Single Sign-in (UNX1 users)

We know how frustrating it is to have numerous passwords to remember. We are working toward a single password for all our systems. Your Windows password, E-mail password, and the dial-in password were synchronized some time ago. Recently, we've added the ability to map to your corresponding UNX1 account, without re-entering a password, after you're logged in on your PC. (Your UNX1 account is where your web page is stored.)

To map to your own account on UNX1:

Right-click My Network Places, and click Map Network Drive. Select the U: drive, and enter \\UNX1 as the folder.

You can only be mapped to one UNX1 drive at a time, so you may have to disconnect one before mapping another. To disconnect, right-click My Network Places, click Disconnect Network. Select the U: drive \\unx1\homes, and click OK.

To use your department www account:

If you'd like to map to your departmental UNX1 account while you're logged in to your personal Windows account, right-click My Network Places, and click Map Network Drive. Select the U: drive and enter \\UNX1 as the folder. Click Connect using a different user name. You can then enter SHSU\xxx_www and the Windows password for that account.

For your department or organization web site, you may also log in to that www account on the PC and then access the corresponding UNX1 account without a password.

Security (Filemaker Pro)

The Filemaker Pro template forms on the T: drive open as shared documents allowing multiple users. This presents a potential security risk for confidential departmental documents. Anyone can access and open your Filemaker Pro database this way. When a document is created, a user may select the Sharing properties from the File menu. Three sharing modes exist: Single User, Multi-User, Multi-User (Hidden).

• The Single User mode does not allow documents to be shared over the network.
• The Multi-User mode will allow all users to open your document and view it.
• The Multi-User (Hidden) mode allows you to still share the document, but it will not be listed in the Hosts List.

If you want to share your Filemaker Pro document in Multi-User mode, you can still protect the document by using password restrictions. This feature can be found under the Access Privileges selection under the File menu. For the best security, if your document does not need to be accessed by other users, make sure that Single User mode is the sharing mode used. E-mail Brian Cordeau for assistance if you have questions.

Technology Training

We are offering a number of training sessions this month. Check out the schedule. Also, we're offering students training on Web pages. Encourage your students to attend!

Blackboard

On August 28th, we loaded Blackboard onto a new, faster, more robust server. Here are a few statistics on what Blackboard was and is:

This month an implementation team from Bb will be arriving to help integrate our Nell student information with the Bb system. One of the long-term goals of this integration will be to use your Windows password as your password into Blackboard. So we'll cut out one more password!

FYI: There's been a 50% increase in the number of faculty using Bb from Spring to Fall. If you have comments or suggestions for our Blackboard team, write to blackboard@shsu.edu.

Institutional Research

We have just installed a new SPSS web server to allow you to access University data and extract specific statistics. We're looking for volunteers to test this new Web version. You don't have to know SPSS! It's designed for all users. Give Troy Courville a call at 43619 if you're interested in helping customize this to your information needs.

Institutional Research has a new staff member.  Heather LaFleur joined the team as an Institutional Research Analyst.  She is a graduate of Texas A&M University.  Her primary areas of responsibility are the SPSS server and External Reports.

Telephone Services

The new faculty/staff/student phone directory has gone to the printers. We expect delivery of the new phonebooks October 10th. Thanks for your prompt assistance in updating the departmental numbers; this allowed us to significantly speed up the publishing of the books this year.

While you're waiting for the new phone directories, remember you can look people up through the online directory. Click the Search SHSU logo on the main University page. Then enter a name in the People Search. This will display the mailing address, physical address, e-mail address, and phone number---and for students, their major and classification.

Mail Services

Planning to send a flyer to all students in Residence Life? There are 2,754 residents with on-campus post office boxes. You don't have to spend time individually labeling them; we can quickly put your flyers in each student's mailbox.

Purchase Tip

If you're considering purchasing a new printer for FY03, we're recommending that you avoid the HP Laserjet 1200 Series printers. Our experience indicates these printers are poorly made and do not work properly on our network. They tend to corrupt print jobs and spit out pages of garbage.

Feedback Request

Thanks for reading the whole thing! We need feedback to see how many people we're reaching through this Update. We're going to reward the first dozen respondents---from different departments---immediately with a new optical mouse. Just send e-mail to nancy@sam.edu to let us know you've read this! We appreciate your taking your time to stay informed about the news and changes in Information Resources.