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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 (DoIT)
Radford University

Helpful Reminders to Faculty and Staff for the Fall 2010 Opening

The Department of Information Technology (DoIT) offers the following checklist of reminders to RU faculty and staff about the start of the 2010 school year.

• Registration for faculty/staff parking permits can be done online. Login to MyRU, click on the “My Accounts” tab and then click on the “Parking” link on the Quick Links channel.
   
• Registration for the Faculty/Staff 25 Meal Plan can be done anytime with Visa or MasterCard at the RU Express web site by clicking on the “Manage Your Account” link. To use payroll deduction, however, RU faculty and staff must submit this form to the RU Express office by Friday, September 10.
   
• RU faculty members are encouraged to visit the classrooms and computer labs in which they are scheduled to teach during the week of August 23-27 to familiarize themselves with the room’s technology configuration. For assistance, contact the Technology Assistance Center at 831-7500.
   
• DoIT asks that faculty members verify that any special purpose software needed for their classes is installed and functional in their classroom and computer labs in advance. To have additional software installed, submit a request to the Technology Assistance Center as soon as possible.
   
• The Walker Hall computers 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 go to the “My Accounts” tab. Then, click on “Lab Reservation” under Employee Links in the right hand column.
   
• WebCT course shells have been created for the Fall 2010 semester. Courses will be available to the student at 8 a.m. on Friday, August 27. For classes needing access before this date, please contact Technology Assistance Center. Students can be added to courses at any time by clicking Teach Tab > Grade Book > Enroll Member.
   
• To communicate with the students registered in their classes, course email aliases are now available for faculty use. The standard format for course aliases is ru-COURSE-SECTION-fall@radford.edu.
  • Example: ru-engl446-07-fall@radford.edu
     
• Microsoft Office 2010 is available via the ‘Work at Home License.’ Students, faculty, and staff can purchase this license for their personal computer for $12.99 from the bookstore.

DoIT Upgrades and Enhances Classrooms

DoIT upgrades campus classrooms and computer labs on a regular basis to provide faculty and students with a technology-rich teaching and learning environment. Several additional classroom upgrades are scheduled to be completed by August 23. Multimedia classrooms and campus computer labs will be upgraded to Windows 7 and Office 2010 prior to the beginning of the Fall Semester as well. Faculty members are encouraged to visit the classrooms in which they are scheduled to teach during the week of August 23 - 27 to familiarize themselves with the available technology and the layout of the rooms.

In response to feedback from faculty about the configuration of several classrooms in Young Hall, DoIT is modifying the equipment locations and configurations in many of the building’s rooms. These modifications will create a more centralized location for multimedia control while continuing to accommodate faculty desiring a flexible room design.

Several other campus classrooms (Powell 101, Whitt 104, Whitt 205, Whitt 228, Cook 319, Reed 201, Porterfield 172, Porterfield 173, Powell 208, Waldron 200, Waldron 225, Waldron 226, Waldron 227, and Waldron 233) have been upgraded and are now outfitted with multimedia technology such as a touch screen-based control panel, high-definition projector, electric screen, ceiling mounted document camera, Blu-ray/DVD/VCR combo player and height adjustable podium. To ensure classrooms have reliable computers, DoIT replaces computers in multimedia classrooms periodically and computers in 48 multimedia classrooms have been replaced this summer.

If you have problems with technology in any of the campus classrooms, please contact the Technology Assistance Center at 831-7500.

Unauthorized Storage of Highly Sensitive Data Prohibited by State Policy

RU’s Data Storage and Media Protection policy prohibits the storage of highly sensitive data without documented permission. In addition to obtaining permission to store sensitive data, the RU policy requires that this data be encrypted and handled appropriately. All RU employees have agreed to abide by this policy and re-commit to that agreement each year during aforementioned IT Security Awareness Training.

Here are a few examples of highly sensitive data governed by the Data Storage and Media Protection Policy:

• Social security numbers  
• Driver’s license numbers or state identification card numbers issued in lieu of a driver’s license number 
• Passport numbers
• Financial account numbers, especially credit card or debit card numbers
• Health information that can reveal an individual’s health condition and/or history of health services use.

The Commonwealth of Virginia has a “Breach of Personal Information Notification Law” (18.2-186.6) that requires notification be given to individuals who may have been impacted by disclosure of their personal data.

To be safe storing highly sensitive data, please contact RU’s IT Security at itsecurity@radford.edu.

DoIT Provides Simple and Convenient Means to Complete IT Security Training Certification

IT security certificates completed in the summer of 2009 are expiring soon. Employees with expiring certificates and their supervisors will be notified by the DoIT system 60 days prior to an impending certificate expiration. These notification emails will come either from vita.virginia.gov or awareity.com email addresses and will have instructions on how to access the system and re-certify for the upcoming year.

Awareity is the DoIT contractor for the online IT security training program that makes it simple and convenient for all RU employees to fulfill the state’s annual IT security training requirement. Upon completion of the training, employees are certified for one year.

For more information, consult the IT security training FAQ. Please contact the Technology Assistance Center at (540) 831-7500 or email helpdesk@radford.edu if problems occur while taking the training.

DoIT Answers Your Questions about Spam Email

Why did I get a spam email from myself? Others at RU received spam email from me too.
Anyone can send an email message using your email address in the ”from” field. It is the same as sending a postcard through U.S. Mail using another person’s return mailing address and this common spam tactic, nicknamed “Joe Job” occasionally gets emails past RU’s spam filtering technologies.

Does this mean that the spammer had access to my RU email account?
No. That’s unlikely. Just because a spammer can send a postcard pretending to be you does not mean that they have the key to your post office box. The same is true for email messages.

What can I do if this happens to me?

• Send copies of the full email header to helpdesk@radford.edu and DoIT will send an abuse complaint to the ISP that sent the fake email. 
• Educate those around you about this common spam tactic and that this does not reflect on you or the security of your RU email account.
• Contact itsecurity@radford.edu for more details on dealing with this email nuisance.

Banner Update

The Banner Finance team completed implementation of new electronic billing with its vendor Nelnet and has successfully launched procedures to load university budgets using Banner Self Service.

The Banner project teams also continued work last month on:

• Implementation of fsaAtlas (international student SEVIS reporting) 
• Creation and testing of workflows to automate business processes  
• Writing and testing of new Cognos reports.  
• Training for implementation of scanning and storing electronic documents with Banner Document Management  
• Continued testing for the scheduled November implementation of the Banner 8 upgrade.

The Banner implementation is part of Project RUDI (Radford University's Database Initiative), a major multi-year project designed to review, replace and enhance the university's administrative information systems. These core systems include undergraduate and graduate admissions, financial aid, registration and records, student housing, advancement and fundraising, financials, budget and human resources. Together, these systems provide the business processing, data retrieval, reporting and self-service functions critical to providing essential services to faculty, staff, students, prospective students, alumni and the entire university community. The project was launched in January 2007.

Meet the DoIT Staff

Hashim Durrani, '08
Senior Software Engineer

How long have you been employed in the Division of Information Technology at Radford University?
Since October, 2008.

Family:
My parents, Akhtar and Tehmina Durrani, came to the US in 1989 when I was three and I have an older brother, Hamza, who graduated from RU in 2007.

Hometown:
Ruckersville, VA, a small town about 20 minutes north of Charlottesville.

Education
B.S in Computer Science

Interests/Hobbies:
Pretty much anything you can do on a mountain but primarily backpacking, mountain biking, and snowboarding. I’ve also been trying to learn how to play guitar for about four years but have yet to make any progress.

Favorite Vacation Destination:
Anna Maria Island, Florida.

Favorite part of your job:
The people with whom I work. I’m very grateful to be part of such a solid team. I appreciate the outpouring of joy from everyone on the DoIT team when I recently became a U.S. Citizen.