Category: Technology

Information Technology Services (ITS) will perform updates to Microsoft Office Cloud Services on 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, July 30. During this time, customers may notice a temporary interruption in their access to files stored in OneDrive, Teams or SharePoint. Customers who have trouble accessing these files should log into and remove o365.wichita.edu and access via browser. Instructions can be found at the Wichita State Office 365 Online webpage.

We apologize for any inconvenience. For more information, contact the ITS Help Desk at 316-978-Help, Option 1.

As part of our campus-wide migration to using Microsoft Defender, Information Technology Services is scheduling a process to remove the old platform (Sophos) from Windows computers at 5:30 p.m. Friday, July 8. If necessary to address any remaining installations, maintenance will continue at noon on three consecutive Tuesdays on July 12, July 19, and July 26.

The removal will be executed in the background. Faculty and staff will still be able to continue working during the uninstall process. However, after the removal of Sophos, the computer will need to be rebooted. There will be a pop-up message alerting members to reboot with a delay of 15 minutes. It is highly recommended that members save and close their work prior to restarting to prevent data loss during the reboot.

To receive this update, please leave the office computer powered on and connected to the network, with the screen locked.  If the computer is off-campus, members must have it powered on and connected to the network and VPN.

Wichita State’s Information Technology Services (ITS) is kicking off a program to create a more robust ecosystem for faculty, staff and students. In support of this objective on May 24, ITS will be updating the logins for cloud-based applications like Blackboard and Microsoft365. The goal is to improve availability of cloud-based services in the event of local system outages.

Users may notice minor differences in the login experience, but the login process will remain the same. Users will continue to log in using their myWSU ID and password. Re-authentication for applications that are already logged in or that remember your logins, such as Microsoft Teams, may be required.

For more information, contact the ITS Help Desk at helpdesk@wichita.edu or 316-978-HELP, Option 1.

Tonight — Friday, May 13 — the wichita.edu web team will be conducting a maintenance step that will require a full site publish.  That means if you have unpublished pages or files on the staging server in the CMS, they may become public unless you secure your files.

If you have something that you do not want to be published, you can temporarily move the page to the recycle bin or, if you have higher permission levels, to your _training folder. Pages may be moved out of the recycle bin beginning on Saturday, May 14.

Are you a faculty or staff member looking for a New Year’s resolution? Become a Wichita State Microsoft Office Power User and attend a suite of  Information Technology Services (ITS)-led Microsoft Office sessions. All sessions are free for faculty and staff and are offered remotely.

The sessions offer faculty and staff tips and skills while allowing them to earn a digital credential through Acclaim. To view the training calendar or to register, visit myTraining. (Shortcut: Try searching for “power user” in myTraining.)

For more information or to view current WSU power users, visit the Microsoft Power Office Users website.

Campus Media Services will begin servicing all classroom computers on Tuesday, Dec. 14 to wipe all user data in preparation for next semester.

If you have stored any files on these computers that you wish to keep, please remove those files and save them to a secure device immediately. All individual user files and data will be erased prior to the holiday break. If you have files that you need to keep, but you are unable to remove them prior to Dec. 14, please submit a CMS Classroom Technology Support ticket.

The schedule for the Campus Media Service (CMS) spring 2022 In-Person Classroom Media Training Schedule is now available at the Wichita State Classroom Media Training Schedule website.

CMS supports the technology in five primary classroom types plus several bespoke classrooms with customized technology fit for any occasion.  Access to classroom technology is available to faculty and staff with consistent keys for most classrooms that are issued during a short training session​. If you have a key but aren’t sure if it will work in your new classrooms, check out the CMS FAQ page. Faculty are encouraged to verify that their assigned classrooms have the technology they need before the start of the semester.

Training is by appointment only. To apply, email glenn.gunnels@wichita.edu. For more information, contact 316-978-3588.

Wichita State’s plan has long been to move fully to the Ultra Course Format no later than Dec. 31, 2022, but recent experiences with the pilot program and Blackboard’s ongoing commitment to improving the Ultra Course Format have led the university to make a change to the deadline.

In consultation with the Accessibility and Technology subcommittee of the Faculty Senate, the Office of Instructional Resources (OIR) has decided to suspend the deadline to move to Ultra Course Format for the time being. OIR is committed to supporting instructors in both formats through the end of the 2022-23 annual year. That means that WSU will not be moving to Ultra Course Format fully before the end of May 2023, and it could be after this date.

OIR will continue to support students, faculty and staff in both formats, and will continue to encourage instructors to move to the Ultra Course Format over time. Ultimately, the Classic Blackboard Course Format will sunset on our campus, but OIR wants to make sure that the Ultra Course Format does all the university needs it to do before it takes that step.

If you would like to begin your move to the Ultra Course Format, now is a good time. OIR has a new webpage designed to help instructors of all ranks know their options and choose a personalized path to Ultra Course Format.

For more information, please contact OIR@wichita.edu, or make a plan to drop into online lab times.

Blackboard will have intermittent downtimes Thursday, Nov. 25 (Thanksgiving Day). The system is being upgraded to improve its performance. Users should avoid using Blackboard during this time. For more information, contact OIR@wichita.edu.

The University Applications Training and the Registrar’s Office will host Summer 2022 and Fall 2023 Schedule Building Training sessions Dec. 7-8 for new Banner schedule builders. Both Sections 1 and 2 are required for new schedule builders.  Attendees will learn to enter the course schedule and view information using Banner 9, Self-Service, and Wichita State Reporting.

New schedule builders are those who have not been through the training previously and will be building the upcoming schedule. To attend the new schedule builders session, an employee’s supervisor must submit a request for approval at stusecurityaccess@wichita.edu before registering. Registration is required. The sessions are posted at myWSU > myTraining. Due to COVID and the need for social distancing, spaces in these sessions are limited and restricted to new schedule builders only.

Current schedule builders are welcome to attend the remote Schedule Building Overview Session which will be posted in myTraining Dec. 1. Please visit Wichita State’s Schedule Building webpage for schedule building-related information.

For more information, contact Madelyne Toney in Applications Training at 316-978-3083 or madelyne.toney@wichita.edu.