded.
• 1/2/14 – The eCourseware system will be back online at 8:00 a.m, with the upgrades in place and tested.  At that point, you will be able to get into the system to conduct all your normal activities.
• Also on 1/2/14, the normal process for course combines will resume.  Course combines will be processed within three (3) business days of the time they are submitted.
• The Training Schedule for the new version of eCourseware will be available in multiple formats, beginning on 1/2/14 through Learning Curve (faculty only).
• Individual consultations can be scheduled at Consultation Ticket
• If you have questions:
  • Email umtech@memphis.edu
  • Call the Help Desk at 901-678-8888.  Help Desk staff are being given additional training in eCourseware and will be able to answer many of your questions

No new features will be available on 1/2/14.  We are making the upgraded baseline system available first, to be sure that it is stable and able to handle the start-of-semester load, before we activate any of the new features available.

Thank you,

Ellen

Colleagues,

Around this time each year, the University has historically participated in the Techqual+ survey to obtain feedback regarding information technology service quality.  To align our collection of this data more closely with the academic calendar, we will be conducting the survey for 2014 toward the end of the spring semester.  Reminders and notifications will be posted to the portal and this blog when the survey is opened in the spring.

Regards,

Ellen