ITD News 
News, Tips, and Information from NC State University
Information Technology Division
For up-to-the-minute reports on ITD-supported systems, see SysNews
For help with a computing problem, contact the NC State Help Desk
August, 2007
Table of Contents
*01* Unity email address official for students
*02* Virtual Computing Lab now open to all NC State
*03* TurningPoint 2008 endorsed as new campus standard clicker system
*04* Microsys delivers latest WolfPrep PC set-up
*05* SAS offers Self-Paced e-Learning courses free to NC State
*06* Education Program features Office 2007 workshops for fall semester
*07* Students begin to use MyPack Portal in September
*08* Central email and calendaring reorganized under ComTech
*01* Unity email address now official for students
As of August 13, 2007, all official email correspondence from the university should be sent to students’ Unity email addresses. This includes email regarding student account information, eBILLs, and correspondence from instructors regarding classes. Students have been notified of the change in the email address that is associated with their records in the student information system. Instructors should continue to use students’ email addresses provided by Registration and Records.
The university implemented these changes because of the increased use of email for official communications and the need to have confidence that the email is being delivered to valid student email addresses. Students still have the option of forwarding their email to another account by going to https://sysnews.ncsu.edu/tools-bin/usmdb-forwards
Changes to business processes that affect the email address information used for communication employees earlier this summer. . For more information on the email address information that NC State maintains, see http://www.ncsu.edu/it/essentials/email_messaging/address-changes-2007.html. If you have questions, please contact the NC State Help Desk at 515-HELP, help@ncsu.edu<mailto:help@ncsu.edu>, or http://help.ncsu.edu.
*02* Virtual Computing Lab now open to all NC State
NC State's Virtual Computing Lab (VCL) is now open to all NC State students, faculty and staff: http://vcl.ncsu.edu.
The VCL provides 24/7 on-line on-demand remote access to high-end software applications and computing power. Use of applications in Windows environments was previously restricted to the College of Engineering and specific courses in other colleges. Now MatLab, Maple, SAS, SolidWorks, Linux and Solaris Realm Kits are available to all who have an Internet connection and valid Unity ID. Software to enable remote access is also required. Windows and Macintosh computers use the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). RDP comes with Windows XP (Start-> Programs -> Accessories -> Communications); for an OS X Mac it can be downloaded from http://vcl.ncsu.edu/site/categories/help). <http://vcl.ncsu.edu/site/categories/help>
For help getting started with the VCL, visit http://vcl.ncsu.edu/site/pages/help/vcl-help-faq
Instructors who would like an easy way to create a customized computing lab environment for their classes should contact the VCL team at vcl_help@ncsu.edu <mailto:vcl_help@ncsu.edu>.
*03* TurningPoint 2008 endorsed as new campus standard clicker system
In spring 2007, the Classroom Environment Committee (CEC) and the University IT Committee endorsed the recommendation that NC State adopt Turning Technologies’ TurningPoint as the campus standard for classroom interactive response (“clicker”) systems. The TurningPoint 2008 software was released recently and is now available in all ClassTech classrooms. PAMS and CALS have purchased a number of clicker devices for use by students in specific courses. Students in other courses may need to purchase their own clicker. Instructors teaching in ClassTech classrooms who would like to use clickers systems should consult with ClassTech staff: classtech@ncsu.edu <mailto:classtech@ncsu.edu>.
Instructors or staff who intend to implement clicker systems in classrooms not supported by ClassTech are strongly encouraged to use the TurningPoint 2008 system. The TurningPoint 2008 software is available on the campus NAL system, and the software can be downloaded for use on campus from the Turning Technologies web site (http://www.turningtechnologies.com/groupresponsesystemsupport/downloads.cfm; The vendor also offers TurningPoint training online; DELTA has scheduled fall workshops on the use of student response systems in classrooms (http://delta.ncsu.edu/learn/workshops/ltw/). For more information visit http://www.ncsu.edu/classtech/clickers/.
*04* Microsys delivers latest WolfPrep PC set-up
The ITD Microsys unit is delivering the 2007 WolfPrep desktop for the fall semester. The Wolfprep desktop contains over 100 applications and utilities and is used on about 2000 computing lab and other workstations across campus. Over 65% of these applications are new or updated. Several major suites were updated, including Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft Office 2007, Adobe Creative Suite CS3, Autodesk 2008 and ArcGIS 9.2. For more information about ITD Microsys, see http://microsys.unity.ncsu.edu/ or contact help@ncsu.edu
*05* SAS offers Self-Paced e-Learning courses free to NC State
Thanks to a generous grant from SAS, SAS Self Paced e-Learning (SPEL) courses valued at $3050 if purchased by individuals are now available free of charge to NC State faculty, students and staff. If you have a valid Unity ID, these on-line courses allow you to take SAS training at your own computer, at your own pace, whenever it's convenient. With an Internet connection and a web browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox, you can take courses such as Getting Started with SAS, SAS Certification, Base and Advanced Programming, Applied Analytics Using SAS Enterprise Miner 5, An Introduction to Data Warehousing, and many more. Use of SAS software may be required for the successful completion of some courses. All NC State students, faculty and staff have 24/7 remote online access to SAS software installed on Virtual Computing Lab computers. http://vcl.ncsu.edu/.
Visit the NCSU SAS SPEL web pages for more information and instructions on how to request a SAS SPEL course: http://sas.ncsu.edu/SPEL/
*06* Education Program features Office 2007 workshops for fall semester
ITD's education program will add Microsoft Office 2007 training for students, faculty and staff to its list of free workshops for the fall semester. As Office 2007 comes into wider use on campus, an increasing number of people are having problems sharing files. ITD workshops provide a quick and easy way to learn how to avoid problems and use the new features of Office 2007. The full schedule of ITD fall workshops will be online soon. Workshops are free to NC State faculty, staff and students. Registration is required. For more information, visit http://itd.ncsu.edu/education
*07* Students begin to use MyPack Portal in September
Beginning in September, students and others will need to use the new MyPack Portal (mypack.ncsu.edu) for access to the online course registration system and other important tasks. The university’s new password standards apply to the MyPack Portal. Most students as well as faculty and staff will need to change their passwords before they can use the Portal for the first time to change your password visit http://www.ncsu.edu/password
*08* Central email and calendaring reorganized under ComTech
Provost Nielsen and Vice Chancellor Leffler announced on August 6 that the calendaring and e-mail operations of Resource Management and Information Systems (RMIS) and the Information Technology Division (ITD) are being integrated and transitioned to Communication Technologies. This new consolidation is expected to lead to a cohesive calendaring and e-mail strategy for NC State and to lay the foundation for future innovations in unified communications, such as combined e-mail, voice-mail, instant messaging, and other forms of electronic communications. ITD and RMIS will continue to support existing calendaring and email systems for the campus through the fall '07 and spring '08 semesters.
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