Tech Tips: April 2024 Faculty and Staff Newsletter

This message was originally shared to all faculty and staff via email on Apr. 3, 2024.

Information Security Awareness Training Begins This Week

In accordance with New York State requirements, ITS will launch the annual information security training for University faculty and staff beginning this week. You will receive a link to complete the training via email, which will be completed in the new Infosec IQ platform. Once you complete the training, you will be eligible to be randomly selected for the weekly drawing for a $25 prize from the Syracuse University Campus Store. You also will be eligible for all subsequent weekly prize selections, for a total of four prize opportunities for those who complete the training during the first week.

Register for the Research Computing Series

The Research Computing Series is a great opportunity to learn about the resources available to faculty, staff and students. The Wednesday, April 10 session will feature a presentation by Collin Capano, director of the Open Source Project Office (OSPO). This session will focus on how the OSPO, established with a grant from the Sloan Foundation, serves as the center of competency for open source operations and structure on campus. The Wednesday, April 17 session will showcase insights from the ITS Research Computing team, focusing on recent enhancements to campus resources.

Summer Institute for Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning

The ITS Online Learning Services (OLS) team is excited to announce the opening of applications for the 2024 Summer Institute for Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning (SITETL). OLS will offer two SITETL sessions—one in late May and one in early August. Faculty have until the end of the day on Friday, April 12, to apply. SITETL 2024: Ultra Courses is designed to help instructors transition their Blackboard courses from the Original course view to the Ultra course view. Admission is competitive and based on an application in which the participant describes their teaching and how they intend to benefit from the event. Selected participants will receive priority assistance from OLS, development spaces in the Blackboard system to work on their Ultra content and a monetary award of $500 for completing all of the workshop sessions.

All of Your Documents in One Spot

Wouldn’t it be nice if all of your Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, OneNote files, and other recent work were collected in one spot? Visit office.syr.edu from any device for a fully searchable, one-stop shop of your Microsoft 365 files, Teams conversations and more. You also can explore apps such as Canva, Whiteboard and SharePoint to get more out of your Microsoft 365 products.

Course Feedback Window

The window for collecting course feedback this semester opens on Monday, April 15. Course feedback is an important way for students to discuss their academic experiences. Students are more motivated to respond constructively when instructors communicate directly with them about it. To help gain more feedback, a great practice is to offer time during a class session for students to complete the course survey. Visit the course feedback page for a QR code you can share on Blackboard or in an email. The QR code directs students to the log-in page to access their course surveys. If you have any questions, please email coursefeedback@syr.edu. We know that the end of a semester is a busy time. We appreciate your time and effort!

Blackboard Ultra Course View Transition: New Workshops Added

The University will complete the transition from Blackboard Original Course View to Blackboard Ultra Course View during the summer of 2024. For the Fall 2024 term, all new courses will be created in Ultra Course view. Instructors will retain access to their previously offered Original courses to copy content into Ultra courses and for record-keeping purposes. Instructors can begin preparing to use Blackboard Ultra Course View by signing up for how-to videos and a sandbox course to try it out.

ITS Online Learning Services (OLS) is kicking off its spring and summer Ultra support on Tuesday, March 19, with a new workshop for instructors to use their syllabus to create a Blackboard Ultra course from the ground up. In part one, instructors will focus on updating their course structure to take advantage of Ultra’s navigation. Instructors will create new Blackboard documents and copy items from their prior courses. An optional part two will center on gradebook setup and assessment settings. The workshop is a “hands-on” opportunity to work with OLS staff as they guide participants through the process of re-designing for Ultra. Register now!

Instructors also can visit Answers for news about all the resources OLS offers to support instructors through the transition.

Libraries Launches New Digital Collections

The Libraries recently launched its new Digital Collections site. This new online resource is produced and curated by the Libraries’ Digital Stewardship team and primarily features distinctive content from the Special Collections Research Center. The Libraries’ users, including students, faculty, staff and global researchers, can find collections by choosing the subject topic, name, geographic location, original format or source collection from alphabetical drop-down menus.

Tech To-Dos Before Leaving the University

Whether you are retiring, a student-worker is graduating or a co-worker will soon leave the University, it’s important to know how long you will have access to various technology resources, including documents you have shared or that have been shared with you. On Answers, you can find a list of information technology resources (e.g., email, Google Workspace, Qualtrics, etc.) and how long access is available after departure. Consider including a review of digital assets as part of the exit procedure for anyone leaving a department or the University.

System Alerts

If you have trouble connecting to a campus website or system, the System Status page on the ITS website can help you determine whether there is an issue with your computer or something else. The System Status page includes notifications for scheduled downtimes and alerts for unscheduled downtimes or outages. You also can sign up to receive notifications and alerts by email.

SensusAccess Now Available

Consistent with a campus that is welcoming to all, SensusAccess makes electronic documents such as PDF files or Microsoft PowerPoint presentations more accessible to audiences of all abilities through remediation or conversion to more usable formats, including audio, e-books, digital Braille, digital large-print and BeeLine Reader. SensusAccess also can translate documents from one language into another. The service is available for use by students, faculty and staff at no cost. Stop by our ITS Digital Accessibility Office Hours to learn more about SensusAccess and other digital accessibility topics.

Helpful Resources

ITS and the campuswide information technology community are available year-round to help with your tech questions. Resources include:

Thank you for reading. Go Orange!