April 2016

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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

Windows 10 upgrade for classrooms and computer labs

During the summer of 2016, Windows 10 and Office 2016 will be installed on classroom and computer lab computers across campus.

Windows 10 allows the Division of Information Technology (DoIT) to provide the latest features and functionality while minimizing the user interface changes. DoIT has been testing Windows 10 for several months, including installation on computers in the Center for the Sciences. Thus far, we have had no problems with software compatibility but would like to review any specialized software you may have.

If you are aware of compatibility issues, please contact the Technology Assistance Center at 540-831-7500 as soon as possible and someone will contact you to discuss options.

We encourage faculty to consider attending one of the Windows 10 workshops offered by Academic Technology. Windows 10 will also be installed on new desktop and laptops this summer as part of the replacement cycle. At this time, we do not have plans to upgrade faculty and staff computers to Windows 10 prior to their replacement cycle.

Office 2016 available for personal machines

Microsoft Office 2016 is now available for Radford University faculty, staff and students to install on up to five personal devices.

Instructions for accessing and installing these programs can be found at http://www.radford.edu/office. Office 2016 will also be installed in campus classrooms, computer labs and on computers distributed to faculty and staff during the summer of 2016.

D2L update - new release condition types

As part of a continuous update process, Desire2Learn makes small changes to the D2L environment each month. The latest update includes new release condition types that support the NOT operator.

This allows instructors to identify users who have not completed course items.

There are 10 release conditions in this update, which can be used anywhere release conditions are supported. An example of how one of these operators might be used: An instructor wishes to display a news item ONLY to those students who have NOT completed an attempt on a quiz. The instructor would make a news item and use the "No completed quiz attempt" release condition for that news item. The next time students login to D2L, only those students who had not attempted the quiz would see that particular news item.

For more details and a list of the NOT operator types, go to the Solutions Library article: D2L: Using the NOT operator in Release Conditions.

For questions or download assistance, please visit www.radford.edu/onestop or contact the Technology Assistance Center at 540-831-7500.

Banner Cardinal update

In a collaborative effort between Financial Services and Enterprise Systems, Radford University successfully completed the deploy phase of the Cardinal project in January 2016.

On Feb. 1, Radford University began utilizing online Cardinal functionality and locally developed interfaces to synchronize the Banner ERP accounting system with Cardinal.

Over the last 14 months, both functional and technical staff worked closely with the Cardinal Project team to successfully create or modify many technical and functional processes to meet the requirements of the new system.

As stated by the Commonwealth of Virginia Comptroller, David VonMoll, "The Cardinal Project allows us to address a challenging issue – modernization of our Financial Management Systems that are vital to the Commonwealth's financial well-being."

The Cardinal System provides the Commonwealth with a modern ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) financial management system. Cardinal is a system that offers improved functionality to agencies and end users at all levels, while providing a platform that can address the business and process needs of the Commonwealth for years to come. CARS will remain the official accounting system through June 30, 2016, when it will be decommissioned. Cardinal will become the official system of record on July 1, 2016.

Banner date field features

Within most Internet Native Banner forms, Banner offers several shortcuts for data entry into date fields. The following shortcuts allow for quicker data entry and less keying by the user:

• Enter any non-numeric character followed by Enter. Banner will default the system date.
  • ? + Enter (will populate the date field with today's date: 22-MAR-2016)
• Enter a two-digit number followed by Enter. Banner will default the current month and year.
  • 01 + Enter (if it is March 2016, will populate the date filed with 01-MAR-2016)
• Enter a four-digit number. Banner defaults to the current year.
  • 0201 + Enter (if the year is 2016, will populate the date field with 01-FEB-2016)

Technology training offered

Academic Technology offers a number of workshops each month for faculty and staff. If you need training that is not included on this list or would like to request a one-on-one, group or custom technology workshop, contact Academic Technologies at 540-831-7521 or acadcomp@radford.edu. You may also visit the ITOneStop Solutions Library for a variety of online tutorials, Quick Reference Guides, "how-to" videos and articles to assist you with campus technologies.

To enroll in one of these sessions, visit the Training & Development System and login.

Dos and don'ts of mobile security

Unless you work for a high-security organization, it's likely that you bring your personal phone and possibly a tablet into the workplace.

Since the advent of the iPhone, mobile devices have continued to incorporate features and CPU power that permit them to substitute for full-featured computers, and the explosion of available apps has added to the personal information that we store on our phones. Personal use often crosses into company use, especially if we start to point our university mail and calendar to our personal devices. Because of this crossover, university data is at greater risk of loss due to the small size and portability of these devices.

Some of the risks of smartphones include: they're often lost or stolen, they're given to children for entertainment, users don't have antivirus to protect them from malware, they're not password-protected, they're easily damaged and people play with their phones and download random apps that might steal data.

Smartphones also increase productivity, save company telephone costs and enable workers to respond to issues faster and more flexibly. What some users don't do, most of the time, is follow some basic practices that would enable them to protect what they've stored on the device. These practices are enumerated below.

1. Back up your phone. A bad app or an interrupted software update can result in an unusable interface that might tempt you to throw away your phone (don't, it's full of data). Use the software provided with your Android, Apple or other device to back the phone up to your computer, especially before a software upgrade, so you can recover faster if it doesn't go well. You could lose everything since your last backup, so you may learn to back up more often.
2. Use a PIN code for security. For Apple phones 5C or newer, the PIN code you set provides your encryption, so if the phone is lost or stolen, the data on it is protected unless the PIN code is known. Android phones with Gingerbread 2.3.4 and newer also have built-in encryption. Set a PIN code and enable encryption; it will help you protect your data and it won't be a university data exposure if you lose it. If your phone has a fingerprint sensor (Apple's Touch ID, available since iOS 7, or HTC, Lenovo K4, LGV 10, Nexus, Xiaomi and the newer Samsung phones), you can use the sensor instead of a PIN.
3. Be careful of the apps you download. Apple's App Store checks the code in apps that are vended there, and they're signed with Apple's certificate, so they're safer. Google's Play site is less secure, but Google is taking steps to make it better, by introducing the "Android Safety Net." Google also introduced a feature in its OS called "Verify Apps" that checks mobile software code. If you get a message from Verify Apps about one of your applications, you should pay attention and be ready to delete it.
4. Keep the device's software up to date. The mobile OS needs patches as much as a computer does, and these patches correct coding or security problems in the base OS that could leave your device more vulnerable. And of course (see No. 1) back up your phone before you apply a software update.
5. Don't click. Malware delivered as an attachment or URL in your email can infect your phone, steal your account and disclose data just as easily as it can on a computer, and there are fewer robust protections for mobile devices and these threats. Resist the temptation to look at that link or attachment when you're reading email and trying to decide if it's legit; leave this for when you're on the computer and have full malware protection. If you don't have access to a computer, or you're often travelling, consider a mobile anti-malware tool. Sophos offers a free anti-malware for the Android platform, and Apple has built-in anti-malware in its Mail program (Apple has been removing anti-malware apps from its Store this past year). In any case, don't click.
6. Be cautious about payment. Smart phone payment solutions depend on phones that are capable of Near Field Communications (NFC), which is subject to eavesdropping. Don't keep your iPay or wallet application open while you shop; only invoke it when you're ready to pay. Apple's iPay is a fully tokenized application that allows you to select one of your credit cards for payment, but doesn't store the 16-digit code on the phone. This application depends on the use of a fingerprint sensor for identification (see No. 2). Google's Wallet, also NFC-based, employs the cloud for tokenization and payment. For web/online payment activity, always ensure that your shopping site employs https (secure web).
7. If you are a faculty/staff employee at Radford University and use your phone for university email, report the loss of your phone as you would report the loss of a computer (to the TAC, at 540-831-7500, or by sending email to itsecurity@radford.edu). Change your Radford (and other email account) passwords as soon as you determine the phone is missing; this will prevent the thief from reading your email if you have neglected to set a PIN on your phone.

Meet the DoIT Staff

Alex Kennedy –
Computer Operations Technician


How long have you been employed in the Division of Information Technology at Radford University? I first started working in November 2007 until December 2008 in Technology Support Services as a classroom support tech, while I went to school here. I worked in Voice and Video Technologies from January 19, 2014 to May 08, 2014 as a Young Hall technician. I finally got a full-time position on May 10, 2014 in Infrastructure Operations as a computer operations technician and have worked here since.

Family: Father, Rick Kennedy. Brother, Zach Kennedy, and his wife, Michele Kennedy, and my niece, Harper Kennedy.

Hometown: Christiansburg, Virginia

Education: A.A.S. in information technology from New River Community College. B.S. (double majored) in art and media studies from Radford University.

Interests/Hobbies: Hiking, fishing, snowboarding, woodworking, jewelry making and metalsmithing, auction hunting, playing and swimming with my dogs, reading and collecting fantasy/sci-fi novels for my personal library.

Favorite vacation destination: Outer Banks, North Carolina.

Favorite part of your job: The people I work with. We have fun and get the job done all in one. I learn a lot from all the people I work with.