January 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

Start of school tips for faculty and staff

DoIT offers helpful tips to faculty and staff prior to the start of the spring 2016 semester.

• Faculty members are encouraged to visit the classrooms and computer labs in which they are scheduled to teach in order to familiarize themselves with the room's technology configuration. For assistance, contact the Technology Assistance Center (TAC) at (540) 831-7500.
• Faculty members are encouraged to verify 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, please submit a request to TAC via ITOneStop http://www.radford.edu/onestop.
• Office 365 ProPlus, which includes Office 2013 (Windows) and Office 2016 (Mac), is available as a free download for faculty, staff and students to use on their personal computers. Visit www.radford.edu/office for details and instructions. NOTE: Office 2016 (Windows) will be available via this download in February.
• To communicate with students registered in classes, course email aliases are available for faculty use. The standard format for course aliases is ru-COURSE-SECTION-spring@radford.edu. Example: ru-engl446-07-spring@radford.edu.
• Radford University contracts with Desire 2 Learn (D2L) to provide 24/7 telephone support to faculty and students for the use of D2L. This support can be reached from option 3 on the support menu at (540) 831-7500.
• When instructors change or students add/drop a course, this change is not reflected in D2L until the next day.
• Computer labs are available for ad-hoc reservations by faculty. The labs fill up quickly, so please make any reservations now. To make reservations, log into MyRU, click on the Employee tab and then choose the Classroom/Walker Lab Requests link. Detailed instructions can be found on the IT Solution Library.
• The IT Solutions Library is an online support resource that provides answers to common IT support requests. Included in the Solution Library is a Start of the Semester Checklist that includes lots of useful links related to Desire 2 Learn for you and your students. (http://www.radford.edu/onestop).

Center for the Sciences Classroom Technology

Final installation of audio/visual, computer lab and network infrastructure for the Center for the Sciences is underway with minor configuration changes and updates anticipated throughout the spring semester. Classroom technology installed in this building includes:

• A large lecture hall that includes two high-resolution ceiling projectors, a high-resolution document camera and wireless presentation interfaces supporting laptop computers along with iOS and Android devices.
• Four multimedia classrooms equipped with 80" LED displays, instead of ceiling mounted projectors, with interactive 80" touch screen displays in two of these rooms.
• Nineteen science labs with LED displays and high-resolution document cameras.
• Two computer labs with "all-in-one" computers and 80" LED displays.
• Digital overhead cadaver cameras were installed in two anatomy labs providing the ability to display images on classroom monitors.
• An Anatomage Table (virtual cadaver system) with two wall-mounted narrow bezel displays was installed in one anthropology lab, allowing the entire class to see what is taking place on the table.

Back up your files

An important and dangerous new trend in personal computer exploitation is ransomware - a type of Windows malware that encrypts your personal files and folders and flashes a blinking message demanding payment for the decryption key. This new CryptoWall malware uses advanced encryption and cannot be reversed.

In this instance, and in most compromises, the most important and effective defense is a good backup. Your backup, preferably to another hard disk, should only be as old as you'd want your most critical information to be (1 week? 1 month?). Users who have a recent backup recover faster from major malware disasters, and are usually able to rebuild their computers without assistance. If you get a ransomware infection, you cannot recover without a backup image, because the Windows restore points are deleted by the malware.

Backups are also very important to recovery from user error, theft or accident. Mobility also heightens the risk of theft, since you're more likely to carry your computer wherever you go.

Various USB disks are relatively inexpensive and are a very good investment in security and continuity. Online backup services are also available (although these have an annual subscription). Students get 1TB of space in their Office365 OneDrive - enough to store several copies of their personal folders and use the drive as a regular backup target. Faculty and staff may keep copies of important files on their H: drive which can still be recovered in the event of a CryptoWall infection.

Make a habit of preserving your digital life by backing it up. OSX and Windows both provide built-in utilities that make this process easy, and you can encrypt these backups using those utilities.

Upcoming technology workshops

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.

Meet the DoIT Staff

Sandy Schronce
Administrative Assistant and Customer Service Specialist


How long have you been employed in the Division of Information Technology at Radford University? 13 years at RU, and eight in DoIT.

Family: Joyfully married 36 years and have a wonderful daughter and son-in-law.

Hometown: Pulaski, Virginia via Akron, Ohio

Education: New River Community College

Interests/Hobbies: I like swimming, biking, tennis, gardening, anything outside and interior/home design.

Favorite vacation destination: Love to travel, especially to any place near water. No. 1 would have to be Myrtle Beach (where my daughter lives!!).

Favorite part of your job: Not supposed to say talking to people, but… talking to people and sharing a laugh.