• June 24, 2008

"Upgrade K-State: Tell Us What You Need" report available

by Amanda Tross, Office of Mediated Education
published June 24, 2008

The "Upgrade K-State: Tell Us What You Need" report is now available at upgrade.k-state.edu/results. The report — which compiles results from Upgrade K-State e-mail comments, targeted IT focus groups, and open forums held this spring — offers a broad scan of the current state of K-State's information technology services and future needs as perceived by a wide range of K-Staters. More than 230 people participated in the focus groups and open forums, and more than 100 comments were received by e-mail. The information gathered provides a foundation for future strategic planning for the next generation of IT services at K-State.

The report is being used by the Campus IT Needs Assessment Working Group to develop recommendations this summer for the provost and the Computing Executive Committee regarding next steps to better align central IT services with critical campus needs. In addition, central IT leadership and staff will review the documentation for "quick win" action items to improve central IT services.

To provide additional feedback or comments, see the Upgrade K-State website.

iSIS student accounts ready to use July 1

by Jennifer Gehrt, LASER Project
published June 24, 2008

iSIS, K-State's new student information system, continues its phased implementation.

Sunday, June 22: Students who are enrolled in the fall semester began to see a "Future Due" amount in their Account Summary in iSIS Student Center with a "Due Now" amount = 0. Once the legacy system (BRS/KATS) account balances are converted to iSIS this upcoming weekend, the Due Now will include any unpaid amounts, too. For the remainder of this week, students must view their current account balances in KATS.

5 p.m. Friday, June 27, through midnight on Monday, June 30: Students' financial records will be converted from the Billing Receivable System (BRS) and KATS to iSIS. During this timeframe, administrative staff will not be able to enroll or drop students in summer classes in SIS, and students will not be able to view or pay their account online. Any student payment received in person or by mail on June 30 will be posted to the student's iSIS account July 1. Enrollment for Fall 2008 in iSIS will not be affected, and iSIS will be available for normal business during this timeframe.

Starting July 1, students will be able to do the following in iSIS:

  • Account inquiry
  • Make a payment to their student account
  • View account balances, which will include tuition and fees assessment for the fall semester (if enrolled)

Student account activities will be permanently discontinued in KATS. The remaining summer semester-related financial activities and prior will be interfaced nightly from BRS to iSIS (i.e., tuition and fees assessment for a summer class).

July 15: Billing for the fall semester will occur, with a due date of Aug. 15.

For questions about student accounts in iSIS, contact the Cashier's Office at 785-532-6317.

iSIS update: Video overview of Student Center

by Aimee Hagedorn, Information Technology Assistance Center
published June 24, 2008

A new iSIS Student Center overview video is now available on the iSIS help website. The silent 1.5-minute segment highlights the navigation and key features of the Student Center. View the video at www.k-state.edu/isishelp/student.

Microsoft Office 2007 tip: Microsoft Office Button

by Cathy Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published June 24, 2008

The user interface for Microsoft Office 2007 has a completely new look and feel. There are no longer menus. Therefore, it isn't necessarily intuitive where to look for specific commands such as how to print. The File menu has been replaced with the Microsoft Office Button, which is located in the upper-left corner of Office appplications.

Image of Microsoft Office Button

The Microsoft Office button allows you to open, save, print, and more. To learn more about the Office Button, watch the YouTube video Introducing the MS Office Button.

PureText software tool: Text without formatting

by Cathy Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published June 24, 2008

Do you find yourself copying information from the Web, e-mail, and/or word processing documents, and then needing to paste that information without pasting the formatting along with it? If so, PureText software is the answer for you.

PureText will take any text in your Windows clipboard and convert it to plain text. Then you can copy it into the application of your choice without the formatting that was used in the orginal document, e-mail, or webpage. To paste the converted text, click the PT icon in your system tray, or simultaneously press the Windows key on your keyboard and the V key.

Image of PureText in System Tray

PureText is free and can be used on Windows operating systems. According to the website, "PureText is basically equivalent to opening Notepad, doing a Paste, followed by a Select-All, and then a Copy.  The benefit of PureText is performing all these actions with a single Hot-Key and having the result pasted into the current window automatically."

Security tip of the week

Scam e-mails still causing problems; see recent examples

by Harvard Townsend, IT security
published June 24, 2008

Since May 27, K-State has seen 18 new variants of spear-phishing scam e-mails and sadly, 33 more K-Staters have replied to these scams with their eID password. That makes a total of 68 who have given their eID password to criminals since the first scam arrived in late January. The recently compromised WebMail accounts were once again used by criminals logging in from Nigeria to send tens of thousands of spam messages, resulting in K-State's central e-mail system getting on spam block lists — and e-mail from K-State to AT&T (including sbcglobal.net) and Hotmail have therefore been rejected at times over the last week.

Examples of the recent scam e-mails are available on the IT security website so you can compare them with suspicious e-mails you receive.

Once again, people are reminded to never provide their password to anyone in e-mail. Neither IT support staff nor any legitimate business will ever ask for your password in an e-mail. Technical controls cannot stop the constantly changing scam e-mails, nor can they prevent all replies. Everyone who uses K-State's IT resources must learn to recognize scams to prevent becoming a victim of identity theft or financial fraud, and to keep K-State's e-mail systems off spam block lists.

Since another variant of the scam e-mail arrived today and so many people have been victimized by them, an e-mail warning similar to the one sent on Jan. 31 will soon be sent to all K-Staters via the SECURITY-ALERTS mailing list. This will also help warn new students and employees arriving at K-State this summer.

K-State Online

How to print course roster, add photos?

by Cathy Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published June 24, 2008

Can I print my course roster?

Yes. Use your browser's print command to print the roster. The menu and other non-relevant information will not print. You can add your students' photos to the roster prior to printing so you can match faces with names. To add the students' photos, click the Preferences link, and then select to show the User Photo.

Trend Micro antivirus "on campus" or "off campus" setup?

by Betsy Edwards, Information Technology Assistance Center,
and Shea McGrew, Computing and Telecommunications Services
published June 24, 2008

I have the CatPack DVD. Which version of Trend Micro antivirus should I install?

When you begin to install Trend Micro from the CatPack, you'll be asked to select "On campus" or "Off campus" setup. Both versions are configured to automatically update and both can be used on- or off-campus, but there are a few key differences.

"On campus" setup (aka "managed mode") will set your computer to go to K-State's managed server for antivirus definition updates as well as antivirus program updates, such as software version updates.

"Off campus" setup (aka "unmanaged mode") will set your computer to go to Trend Micro's site for antivirus definition updates. The off-campus setup only provides virus definition updates, not program updates (such as software version updates).

If you've installed one setup and decide to switch to the other setup, you'll first have to uninstall the K-State antivirus software (webpage requires a K-State eID/password). If you have any questions about the CatPack or antivirus software, contact the IT Help Desk, 785-532-7722, helpdesk@k-state.edu.

Spotlight

Questions from parents, students about IT resources

by the editors, InfoTech Tuesday
published June 24, 2008

This year, ECC, iTAC, OME, CTS, ISO, and K-State Libraries are among the IT staff providing support for New Student Orientation and Enrollment.

As part of orientation, iTAC staff provide two 30-minute presentations each day and staff an information booth. Below are some of the questions that parents and students are asking about information technology (in no particular order).

  1. Is VoIP available in the residence halls?
  2. Where can I get a CatPack and what is included?
  3. Can I remote in to update my student's computer?
  4. Is the campus 100-percent wireless?
  5. Do the fraternity houses require K-State's antivirus program?
  6. Should I purchase a laptop or a PC for my student? Should it be a Mac or Windows-based operating system?
  7. Why do I need an Ethernet cable if the campus is wireless?
  8. Which departments/colleges have specific computer recommendations?
  9. How do you recommend securing a laptop?