Welcome Back!

The IT Group would like to welcome everyone back to a new academic year and take a moment to provide some new information you missed while you were away and other information just to keep in mind.

• The IT Group is pleased to announce that Elise Morrissette has accepted the responsibilities of the IT Group HelpDesk Manager filling the vacancy left by the resignation of Eoin Clarke in May. Elise brings years of experience to the position and her primary focus has always been customer service making the customer experience her top priority. Please join me in welcoming Elise as our HelpDesk Manager.



• The Rhodes Hall Computer Lab has a new face this year. While one-half of the lab remains the same continuing to offer computers for basic student computing use, the other half will provide students with an open, collaborative working space. This mobile lab allows students to come together and work in groups comfortably and easily. New mobile tables and chairs allows students to form a "pod", plug in their own laptop and view their work on a monitor attached to the wall. It is still currently "under construction", but look for it's opening very soon!



• This summer, the IT Group completed an upgrade to the KSC data center. The KSC data center houses campus servers and networking equipment. This project resulted in upgraded power and cooling system, so that the power can be managed and tracked from a centralized system, and an added an emergency fire suppression system so that equipment will not be damaged in the event that the fire suppression system is activated. These outcomes delivered not only greater efficiency and reliability for campus, but environmental benefits to the campus as well.



• FY09 Projects
  The IT Group along with our campus partners completed 15 projects during FY09. Complete list is available on the web and located under the IT Technology Plan FY09 Projects & Initiatives



• FY10 Projects
  Looking for what's new for FY10 Projects? Visit IT Technology Plan FY10 Projects & Initiatives



• Network Upgrades - As part of our network upgrade master plan, Carle Hall and sections of Elliot received network wiring and equipment upgrades. These upgrades help ensure a reliable, high performance and secure technology rich environment that facilitates curricular needs and access to IT resources and information services for students, faculty and staff.



• Busy summer. All discipline and public labs were reimaged (refreshed) and cleaned. The Library Lab, Library circulation laptops, Modern Languages Lab, Rhodes Public Lab and the Safety Lab were all upgraded this summer. We delivered, installed or upgraded 56 workstations for faculty, 69 for staff, 9 SmartCarts, 130 Lab computers and 36 circulation laptops for the Library over the summer. FY09 printer upgrades were also completed. For information on workstation and printer upgrade policies and procedures.

In addition, a new network access control product was purchased, tested and implemented for Fall 09 returning students.

Reminders:

• The new USNH System Access Policy took effect May 1. This policy increases protection for computers and data resources used in the transaction of USNH and Keene State College business. It is the responsibility of every KSC employee to comply and practice safe computing practices as outlined by USNH and KSC policies, standards and procedures. Visit Changes Resulting from the System Access Control Policy for a comprehensive list.



• Netbooks, the lighter, smaller version of laptop computers are being purchased by departments across campus because of their compact size and inexpensive price tag. They are perfect for travel if your needs are limited to reading email and surfing the web and you don't need large storage capacity or fast processing and can live without high resolution graphics and a large screen. While they fit this need for basic computing, netbooks are not currently a supported technology by the IT Group.



• The HelpDesk is dedicated to the distribution and support of standard technologies used by employees of Keene State College - including desktop computers, classroom technology, major applications, telecommunications equipment, and access to the campus network. The HelpDesk is open Monday - Thursday, 8AM to 9PM and Friday 8AM to 5PM.