These are unusual times, calling for new approaches to how we do our work. Be assured, in CALS IT we are keeping up with the latest news, aggregating links to campus resources, staying informed on forums and channels, and establishing new processes. CALS IT is trying to respond as quickly as possible to the changing requirements surrounding COVID-19, remote working, and the IT requests that are coming in. Below are some answers to common requests at this time.
County Extension Centers should contact Extension IT or their local county government IT support group, depending on who supports them. Resources for County Extension Centers can be found on EIT’s website.
***Please refer to this document published by ECE. It is a wonderful resource and it should have the answer to almost all your questions: https://go.ncsu.edu/remote. ***
CALS IT Requests:
If you have a personal computer at home, you should be able to access most campus resources. Just be aware of Endpoint Security Requirements around data and antivirus, see Accessing NC State data from Personal Devices.
If you do not have a computer at home and need a loaner or new laptop, see the next section.
Need a laptop?
CALS IT is expecting about 20 new Dell laptops next week. We hope to get those imaged and available soon after. In addition, we are in the process of re-purposing about 30 laptops from labs and monitors for loan. These may be available this week. We do need to prioritize these loaners for full-time staff, but we may also loan to part-time staff and student workers upon evaluation.
Fill out this form is you are requesting a loaner laptop or monitor: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdfObeuOwBk6RHDYe7NfOXY4NT_Z2OuC3_xEH4TgTSgWZTrjw/viewform
If we cannot get a loaner to you and you need immediate assistance, we will work with you to purchase under an exception. CALS IT must be involved to make sure the laptop you purchase can be imaged and managed by us appropriately. Please DO NOT purchase laptops on your own or from local retailers (pcard purchases for computers are not allowed). All laptops must be Endpoint secured, managed, and have approved specifications. If you need to purchase, submit a request for a purchase: go.ncsu.edu/calsit-purchase. Note, the turnaround time is 2-4 weeks on laptops. However, we may be able to get some Lenovo laptops sooner from CDWG. Please submit the form and we will work with you. If we cannot get a loaner to you and you need immediate assistance, we will work with you to purchase under an exception. CALS IT must be involved to make sure the laptop you purchase can be imaged and managed by us appropriately.
OTHER OPTIONS:
- The NC State Staff Senate offers a computer loan program to staff in need of computers: https://staffsenate.ncsu.edu/computer-loan-program/
- NC State Libraries is working on expanding their Technology Loan program with additional laptops and webcams for Faculty: https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/devices/laptops-netbooks and https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/devices/c920-webcam (we expect the borrowing periods will be extended).
Please note, if you plan on taking equipment home for more than 30 days, fill out a CA-2 Form (https://controller.ofa.ncsu.edu/files/2014/02/ca2.pdf) and have your department head or director sign off on it. See https://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-07-30-14/
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
- Coronavirus Update: https://www.ncsu.edu/coronavirus/
- Snagit is great for creating documentation and for short video tutorials: https://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.html
- Tips from NC State faculty to help you navigate the online teaching landscape. We also recommend the workshop, Keep Teaching: Creating an Academic Continuity Plan for Campus Emergencies, that is being taught online in Zoom throughout March.
- Install Jabber on your smartphone or computer to emulate your office phone: https://oit.ncsu.edu/campus-it/phone-services/mobility-solutions/cisco-jabber/
- Zoom at NC State: https://delta.ncsu.edu/learning-technology/learning-management-systems/zoom-at-nc-state/
Zoom Resources
- NC State Zoom login
- DELTA Zoom Knowledgebase
- Zoom’s Website (zoom.us)
- Training Videos (zoom.us)
- Download Zoom client
Other Campus Resources
- Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost – Keep Teaching
- Division of Academic and Student Affairs (DASA) – Working From Home
- Electrical and Computer Engineering – Working Remotely at NC State
- Reminder that both the NYU and Boston University pages are nice for staff preparing to work from home, although the layout is a bit different than the approach that has been used here in the past.
Resources for getting your course online
- Keep Teaching: Academic Continuity Planning: Provides an overview of strategies and resources for teaching
- DELTA Knowledge Base: Contains knowledge base articles on specific subjects authored by DELTA.
- Getting Your Course Online Quickly: Workshops offered by DELTA through Zoom.
- Guide to video for Wolfware Projects and Outreach users: This is a guide on how videos can be posted, the captioning requirements, how to get your videos captioned, and how to add captions once you have them.
Free Home Internet for Students
Connectivity for students who don’t have it
- FCC agreement stating that providers will waive late fees, not cutoff service for lack of payment, and open hot-spots.
- Comcast COVID-19 response: offers free WiFi for 2 months to low income families plus all Xfinity hot-spots are free to the public during this time
- Charter Free Internet offer for 2 months
- AT&T COVID-19 response: offers open hot-spots, unlimited data to existing customers, and $10/month plans to low income families
- Verizon COVID-19 response: no special offers, but following the FCC agreement.
- Sprint COVID-19 response: follows FCC agreement, provides unlimited data to existing customers, and, starting Tuesday, 3/17/2020, will allow all handsets to enable hot-spots for 60 days at no extra charge (I expect others will follow).
- T-Mobile COVID-19 response: follows FCC agreement, plus unlimited data to existing customers, and, coming soon, will allow all handsets to enable hot-spots for 60 days at no extra charge (I expect others will follow).
Need Help?
Like you, CALS IT is heeding the warnings and practicing social distancing and working from home. But, we do have tools available to remotely assist or deal with emergency situations with on campus technology. Contact us at calsit-help@ncsu.edu.