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CaTS | Information Technology

CaTS Blog

Laptops2Go: New HP Laptops!

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

CaTS is excited to announce we’ve upgraded our Laptops2Go service with new HP ProBooks!

These new laptops feature a 2.3 GHz processor and 8 GB RAM. Windows 7 and Office 2016 come pre-installed on the computer.

As a reminder, Laptops2Go allows you to checkout a laptop for up to four hours for free through the CaTS Help Desk. Both PCs and Macs are available to students.

For more information, visit https://www.wright.edu/information-technology/services/laptops2go, call the CaTS Help Desk at (937) 775-4827, or email helpdesk@wright.edu.

CaTS System Maintenance for 12/4/16

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

CaTS will be replacing the Main Campus production firewall on Sunday, December 4, from 5:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. During this time network access will be unavailable, along with all University systems such as WINGS, WINGS Express, Banner, etc. The wright.edu websites will be available to off campus users.

This firewall replacement will provide campus with the needed capacity to cope with growing network bandwidth requirements, as well as allowing for the consolidation of security appliances into a single platform.

For questions about this maintenance, please contact the CaTS Help Desk at (937) 775-4827, or send an email to helpdesk@wright.edu.

Upcoming Network Outage

Thursday, November 10, 2016

On Friday, November 11, from 7am to 12pm, CaTS will be replacing networking equipment in the Diggs Laboratory, Biological Sciences II, and Health Sciences buildings. During this time all network connectivity will be unavailable.

If you have any questions, contact the CaTS Help Desk at (937) 775-4827, or email helpdesk@wright.edu .
 

Updates for Fall Semester 2016

Friday, October 21, 2016

Hello everyone, as we gear up for Fall Semester, I wanted to give everyone an update on the many ventures CaTS has been working on.

Below are the topics that will be covered in this post, which can be clicked on to take you directly to the section you're interested in.


CaTS Satisfaction Survey Results

I want to thank everyone who participated in the CaTS Satisfaction Survey. We are continuously looking for ways to improve our services, and your feedback is crucial in helping us set our goals for the future. We value our customers' opinions and strive to improve our services for the university.

You can view the results of the survey here: CaTS Survey Results

Three major themes were apparent when reviewing the results:

  • The need to provide technical training to our customers
  • Increased transparency of CaTS projects through improved campus communications
  • Faster service resolution times

CaTS plans to address each of these in the following ways

Technical Training

We received a large number of requests to provide technical training to the University. As a result, CaTS is beginning the development of a training program. As development progresses, a variety of topics will have training sessions formed to aid Wright State employees. Some of these topics include Office 365 training (email/calendar, OneDrive for Business, Skype for Business, SharePoint), Banner Admin training, and more. If you have questions about the development of the CaTS training program, contact cats-training@wright.edu.

Increased Transparency and Faster Service Resolution Times

CaTS is striving to increase department transparency to keep our customers better informed of major projects effecting Wright State. While CaTS staff works diligently to provide excellent services, we are in the process of implementing an Incident Management process as a way to improve users experience when interacting with CaTS, and quicker response times to your requests. You can also read more about this process in the Information Technology Service Management section below.


Information Technology Service Management

In anticipation of our customer's needs, CaTS has begun developing a new Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) program. The goal of this program is to improve the delivery of IT services by developing processes in-line with industry best practices, known as ITIL.

Over the past few months the ITSM team has been working on two concurrent projects: formalizing CaTS’ Incident Management process (how we respond when a service is down or in a degraded state) and Request Fulfillment process (when you request something from us); and implementing a new software application, called ServiceNow, to manage our work (your tickets and requests). ServiceNow will replace an existing application, called HEAT, which has been in use at Wright State since 2001. In addition to calling or emailing the Help Desk, with ServiceNow you will be able submit tickets and track progress via a self-service portal. Both the process models and ServiceNow are slated for implementation on August 2.

You can find more information about this ITSM project here: Information Technology Service Management


Interactive Video Distance Learning Classrooms 

We are in the process of converting several rooms around campus to interactive distance learning classroom. This allows Faculty members to teach a class at either Dayton or Lake Campus with the ability to connect the two campuses, as well as include students learning from off-site locations. When an instructor walks into the room, the first step is using an iPad-like device to choose which room they want to connect to. Once the instructor begins talking, the equipment set up in the room uses a camera to follow the instructor around the room using facial recognition. Two additional cameras can also work in tandem to zoom in on audience members as they are talking. 

A benefit of using this system is the ability to easily upgrade software, which will allow for future features to be easily introduced. The following classrooms will feature this new technology by the beginning of the Fall 2016 Semester:

Main Campus

  • 009 Millett Hall
  • 050 Rike Hall
  • 125 Oelman Hall
  • 154 Russ Engineering Center
  • 1 portable unit

Lake Campus

  • 150 Dwyer Hall
  • 186 Andrews Hall
  • 2 portable units

If you are interested in using this new technology in your class, contact Debbie Whisler at (937) 775-4066. You can find more information about this service here: Interactive Video Distance Learning


Email Security Enhancements

CaTS is expanding Proofpoint's Targeted Attack Protection (TAP) service to help protect against specific threats that are distributed via email attachments. When a malicious attachment in an email has been detected, TAP strips the attachment to prevent phishing and targeted malware attacks. If you receive an email containing an infected attachment, Proofpoint will filter out the email to protect your account from being compromised. These emails will be presented to you when you receive your End User's Digest, or when you visit your Proofpoint inbox. 

This enhancement to TAP is being implemented as an addition to our existing spam filtering service. For more information about TAP, visit Targeted Attack Protection.

If you have any questions or concerns, I'd be happy to discuss them with you. Please contact me at (937) 775-4008, or craig.woolley@wright.edu.

Craig Woolley, Chief Information Officer

 

Office Sway

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Office 365 now has a presentation application called Office Sway. Office Sway allows you to pull content from your local devices or internet sources, such as Facebook, YouTube, and OneDrive. Sway is tied to your Microsoft account and can be viewed and edited from any browser when connected to the internet. 

In addition, Sway makes it easy to create and share interactive reports, stories, presentations, and more. You can add your own text and pictures, or search for relevant content from other souces. Sway allows you to share your content with your classmates and coworkers, and allows you to control who views your presentations.

For more information, visit our Office Sway page. 

For questions, contact the CaTS Help Desk at (937) 775-4827 or send an email to helpdesk@wright.edu.

Laptops2Go Information

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Beginning Thursday, August 25, the Laptops2Go service is being relocated from its current location on the 2nd floor of Dunbar Library to the CaTS Help Desk in 025 Library Annex. Moving Laptops2Go will centralize IT services for students and improve the customer experience for laptop checkout.

For more information about the Laptops2Go service, visit the following website:

https://www.wright.edu/information-technology/services/laptops2go

For questions, contact the CaTS Help Desk at (937) 775-4827 or send an email to helpdesk@wright.edu.

CaTS System Maintenance for 10/22/16

Thursday, October 20, 2016

CaTS will be performing a Banner upgrade on Saturday, October 22, from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. This will facilitate the processing of regulatory changes in ACT scores, as well as keeping WSU current with our Banner Student and Accounts Receivable administrative software. During this time access to all Banner-related services will be unavailable, including the following:

  • WINGS Express
  • Banner Admin
  • Wright1 Card Services
  • TouchNet
  • TK20
  • Parking Services
  • WrightBuy
  • Xtender
  • DARS


If you have any questions concerning this maintenance, please contact the CaTS Help Desk at (937) 775-4827, or send an email to helpdesk@wright.edu.

Microsoft Forms

Sunday, October 16, 2016

Microsoft Forms is a new part of Office 365 Education that allows you to quickly and easily create custom quizzes, surveys, questionnaires, registrations, and more. This service is accessible to all students, faculty, and staff as an alternative to Qualtrics. 

When you create a form, you can invite others to respond to it using any web browser or mobile device. As results are submitted, you can use built-in analytics to evaluate responses. Form data can also be easily exported to Excel for additional analysis or grading. 

For more details, visit our Microsoft Forms page. 

For questions, contact the CaTS Help Desk at (937) 775-4827 or send an email tohelpdesk@wright.edu.

Home Base Services

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Home Base was created to meet the advanced support needs of university faculty, staff, and students. CaTS provides basic support services for free, but can now offer more in-depth support through Home Base. You'll find prices for these support offerings are much lower than going off campus. Home Base also offers software available for purchase to students, staff, and faculty members. 

https://www.wright.edu/information-technology/services/home-base

Atomic Learning

Monday, October 10, 2016

Want to learn more about new software? Atomic Learning is an excellent free resource provided by CaTS. Using your Campus username (w###abc) and password, you have access to training videos ranging from Microsoft Office and Captivate to preparing for college and for your career!

Start exploring on the Atomic Learning website today! 

If you have any comments or concerns, please contact the Help Desk at helpdesk@wright.edu

 

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