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Category: Disaster Recovery

Beware of Hurricane IDA scams

Scam AlertBad actors take advantage of natural disasters and severe weather at a time when people may be especially vulnerable. Hurricane Ida is giving scammers another path for taking advantage of people during a crisis. One way they do this is by posing as representatives of charities seeking donations for disaster relief. Scammers are looking to trick you into handing them your money or financial information.

The following are some tips for protecting yourself from disaster relief charity scams.

Do your research.

It is imperative that you do some online research before you give to any charities. The Federal Trade Commission recommends the following resources to research charity organizations:

Continue reading “Beware of Hurricane IDA scams”

ITS targets summer projects

ITS UpdateInformation Technology Services (ITS) continues to work on targeted projects identified in the IT Strategic Plan, specifically related to the rebuild of a downsized data center, migration of services to the cloud, and the implementation of a new CRM (constituent relationship management) system. This work, in addition to University office relocations and scheduled updates of university classrooms and computing labs, requires that daily operations, work orders, enhancement requests, and project work are being evaluated to focus resources in these areas.

For the next 10-12 weeks, K-Staters may experience increased response times and project delays as efforts are directed toward being prepared to support the campus community for the beginning of Fall semester.

Throughout the summer, ITS will provide project status updates for units that have requested projects from ITS. For the latest status updates, go to k-state.edu/it-strategic-planning.

Hale Library and IT services continue availability for upcoming school year

By Communications and Marketing

Library and IT services are available after a fire on May 22 caused significant smoke and water damage to Hale Library. The building will be closed for the 2018-2019 school year for cleaning and reconstruction. Services have been relocated across campus with updated information available at k-state.edu/hale. While the damage is extensive, we now have the opportunity to rebuild a next-generation library even better than before.

Faculty and staff are encouraged to share the following information with students:

  • Maps of all printing, computer and study locations are available at k-state.edu/maps or on the K-State Mobile app.
  • Branch libraries are available in addition to a new Library Help location in the K-State Student Union at the welcome desk near Radina’s.
  • The IT Help Desk is available on the second floor of the K-State Student Union in the Cat’s Pause Lounge or by phone at 785-532-7722 or chat. Equipment checkout will be available in the same location on Aug. 20.
  • Students will have $20 of printing on their account for fall semester.
  • Library Help at the Union has course reserves and textbooks available for check out.
  • All current periodicals are available in the Math/Physics Library located in Cardwell Hall.
  • Ask a Librarian services are still fully operational in person, or by phone, email or chat. Contact us with any questions!
  • The Media Development Center will be located in 1 Seaton Hall.
  • Use the free Interlibrary Loan service to get books and articles from other libraries. All online library resources are available, but most of the physical collection that was in Hale will not be available during the 2018-2019 school year. Please note: we usually aren’t able to provide textbooks through this service. Stop by any library help desk either at our new Union location or a branch library to get help making a request online.

For the latest updates on the recovery efforts, subscribe to the Hale Library blog.

Update from ITS regarding restoring services

Information Technology Services (ITS) continues to work to recover from the Hale Library fire which damaged the K-State main data center and displaced about 30% of ITS staff. Electrical power has been re-connected to the data center as of Mon., June 18. Not all equipment is fully operational due to moisture damage. Nearly all systems and services are online now, but the stressed equipment may fail causing periodic outages.

Daily operational and project work is being evaluated to refocus resources to continue the recovery efforts. For the next 8-10 weeks, you might experience increased response times and project delays as most efforts are directed toward being prepared to support the campus community for the beginning of Fall semester.