OIT News – November 2008

>OIT News
Monthly news briefs, information and announcements
Office of Information Technology, NC State University
Issue 13, November 2008
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For the up-to-the minute reports on OIT systems, see SysNews:
http://sysnews.ncsu.edu
For help with computing problems, contact the NC State University Help Desk:
http://help.ncsu.edu

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01: OIT and NC State to host Solaris 10 boot camp
02: Student Email Task Force seeks campus feedback
03: MySQL Enterprise Server unlimited site license available
04: Gartner Group services available to campus
05: Dial 7 reminder
06: OIT to sponsor Brown Bag Lunch and Learn on camcorder purchasing
07: SIS update
08: Preserving records and electronic data as legal evidence
09: Call for nominations for Gertrude Cox Award
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01: OIT and NC State to host Solaris 10 boot camp
Discover just how open “open source” can be. Come to the Sun Microsystems and Alphanumeric Solaris 10 Boot Camp from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on December 11th, 2008 in Room 126, Witherspoon Student Center. Sponsored by NC State University and the Office of Information Technology, the event is free and open to the campus technical community.

During this interactive one-day session, system administrators and technical staff can learn about the free and open source Solaris 10 operating system and Sun’s virtualization solution. Participants will go step by step through the end-to-end virtualization process – including software, workstations, servers, storage and networking. For more information, visit the event registration site.

02: Student Email Task Force seeks campus feedback
Dr. Marc Hoit, vice chancellor for information technology, recently announced the formation of a Student Email Task Force “to review and evaluate student email services offered by the Office of Information Technology and determine the best path forward to support current and future student needs.” The task force has representation from the various constituents OIT serves on campus, including students, staff, faculty and IT personnel.

The Student Email Initiative Web site is located at http://oit.ncsu.edu/student-email-initiative. There, you will find a listing of the task force members along with an expanding variety of other resources.

03: MySQL Enterprise Server unlimited site license available
NC State now has an unlimited campus site license for MySQL Enterprise Server due to the support of the Center for Urban Affairs and Community Services.

This unlimited site license makes this software available to any NC State faculty or staff member for use on university owned computers. The software can be installed as much as needed without restrictions.

Because the Center for Urban Affairs and Community Services has paid all costs only for the first year of MySQL Enterprise, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) Software Licensing Management will be looking for campus partners to assist in the continuation of MySQL Enterprise for the next fiscal year. For this reason, individuals will need to complete a “request for download access” by sending an email request to software@ncsu.edu. For more software information, visit the Software Licensing site.

04: Gartner Group services available to campus
Do you want easy access to the latest technology information? With a Unity ID and password, you can access IT-related research, news analysis and trends from Gartner Inc., a research and advisory firm. You can also use Gartner to find research for assignments, discover an area of interest, or even get ideas on careers. Simply log in to Gartner with your Unity ID and password and then click on the Gartner Research link. A link to Gartner is also provided under “For Faculty & Staff – Computing” in the MyPack Portal.

05: Dial 7 reminder!
If you need to make an off-campus telephone call (local or long distance), please remember to “Dial 7” instead of “9”. Effective November 1st, this change in NC State’s off-campus dialing method is intended to reduce the number of misdialed 911 calls that are routed to campus police. Please also remember to change your one-touch dialing/speed dialing numbers that use “9” to reach outside lines and to change voicemail options that route calls off campus. For phone help, call 515-7099 and select option 5.

06: OIT to sponsor Brown Bag Lunch and Learn on camcorder purchasing
The Office of Information Technology will sponsor a Brown Bag Lunch and Learn session called “Your Next Camcorder” from noon to 1 p.m. on Friday, November 21st in 216 Scott Hall. If you are in the market for a new camcorder, the good news is that prices have decreased significantly. The not so good news is that there is a myriad of choices, and what may be a good choice for you may not suit someone else. Hal Meeks, OIT-Outreach, Communications and Consulting new media consultant, will help you consider some popular models and talk about what other items you might need to purchase. To register for the class, visit http://webapps.ncsu.edu/classmate/login.

07: SIS Update
The Student Information Systems (SIS) implementation team reports that Registration and Records has begun staffing traveling “SIS Info Booths” around campus to inform students about the new system. Release 3-Student Records is scheduled to go live on February 9th, 2009.

Both campus department users and students have volunteered to test Student Records and Self Service functions in SIS as part of Release 3 Customer Acceptance Testing, which will continue through December 5th.

Scheduling officers are also currently working in SIS to create the Summer 2009 schedule of classes. More scheduling classes are planned through November 21st to address complex scheduling procedures that scheduling officers will need to know to complete their Fall 2009 schedule in SIS.

For more information about upcoming training classes and to view the SIS implementation timeline, visit http://ncsu.edu/sis.

08: Preserving records and electronic data as legal evidence
Any university employee who foresees or anticipates a possible legal action against the university must promptly notify the Office of Legal Affairs and locate and preserve all relevant records available to them. The university is under legal obligation to protect any information that might relate to these actions.

Recent changes in court rules spell out the responsibilities for protecting any potential evidence stored on computerized devices. These records or information are deemed “electronically stored information (ESI)” by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. ESI refers to all data used as evidence by the courts and can include the devices (disks, tapes, memory, etc.) on which the information is stored.

Preservation of all ESI (whether or not it is “reasonably accessible”) is required as soon as one can reasonably foresee or anticipate that a claim or legal action may occur! This means that often long before litigation is initiated, any records, in paper or electronic formats, that relate to the potential court action must be preserved and not destroyed until released by the Office of Legal Affairs. For more information, please contact the Office of Legal Affairs at 515-3071.

09: Call for nominations for Gertrude Cox Award
Nominations for the 2008-2009 Gertrude Cox Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching and Learning with Technology are now being accepted through 5 p.m. Monday, December 1st. The award recognizes “the creative pedagogy of NC State’s faculty and technical staff and their work in integrating new technologies into effective teaching strategies.” The award is sponsored by the Teaching, Learning and Technology Roundtable; Distance Education and Learning Technology Applications (DELTA); and the Office of Faculty Development. To nominate an individual or for more information, visit http://ncsu.edu/gertrudecox. An award reception will be held from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Monday, February 23rd in the Walnut Room of the Talley Student Center.

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For help with computing at NC State, contact the NC State Help Desk:
help@ncsu.edu, phone 515-HELP (4357), or visit Room 101, West Dunn Building.

Send your comments or suggestions about OIT News to Rhonda Greene, OIT Information and News Services, at rhonda_greene@ncsu.edu.