Going to be out of the office for a few days? You can set an "away" message for your University email account using the Set Email Forwarding and Autoreply found in the "Manage Your Email" section of My Account.

U of M Google account users will need to use Google's auto-reply, forwarding and mail filters features available in Gmail. The existing central functions are not available to Google users. To configure an out-of-office auto-reply, use the "Vacation Responder" feature in Gmail. Instructions are on Google's Setting an Automatic Vacation Response.

Posted 8:44 PM | Permalink

OIT offers a centrally-managed printing solution, providing a fast and easy way to standardize the way students print across campus, decreasing print waste and further promoting student accountability with a pay-as-you-print system. Find out more about Managed Printing.

Posted 8:43 PM | Permalink

The New Media Consortium (NMC) has just released a preview of the 2011 Horizon Report. As explained on the NMC website: "The Horizon Project, as the centerpiece of NMC's Emerging Technologies Initiative, charts the landscape of emerging technologies for teaching, learning and creative inquiry and produces the NMC's series of Horizon Reports." Read more of the Horizon Report 2011 Preview.

Posted 8:41 PM | Permalink

The Spring schedule for technology training offered by the Office of Information Technology will be posted to the training web site in mid-December. Check back then to find upcoming dates and to register for Spring courses.

Posted 3:25 PM | Permalink

OIT Technology Training offers a variety of Moodle course. Topics include creating basic course web sites, working with assignments and quizzes, using the Moodle grade book. To learn about all our Moodle courses, visit the Moodle resource page on the training web site.

Posted 3:16 PM | Permalink

OIT has launched a Data Center Modernization Program in order to provide the University of Minnesota with a number of significant benefits including cost savings, better security for private data, reduction of our carbon footprint, and much more. Read more of Data Center Modernization Project.

Posted 10:32 AM | Permalink

A program for institutions that provides a wide range of Autodesk design tools, including AutoCAD, is now is available for any departmental license purchase system-wide on all University of Minnesota campuses. Autodesk is used for teaching in the fields of manufacturing, industrial design, architecture, construction and civil engineering. For complete information, visit UTools Autodesk.

Posted 10:27 AM | Permalink

The Office of Information Technology offers a number of technology training courses. Please visit the Technology Training for a complete listing of training courses.

Access 2007: Advanced Database Development
Dec 1, 2, 3 , 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
90 Blegen Hall
Windows

Wikis: Collaborative Content Development
Dec 1, 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Walter Library 210
Macintosh/Windows

Web Development: Dreamweaver CS5 Basics
Dec 2, 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Walter Library 210
Macintosh/Windows

SAS Programming II- Data Manipulation Techniques
Dec 7, 9, 14, 16, 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM
90 Blegen Hall
Windows

Moodle 1.9: Creating Basic Course Web Sites
Dec 7, 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Walter Library 210
Macintosh/Windows

Video Production: Creating Effective Short Videos
Dec 8, 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Walter Library 210
Windows

Google Apps: Collaborating in the University Environment
Dec 9, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
90 Blegen Hall
Macintosh/Windows

Moodle 1.9: Assignments and Quizzes
Dec 9, 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Walter Library 210
Macintosh/Windows

Geographic Information Systems: Analyzing Data and Creating Maps
Dec 10, 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM
90 Blegen Hall
Windows

Posted 10:22 AM | Permalink

The University of Minnesota winter closure is approaching quickly, and the Twin Cities campus will be closed from Friday, Dec. 24-Friday, Dec. 31. Normal business hours resume and buildings reopen Monday, Jan. 3, 2011.

If you or your staff members are planning to work from home during the closure, now is the time to prepare. The Office of Information Technology (OIT) invites University faculty and staff to learn how to more securely work from home on our Safe Computing website. The site includes policies and best practices on safe computing and data security including:

• Storing University Private Data on University-Owned Equipment


• Using a University Provided Laptop or Computer


• Using the University Virtual Private Network (VPN)

During the winter closure, OIT's technology help desk, 1-HELP, will be staffed only to respond to calls regarding password resets and major service outages. It is recommended that you download a VPN client and test it before the winter closure begins, if you intend to use your wired or wireless connection from home for University business.

For more information on the winter closure, visit the Faculty and Staff University Winter Closure website.

Posted 4:21 PM | Permalink

In May 2010, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) announced to the University that Moodle would become the sole Course Management System (CMS). At that time, WebVista course sections outnumbered those in Moodle. Since the announcement, Moodle use has continued to increase such that by September, Moodle course sections outnumbered WebVista course sections.

In order to help the University through this challenging transition process, OIT will partner with campus leaders and form governance groups for input and advice. These groups will include the CMS steering committee, comprised of administrators; the Academic Technology Advisory Committee (ATAC), comprised of administrators, faculty members, and academic technologists; and the CMS Implementation Group, formerly University Technology Enhanced Learning Leaders (UTELL), comprised primarily of academic and nonacademic operational staff members. These groups will act as liaisons to their colleges and units to bring forward concerns and requests and to take back critical information regarding the transition and the upcoming Moodle upgrade.

Moodle Upgrade

Posted 2:16 PM | Permalink

The Office of Information Technology's (OIT) Usability Services has launched a newly designed website complete with a virtual tour produced by OIT video production services. In this short video tour, David Rosen, manager of OIT's Usability Services, shows and describes the Usability lab's conference space, observation area, and its recording equipment.

In the lab, OIT's Usability Services helps people test their websites, surveys, and applications, in order to encourage design with the user in mind. Visit OIT's redesigned Usability Services website to:

• learn about our methodology and evaluation tools,
• take a virtual tour of the Usability lab,
• and request services.

Posted 12:05 PM | Permalink

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) has launched a Data Center Modernization Program in order to provide the University of Minnesota with a number of significant benefits including cost savings, better security for private data, reduction of our carbon footprint, and much more.

The Data Center Modernization Program is a collection of eleven different projects, which all share the following objectives:

• modernize and secure OIT's main data center
• consolidate over 225 disparate server hosting locations down to a few sites
• virtualize 75% of servers on campus which will reduce the number of physical servers by 1,500

This program offers a number of benefits to the University:

Virtualization: Virtual hosting, a service that is now offered by OIT, allows 20 servers to be hosted on only one physical server, thus eliminating server and space requirements dramatically. Nearly 3,000 servers can now be housed in just three computing racks.
Cost Avoidance: By eliminating 1,500 physical servers, there is no need for a new 20 million dollar data center.

Reduced Costs: A potential multimillion dollar annual savings is expected for the University.

Reduced Risk: Data and equipment will be stored in a secure "lights out" facility, to physically secure computing equipment and critical and private data.
Improved Computing Uptime: These modernization efforts, including adding a new secondary site for critical applications and data, will improve uptime for applications and data hosted in OIT sites.

Green IT: The University can reduce its carbon footprint by 7,500 metric tons (900+ avg. homes) or over 700 thousand dollars per year in electricity. In addition, we can eliminate the energy and materials needed to produce 1,500 servers every four to five years, as well as the toxic waste from disposing of them.

Space Utilization: The University can reduce the number of rooms used to house servers by 99 percent, freeing up over 200 rooms on campus for other purposes.

Strategic Server Purchasing: By standardizing server models, the University will establish strategic pricing contracts with Dell, IBM, and Apple, which will be available through UMart, with the goal of reducing the number of server manufacturers on campus from over 50 down to a few.

Thus far, three of the eleven projects in the Program are complete, and the University will begin realizing the long-term benefits of virtualization and data center consolidation in the next 12-18 months. More information about this program will be available in the coming months.

Posted 2:10 PM | Permalink