New Helpdesk Portal, Coming Oct. 28, Changes Help Request Process
On Oct. 28, UIS will transition to a new help ticketing system. Some important things to know about the new system:
- Starting on Oct. 28, go to services.pacificu.edu to create new help requests.
- Filling out the form specific to the UIS service you are requesting will get you quicker help.
- Remember to sign in to see all of the services that are available to you.
- If you're in a hurry and unable to fill out a help request on the services site, call or Zoom in to the Helpdesk for assistance.
- During the transition period, help@pacificu.edu can be used to communicate about tickets created prior to the 28th, but new help tickets cannot be created via this address.
- Help requests from different departments are coming soon to the services website.
Changes Coming for Mac Users
MacOS Monterey will be released Monday, Oct. 25. UIS has thoroughly tested this operating system and has approved it for all university Macs upon its release. Monterey is compatible with all Macs manufactured after 2014. For more, see our articles on Supported Operating Systems and macOS Updates and Patch Management Policy.
- Upon its release, Monterey and Big Sur will become the UIS fully-supported versions of macOS. Catalina will be allowed but not fully supported by UIS due to expected loss of support for this OS by vendors for our core applications.
- On Nov. 29, Mojave will leave security compliance and university-owned Macs running Mojave will be required to upgrade to Monterey, Big Sur or Catalina. Before upgrading, we suggest using the tool in the Pacific University Self Service application (found on managed Pacific-owned Macs) to alert you to 32-bit apps running on Mojave, which will not run after the required upgrade. If you have questions about applications, or need to purchase newer versions, please contact the Helpdesk.
- Pacific-owned Macs that are used as an employee's primary workstation will be prompted (if not already using it) to enable Password Syncing. This method of keeping your macOS and Pacific passwords in sync avoids many of the issues we've seen with previous methods and does not require you to plug in your computer on campus after changing your password.
- Microsoft Office 2021 has been released and is being tested by UIS. Eligible computers (starting with our most recent computer deployments) will be prompted to receive a free update to Office 2021 over the next few months.
You Can Add Plugins to Chrome
UIS has made the Chrome web store available to Pacific accounts, allowing you to add third-party plugins to Google Chrome. Like the Workspace Marketplace, the add-ons here can give third parties access to data in your Google account and so should only be installed with extreme caution. Review what access the add-on gives to the publisher before installing, and look for publishers who you already trust to handle sensitive data (e.g. Zoom, Box, Docusign), or contact the Helpdesk if you are unsure.
When Your Classroom Podiums Expire
UIS is changing how and when user profiles on classroom podiums expire. Starting this month, if users have not logged into a classroom podium computer in 60 days, their profile will be removed. Logging in again will create a new profile, but any files saved on the old profile (e.g. on the desktop) will be gone. UIS discourages students, faculty and staff from depending on classroom, computer lab or commons area computers for storage, as these computers are wiped frequently.
Who Owns Important Work Files in Box?
Box folders can be part of a departmental Box folder structure, or can be owned by individuals. Folders owned by individuals are in danger of disappearing if that individual leaves the university. See our article to learn how to tell if a Box folder is departmentally or individually owned. If you are a supervisor or manager, we strongly suggest making it a departmental policy that work files should be stored in departmental folders. If you don't have departmental folders appropriate to the files you want to store, contact the Helpdesk.
If You Want More Tech Alerts, Subscribe to Technology Communications
The Technology Communications List is an announcement list for members of the Pacific community who want timely notifications about changes to IT operations at Pacific University. Announcements are sent to this list whenever changes may affect multiple groups or when there are degradations or outages of services. If you want to receive these notifications go to the list's page in Google Groups (make sure you are logged in as your Pacific account) and click the "joining the group" link.
Who Are You Sending As?
Avoid confusing your correspondents by making sure all the apps you use for email use a consistent From: address. If you have two email addresses (PUNetID@pacificu.edu and one you created), the custom email address is used as the From address when sending mail from the Boxer Mail web interface. Other email apps may not use this as your From address unless manually set to do so. For more, see our article on how to send as your preferred email address.
Boxer Mail Tip: How to Search Smarter
Jennifer Wells from the Pacific University Libraries brings us the following tip: When searching in email or creating filters in the Boxer Mail web interface, you can add a minus symbol to easily exclude any search criteria. For example, if you want to search for any message that has been starred, but not those that use the label "reserves," you could search: is:starred -label:reserves.
For more information, see Google's documentation on search operators. As a thanks for this tip, Jennifer will be given an Amazon gift card.
Trick, Treat and Technology Help
The Helpdesk live Zoom meeting is a quick and easy way to get Helpdesk support during our open hours. This Oct. 29, to celebrate Halloween, the Zoom meeting will be spooky. Visit us that Friday for live help with your technology problems and questions, and a few spooky surprises as well.