IT Update: Summer 2012
Please take note of the following updates from IT:
• Students in particular, take note: The costs associated with student printing resources provided at the Graduate Center, including procurement of printers & release stations and their ongoing maintenance, print management software, toner and paper, are funded from the Student Tech Fee and overseen by the Student Tech Fee Committee. Effective with academic year 2012-13, the Student Tech Fee Committee decided unanimously to initiate actions intended to reduce these recurring costs. At the Committee’s direction, the following actions have been implemented:
o To promote awareness in students regarding the amount of printing being done, and to capture a volume of baseline data, the GC print management system (OCS) has now been configured to log every GC student print job and to tally page counts both individually and cumulatively.
o An initial print quota of 10,000 pages per GC student per semester has been established for the pilot year. Quotas are reset to 10,000 pages at the beginning of each semester. A single sheet of paper printed on both sides (“duplex printing”) counts as two pages.
o The OCS print management software interprets page quotas in monetary units. So, we have set the price of a page at ten cents and quotas to $1,000. You will see that this equates to the common notion of a 10,000 page quota.
o Students nearing their print quota in a given semester can seek an increase via a simple Help Desk request or visit; all such initial requests will automatically be granted this first year (at no cost).
• The student PCs have been re-imaged with updated versions of various software packages. We are now beginning the process of re-imaging the student Macs with OS X (Lion) and updated software, as well as McAfee anti-virus software. SPSS 20 is being updated with the newest service pack. In the near future the software suite available via Citrix XenApp will be pruned of under-utilized titles or software poorly suited to execute remotely. Computer hardware upgrades in classroom C196.03 have recently been concluded.
• As previously noted, individual fax machines are being replaced with a new software solution (RightFax). Students will be able to fax from any computer via RightFax on Citrix XenApp.
• A new network file share has been created for staff and faculty specifically designed for electronic archiving. For more information or to request access to this new file share (designated “Archive spaces” or the T: drive) contact the Help Desk.
• Time-out settings (based on 30 minutes of continuous inactivity) have been implemented on desktop computers, to align us with CUNY IT Security standards. We are now prototyping the configuration of desktop encryption software for future deployment.
• We’ve now implemented the Self-Service Center component of our Help Desk software, enabling end-users to oversee their Help Desk tickets more effectively. See instructions.
• A new audio system has been installed in the Skylight Room, improving the sound quality for events in that space. A video-capture camera has been installed in the Segal Theatre to enable events to be streamed or recorded for future playback.
• A newly-revised “New User Orientation” video will be posted on the IT website in the very near future.
• We have launched a new resource to our community titled “Website Services”, which can be found at http://ws.gc.cuny.edu. This service is built upon the popular and user-friendly WordPress system and provides the entire GC Community a way to quickly setup just about any kind of web site, from a conference site, to a CV site, or a general interest blog. This resource provides the tools necessary to get your web presence up and running with minimal web design experience or coding knowledge; several templates are provided to get you started, and dozens of plug-ins and themes enable you to tailor the functionality and design of your site.
Information Technology
CUNY Graduate Center
www.gc.cuny.edu/it
it@gc.cuny.edu
Help Desk: (212) 817-7300
Submitted on: AUG 1, 2012