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Division of Information Technology
P.O. Box 6888
Radford, VA 24142
Phone: (540) 831-5173
Fax: (540) 831-6217
Email: cio@radford.edu

Division of Information Technology
Radford University

DoIT fans out on campus to provide Welcome Weekend technical support

The Division of Information Technology's (DoIT) Technology Assistance Center staff will provide assistance in residence halls for students moving in on the following days and times:

Friday, Aug. 22 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 23 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

During these times, technology support will be provided in these locations:

Floyd Hall, Room B01
Moffett Hall, 1st Floor Lounge
Washington Hall, 1st Floor Lounge
Muse Hall, 1st Floor Lounge

For more information about the Technology Assistance Center (TAC), visit www.radford.edu/tac.

DoIT offers helpful "Start of School" tips for faculty and staff

DoIT offers some helpful tips to faculty and staff about starting the 2014 school year.

• Faculty members are encouraged to visit the classrooms and computer labs in which they are scheduled this fall to familiarize themselves with the room's technology configuration. For assistance, contact the Technology Assistance Center (TAC) at (540) 831-7500.
• DoIT asks that faculty members verify in advance that any special purpose software needed for their classes is installed and functional in their classroom and/or computer labs. To have additional software installed, submit a request to the TAC as soon as possible, from http://tac.asp.radford.edu.
• The Walker Hall computer labs are available for ad-hoc reservations by faculty and these labs fill up quickly, so please make any reservations now. To do so, log into MyRU and click the "Employees" icon. Then, click on "Lab Reservation" under Administrative Tools in the left hand column.
• To communicate with the students registered in classes, course email aliases are available for faculty use. The standard format for course aliases is ru-COURSE-SECTION-fall@radford.edu.
  • Example: ru-engl446-07-fall@radford.edu.
• RU contracts with Desire 2 Learn (D2L) to provide 24/7 telephone support to faculty and students in the use of D2L. This support can be reached from option 3 on the support menu at (540) 831-7500.
• The IT Knowledge Base (https://php.radford.edu/~knowledge) is an online support resource that provides answers to common RU support requests.
• Service requests can be submitted to the TAC online via http://tac.asp.radford.edu.

Wireless network access changes completed

This summer, Network Services has been working on the design, testing and implementation of a new wireless network access control product called Identity Services Engine (ISE), to replace Clean Access. On Wednesday, Aug. 6, the new ISE wireless access control system was implemented campuswide.

With the installation of ISE, campus visitors who want to access WiFi will be required to have a username and password to access the WelcomeToRU network. Faculty and staff may create accounts for visitors by logging into http://ruguestaccess.radford.edu and clicking Create Account. Detailed instructions for provisioning a guest account can be found in our Technical Knowledge Base.

If your department has special needs that require longer access or access for a larger group of people, please contact the Technical Assistance Center at 540-831-7500 for additional wireless access options.

Adobe Creative Cloud, including Adobe Acrobat Pro, comes to RU

In March 2014, Radford University entered into a three-year agreement with Adobe giving faculty, staff and students access to the Creative Cloud solution. This includes a wide range of Adobe products such as:

Design Tools: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Bridge and InCopy
Web Tools: Dreamweaver, Flash Professional and Fireworks
Video and Audio Tools: Premiere, After Effects, Audition, Speed Grade, Prelude and Encore

Adobe Acrobat Professional is also included in the suite and is now being installed on all computer images instead of Adobe Reader. Acrobat Professional is a powerful program that allows users to create, combine, edit and alter PDF files and forms.

If you currently have any of the Adobe CS6 products installed, you can continue utilizing the installed software as long as needed. For some users this older version will continue to suffice.

You can install the Adobe Creative Cloud versions of Acrobat Professional, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, InDesign and Photoshop through the Software Center already located on university owned computers.

For detailed instructions, please refer to the knowledge base article at: https://php.radford.edu/~knowledge/lore/article.php?id=528.

NOTE: You will need to be on campus to complete the install.

For all other Creative Cloud installs or questions, please contact the Technology Assistance Center at (540) 831-7500 .

Free Microsoft Office for RU students

Radford University students get a subscription to Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus at no cost for Windows PCs and Mac computers. Students may also download the Office Mobile app for free from the App Store or Google Play Store for iPhone/iPad and Android phones.

In addition, Office 2013 (for PC) and Office 2011 (for Mac) may be installed on up to five computers. It is easy to install from your email.radford.edu email account. Subscriptions to Microsoft Office will remain as long as you are enrolled as a Radford University student.

To download and install Office 365:

1. Visit the Radford University home page and click on the "MyRU" link on the right side of the screen
2. Log in with your username and password
3. Select the Email link
4. Click on the small gear in the right corner of the screen. The gear should be just to the right of your name
5. Click on Office 365 settings
6. Click on the software link
7. Click on the install button

Note: faculty and staff still need to visit the bookstore and purchase the media for their computers.

Contact the Technology Assistance Center at (540) 831-7500 with questions or installation problems.

New classroom facilities added

DoIT upgrades campus electronic learning spaces on a regular basis to provide faculty and students with a technology-rich teaching and learning environment.

The following classrooms have been upgraded to our newest Radford AV standard for electronic classrooms featuring Crestron touchscreen control systems, a new projector, and an HDMI/VGA/Network laptop connection with an attached ring of adapters.

• McGuffey Hall –Rooms: 104,120,240,241
• Peters Hall –Rooms: A041, B109, B163, C010, C013, C019
• Heth Hall –Rooms: 014, 016, 018, 019, 043, 044, 045
• Porterfield Hall - Rooms: 177, 200, 210, 212, 214, 220
• Reed Hall - Room 119

DoIT also made these upgrades this summer:

• installed a digital signage monitor in the Buchanan House
• updated AV equipment in Young Hall 118 to the latest design
• changed AV equipment layout in the Department of Physical Therapy computer lab
• installed video telepresence system at the Roanoke Higher Ed Center (RHEC) 604
• installed speakers for the microphone system at the RHEC 608 and 613
• installed video telepresence system in Waldron Hall 354
• installed wireless microphones and replaced projectors in Walker Hall 295
• installed AV equipment in 8 rooms for the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders in Waldron Hall
• installed 50 wireless presentation devices for Apple IOS devices throughout campus
• installed 90 wireless presentation devices for laptops throughout campus
• installed laptop adapter rings in 200 campus classrooms

Internet Explorer 11 upgrade across campus anticipated

To ensure the web browser on campus systems are secure and compliant with new web standards, DoIT will soon upgrade to the latest version of the Microsoft browser Internet Explorer 11 on university-owned PCs. Settings for key systems such as MyRU, eVA, Cognos, D2L, Xtender, Self Service and Internet Native Banner are currently being tested and configured. Once testing is complete, this update will automatically be pushed through the Windows Update Service.

If you experience any problems, please contact the Technology Assistance Center at (540) 831-7500.

DoIT engineers new campus RU Digital Cable TV System

They said it couldn't be done. Actually it could be and DoIT just did it.

DoIT has tripled the number of HD (high definition) channels and doubled the number of SD (standard definition) channels available for on-campus viewing. In the process, they reduced the required RF bandwidth by less than half. They increased the quality of the pictures delivered and reduced the footprint of required equipment and overall power consumption.

DoIT welcomes you to the new "Green" RU Digital Cable Television system. This new system has reduced the number of racks of equipment required from seven to four. The power consumption was reduced considerably (nearly half) and now offers 48 HD channels plus local off-air HD signals. There are approximately 100 SD channels with sharp digital pictures and stereo audio.

The system still features an RU generated HD movie channel (11.1) featuring popular movie lineups picked by and for students. A library channel (9.1) features an extensive collection of videos focused on educational needs. The RU Information channel (14.1) features important news and events at and around Radford University.

The ability to interrupt all television channels, including HD channels, with emergency messaging is another new feature. Public safety alerts can be delivered instantly from local, regional or national sources.

An important caveat is that users must have a digital television with a QAM tuner. Most televisions produced today have built-in QAM tuners, however some smaller, lower cost varieties may not. If your television does not include a Clear QAM tuner, you will need to purchase one to use your TV with the campus Cable TV system.

To tune a digital television or cable converter simply initiate a "scan". The tuner will search for all available channels. If you have difficulty, call the Technology Assistance Center at (540) 831-7500.

MyRUID is now available

DoIT has now rolled out enhanced account management tools! MyRUID (https://myruid.radford.edu) provides improved functionality when resetting your password, activating new accounts and managing club and departmental accounts. To use these enhanced features you will need to setup a profile in the new system. For more detailed information and to setup your profile, visit http://www.radford.edu/content/it/home/my-ruid.html.

Meet the DoIT Staff

Zdenek "Z" Jakoubek '04
Applications Developer

How long have you been employed in the Division of Information Technology at Radford University? Nine years

Family: Married my college sweetheart, Jeanne Mekolichick. We have one son, Sid, and a herd of adopted (formerly stray) cats.

Hometown: Náchod, Czech Republic. My parents, Václav (Jim) and Jana, defected to the United States when I was young and I was raised in the suburbs surrounding Cleveland, Ohio.

Education: BS in computer science with minors in mathematics and business Management from RU in 2004 . Currently I am a MBA candidate at RU focused on analytics.

Interests/Hobbies: Physical fitness. Working with my hands. Brain teasers. Of course, what IT pro would be complete without an unhealthy obsession with all things Star Trek.

Favorite vacation destination: Northeast Ohio- any season. A summer day spent riding the coasters at Cedar Point or enjoying numerous water activities on/in Lake Erie. Attending live performances at Playhouse Square and, of course, the great ethnic food found only at the West Side Market.

Favorite part of your job: The diverse RU community and the challenges inherent within the ever-changing world of Information Technology.