• March 25, 2008

Students, faculty and staff invited to share their technology needs

by Tina Deines, Office of Mediated Education
and Lynn Carlin, Interim Vice Provost for Information Technology
published March 25, 2008

K-State faculty, staff and students will get the opportunity to share their ideas on campus-wide technology needs at "Upgrade K-State: Tell Us What You Need" brainstorming forums, scheduled April 8-10.

"Each person will have the opportunity to express ideas, suggestions or recommendations, even if that idea contradicts an idea posed by someone else in the room," said Lynn Carlin, interim vice provost for information technology services. "Hearing directly from K-Staters is so important as we plan the next generation of user-driven IT services here at K-State."

These forums, sponsored by the Campus IT Needs Assessment Working Group, are part of a series of twenty targeted focus groups and open meetings being held this spring. These meetings are designed to gather specific ideas from a broad range of K- Staters regarding their IT needs and possible next steps to better align campus IT services with the most pressing campus technology needs.

People can also submit comments at a website, http://upgrade.k-state.edu, starting March 24. Results will be shared at the website later this spring and used by the Working Group to develop recommendations for Provost Nellis and the Computing Executive Committee regarding future IT services.

All forums will take place in the Hemisphere Room of Hale Library. The schedule is as follows:

  • Faculty and staff: 3-4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 8, and 9:30-11 a.m.
  • Students: 9:30-11 a.m. Tuesday, April 8, and 3-4:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 9.
  • Campus IT staff: 10:30 a.m. to noon, Thursday, April 10.
  • Central IT staff: 8:30-10 a.m. Thursday, April 10.

For more information, see the Upgrade K-State website at http://upgrade.k-state.edu.

iSIS update: fall 2008 enrollment begins

by Aimee Hagedorn, Information Technology Assistance Center
published March 25, 2008

Monday, March 24 marked the beginning of enrollment for the fall 2008 term, a milestone for the new student information system known as iSIS. All enrollment for fall 2008 will be processed in iSIS, while summer 2008 enrollment will be processed in KATS. At the end of our first 24 hours of enrollment in iSIS, we have had over 700 students enroll in more than 4000 classes.

Before spring break a group of 300+ students and a number of faculty and advisors participated in an early pilot enrollment for fall 2008. Post enrollment survey results showed that about 85% of the pilot group who responded to the survey found that iSIS was okay or easy to navigate with a satisfactory system response time.

For help with fall 2008 enrollment in iSIS, visit the iSIS Help website at www.k-state.edu/isishelp or contact the IT Help Desk at 785-532-7722.

You can also download the following tips for enrolling in iSIS:

Fall 2008 semester added to K-State Online

by Scott Finkeldei, Office of Mediated Education
published March 25, 2008

This week, the Fall 2008 semester was added to K-State Online.  With the addition of this semester, you can now begin to create Fall 2008 courses in K-State Online.  Additionally, as Summer and Fall 2008 student enrollment began this week, you can start importing Roster information for these two semesters.

K-State Online is also now updated to receive information from iSIS, the new student information system.  K-State Online will continue to receive information from SIS through Summer 2008.  When building your Roster, you can enter either the Reference Number (Summer 2008) or the Class Number (Fall 2008).

If you have any questions about K-State Online or iSIS, please contact the IT Help Desk at helpdesk@k-state.edu.

Mathematica 6 presentation scheduled for April 2

by Kathy Leonard, Computing & Telecommunications Services
published March 25, 2008. updated 1:10 p.m. March 28, 2008

Cliff Hastings, Academic Relationship Executive from Wolfram Research, will be on campus to discuss Mathematica 6 in Education and Research. The meeting is 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 2, in Cardwell 219.

Mathematica 6 changes common (mis)-conceptions of how Mathematica is useful. Examples of Mathematica's usefulness within math, physics, chemistry, biology, economics and the multiple engineering disciplines will be presented. Current Mathematica users will learn  how to make their use of Mathematica easier and more robust. No Mathematica experience is required to attend.

Adobe Contract In-progress

by Kathy Leonard, Computing & Telecommunications Services
published March 25, 2008

The Adobe contract is still under review by Adobe's legal department. K-Staters may continue to request quotations and submit purchase orders to SHI, but the orders will not be placed until the contract has been finalized. There is no estimated time-frame for resolution. More information will be forthcoming.

HRIS system offline for upgrade Mar. 27-31

by >Alma Deutsch, Division of Human Resources
published March 25, 2008

The Division of Human Resources and the Information Systems Office will be upgrading the Human Resource Information System (HRIS) March 27-31. The system will not be available during this time.  It will go offline at 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 26 and be available again by 8 a.m. Tuesday, April 1.

Approximately 400 K-State employees are authorized to update information in HRIS. All K-State employees have access to HRIS Employee Self Service to

  • View paycheck information, leave accrual balances, benefit related summaries and other personal information
  • Update degree/education data and W-4 tax information
  • Enroll in training sessions offered by the Division of Human Resources, Employee Relations and Training and other departments

The new version of HRIS provides enhanced search pages for locating employee data, streamlined hire process and intuitive navigation.

IDT Roundtable Mar. 27: Automated Learning + Gating on K-State Online

by Swasati Mukherjee, Office of Mediated Education
published March 25, 2008

Come join us this week to learn more about Automated Learning and Gating on K-State Online be presented by Shalin Hai-Jew, and Swasati Mukherjee, 11 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. Thursday, March 27, in Union 212.

At the university level, automated learning is being used for certifications, staff and faculty training, pre-course priming of learners, value-added learning, and web-based training (WBT). Automation can add value to discovery learning spaces and virtual learning environments (VLEs). See the latest in pedagogical and design strategies, based on the academic research and practices. See what automated training you can create with the integration of the new gating feature on K-State Online. Please bring ideas for automating parts of your courses for discussion.

Registration and refreshments start at 10:45 a.m. RSVP by contacting the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, 785-532-7828, catl@k-state.edu. Coffee, tea, and water will be available, and you are welcome to bring your lunch.

eTips Apr. 3: Color options when using K-State templates

by Cathy Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published March 25, 2008

Sarah Silva will present an eTips session on "Color options when using K-State templates" at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 3, desktop webinar via Wimba. Are you using the K-State templates, but would like to change the color of your pages? Join this session to learn how to customize your pages using the optional cascading style sheet.

Reminder: Cathy Rodriguez will present an eTips session on "Online task management made simple! at 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, desktop webinar via Wimba.

eTips registration is required at least 24 hours in advance to allow time to add you to the session and ensure your workstation is configured properly for accessing the session.

TechBytes Mar. 27: Online newsletters

by Cathy Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published March 25, 2008

Betsy Edwards will present "Online newsletters" at 1:15 p.m. Thursday, March 27, in 501 Hale Library. Do you need to design an online newsletter, but don't know quite where to start? Join this session to discover how K-State's IT newsletter is created in online and e-mail formats, plus the tools and resources used. Questions about creating newsletters can also be sent to betsy@k-state.edu ahead of time.

TechBytes seminars are free and open to the K-State community. The series is also video-streamed live for off-campus viewers and others who wish to view it from their desktop. Use the "View live video" link on the TechBytes homepage to watch the next live video as it's being recorded. The TechBytes archives contains a wealth of information on IT tools and topics. It includes programs, handouts, videos, and resources from seminars in 2003 to the present.

Security tip of the week

Scam e-mails still causing problems at K-State

by Harvard Townsend, IT security
published March 25, 2008

Spring break revelers returned to campus to find in their e-mail INBOX messages asking them to "CONFIRM YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT" or "VERIFY YOUR KSU EMAIL NOW" by replying to the message with their username and eID password. Even though they appear plausible - they purport to be from the "KSU Support Team <support@ksu.edu>" or something similar and replies go to "ksuhelpdesk@gmail.com" or the like - these messages, like any message that asks for your password,  are scams and should be ignored and deleted. 

K-State was hit particularly hard by these scams during spring break. 15 of the 19 variants of the scam received at K-State since the first ones appeared on January 31 arrived in the last two weeks (March 13-25).  Unfortunately, 35 K-Staters have fallen prey to these scams and replied with their eID password. Within hours of replying, the stolen eID and password is used to login to K-State's Webmail from Nigeria (and other locations around the world) and send massive quantities of spam e-mails. Consequently, e-mail service providers view K-State as a source of spam and start blocking any e-mail to or from K-State. Service providers that have added K-State to their block list include Microsoft, Yahoo, AT&T, AOL, Comcast, Road Runner, and more.

IT support staff work quickly to get K-State removed from these blocklists, but we sometimes get added back on as fast as we're removed because someone else replied to a scam e-mail with their password.  Since the content of the scam messages changes regularly and they originate from multiple sources all over the world, technological methods for intercepting these scams are ineffective. When K-State IT support staff detect a new scam, they start blocking replies to the address specified in the scam, but that is usually too late to catch every response. The real answer to staying off spam blocklists and protecting eID passwords is for every user to recognize a scam e-mail and not respond to it!

If you replied to any of these scam e-mails and provided your password, immediately take these steps to minimize the impact on you and your K-State colleagues. And remember - IT support staff will NEVER ask for your password, nor will any legitimate business or financial institution.

Many other universities around the country are getting similar scam e-mails and fighting the same battles as K-State. We are working with these institutions and a national higher education security organization to provide information to law enforcement so they can track down the criminals responsible for these scams. In the mean time, you can expect more of these scams since it has obivously been productive for the criminals.

K-State Online

Axio Quarterly, great resource

by Sarah Silva, Information Technology Assistance Center
published March 25, 2008

A great resource for ideas about using K-State Online is the Axio Quarterly, an electronic publication targeted towards the Axio Learning Community, of which K-State Online is a member. The latest issue of the Axio Quarterly includes articles about:

  • how others are using Axio for distance learning and group collaboration
  • Axio's quality assurance team and the role they play in customer support
  • tips and tricks for online assignments
  • information about incorporating games and simulations into courses

Previous issues are available for download from the Axio Learning website.

iSIS Tip Sheets

by Cathy Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published March 25, 2008

iSIS tip sheets are available for faculty/advisors (PDF) and students (PDF). The faculty/advisor tip sheet includes information about iSIS enrollment bookmarks, iSIS availability, removing the ADV (advising) negative service indicator, permission to enroll or override of pre-requisites, and more. The student tip sheet includes enrollment date, quickest way to enroll, pre-requisites, and more.

Spotlight

Wireless Consumer Protection and Community Broadband Empowerment Act of 2008

by Sarah Silva, Information Technology Assistance Center
published March 25, 2008

The House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet met in late February to discuss the proposed "Wireless Consumer Protection and Community Broadband Empowerment Act of 2008" -- a draft bill that would set forth new consumer protection regulations for wireless service subscribers. The proposed legislation, sponsored by subcommittee chairman Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), would require providers to

  • disclose to consumers all rates and charges associated with their plans - prior to entering into a contract
  • offer to subscribers detailed service area maps
  • offer plans with no early termination fees
  • give consumers the ability to purchase contract-free phones
  • prorate early termination fees on plans that have them
  • permit consumers to cancel a contract within the first 30 days

In addition, it also will allow municipalities to offer wireless, broadband, cable and phone services to the citizens in their communities. For more details about this bill, see http://markey.house.gov/docs/telecomm/draft_wireless_legislation.pdf and http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3281&Itemid=61 .