Beginning Jan 1,2001 we will be increasing our SHSU firewall security. The first phase of this increase will affect the off-campus access to campus computers. If you require off-campus access (WWW, FTP, Telnet...) to your University computer, you will need to provide Computer Services with information on your machine. We will provide a form on the web for this purpose and will notify you when the form is ready.

Information Technology Resource Council
The agenda for the 12/14 meeting includes a presentation by the Computer Services Assistant Director, Mark Adams regarding the infrastructure in place and planned. If you have thoughts or ideas about what the University needs for information technology, e-mail one of the members or come address the Council. You can see the list of the members at the Committee web link.

Purchases
There has been a change in how you order computer software. You may now purchase directly from the SHI-Government Solutions (SHI-GS). This is the Software and Services Agreement between the State of Texas, acting by and through the Department of Information Resources (DIR), and SHI-Government Solutions (SHI-GS) Agreement Number 313-001A. Software that would normally be ordered from DIR will now be purchased directly from SHI-GS.

For detailed information on purchasing just click on the Go Direct!! Program link at http://www.dir.state.tx.us/busops. The Computer Services Department has registered for the University, so departments can go directly to the How to Order instructions for order submission and pricing requests.

The Agreement Number 313-001A must be referenced on the purchase order to SHI-GS. Their vendor number is 1223-69-5478-5008 and they are a QISV/mbe. If you have questions or would like assistance with your software order, you may contact Junie Hunt at extension 43548 or send e-mail to hunt@shsu.edu. This new procedure will allow faster processing and delivery of software orders.

Grades
RIt's that time again. Faculty will need to input their grades using their NELL passwords and their PIN. The Registrar's Office resets PINs each semester to provide additional security for this function. Your NELL password must be changed every 90 days---once again for security, since NELL is the system that stores and updates the grades and other administrative records. So… if you don't remember your password, come by the Helpdesk at AB1, 144 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. with your faculty I.D.

Holiday Scheduling
The Helpdesk will be closed during the staff holidays (December 23rd through January 2nd.)

To cause as little disruption as possible in the normal schedule of the University, some of the computer programmers and technicians will be working during this time to upgrade workstations, servers and software. The specific times will be posted as a notice before the holidays.

If your department has work plans during the staff holidays, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can coordinate the timing of the downtime with you.

Training
This month's training includes an appointment-basis for using the University Fall 2000 student database. Troy Courville, the Director for Institutional Research, has finalized the data for the Fall. You may schedule a time with him for a hands-on one-on-one demo at your desk using SPSS. Troy's username is ird_tgc and his phone number is 43619.

Troy is finishing his Ph.D in Research, Measurement, and Statistics at Texas A&M. Troy joined Sam Houston's staff as the Institutional Research Director in September.