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Category: COVID-19

IT Help Desk hours extended through Feb. 5

Posted on by Fred Darkow

At the beginning of the semester, the IT Help Desk hours were extended to accommodate health and safety concerns due to the surge of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

The extended hours will continue through Saturday, February 5, as indicated below:

  • 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. — All services – Hale Library walk-in, phone, and email
  • After 5p.m. — Remote services via phone and email, no walk-in services

As needed, further updates will be provided in K-State Today and the IT News Blog. The IT Help Desk hours are available on the IT Help Desk webpage.

If you have any questions, contact the IT Help Desk at 785-532-7722 or email at helpdesk@ksu.edu.

Technology Considerations for Employees’ Return to Campus

Posted on by Christine Doucette

As K-State faculty and staff prepare to return to campus during July/August, there are several technical considerations to keep in mind to make the transition successful.

To learn more, view the Technology Considerations for Employee’s Return to Campus webpage.

If you need help, contact the technical support staff in your unit or the IT Help Desk, 785-532-7722 or helpdesk@ksu.edu. To avoid delays and overwhelming technical support staff, coordinate plans with IT in advance, particularly if you anticipate needing assistance. Also, consider staggering your department/unit’s return to campus rather than returning all at once.

Preparing to receive your SPARK laptop

Posted on by Information Technology

The Division of Information Technology (IT) is in the process of distributing the laptops that were made available due to SPARK (Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas) funds. In preparation for the distribution, employees who receive technical support from IT Client Services are asked to back up their files on OneDrive.

Basic information about OneDrive, including an overview and short video, is available from What is OneDrive on the Microsoft support site.

Sync files with OneDrive is another important tutorial to review before receiving your laptop.

Backing up your data to OneDrive will make the equipment switch over easier due to the number of faculty and staff working from home. The new laptop can be set up, and OneDrive will automatically sync your data to your new device.

These tutorials are also available on the Office 365 website under OneDrive.

Phishing scam targets remote workers

Posted on by Information Technology

Scam Alert!As employees continue to work remotely, cyber-attacks are on the rise. The latest attack is the “Return to Office” phishing scam. This scam has already targeted 100,000 inboxes.

Scammers are sending email messages to individuals outlining the process for an employee to return to the workplace. The email can include safety protocols and usually includes a short deadline for when employees must acknowledge that they have received this message and complete a form. Continue reading “Phishing scam targets remote workers” →

Unemployment scams abound

Posted on by Information Technology

Beware of unemployment scamsAccording to the Kansas Department of Labor (KDOL), Unemployment Claim Fraud resulting from identity theft is on the rise, primarily impacting the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program. Kansas has joined every state in seeing an increase in reports of fraudulent unemployment claims due to identity theft. In fact, the KDOL has stopped more than 100,000 fraudulent claims.

David Brown in Human Capital Services reported on this issue on Oct. 6 in K-State Today. Employees have expressed concerns about a breach of K-State systems. Our investigations have not indicated a breach of K-State systems.

How do scammers get your information and use the information to carry out fraud?

  • Criminals cross-reference employment places for individuals with data collected from any of a number of data breaches over the years (Equifax, Heartland Payment Systems, etc.). As state employees, our information is publicly available. This type of attack is trivial for an experienced scammer and can net a considerable amount of money. Because the process is not technically difficult, we will continue to see fraudulent unemployment applications for the foreseeable future.
  • K-State’s Division of Information Technology and our cybersecurity team monitor the situation and take action if we see a way to assist and help fight this attack. IT also constantly monitors systems and services for breaches.

What should you do if you become the victim of identity theft?  Continue reading “Unemployment scams abound” →

Agenda announced for CanvasCon online Oct. 15

Posted on by Academic and Student Technology

CanvasCon logoFor the health and safety of all attendees, Instructure has combined its annual InstructureCon event and regional CanvasCon events into one free online global conference. Come together with other Canvas users for professional development, idea-sharing, and skill-building at CanvasCon Online on Thursday, October 15.

The CanvasCon Online agenda has been announced. There are more than 50 sessions that will help you improve instruction and learning outcomes and impact student success. Register now for free! Continue reading “Agenda announced for CanvasCon online Oct. 15” →

Availability of Adobe Creative Cloud extended to July 6

Posted on by Information Technology

Adobe is extending the end date for the temporary at-home access to Adobe Creative Cloud through July 6, 2020. There is no action required on your end. The access will continue automatically. For more information, view the Knowledge Base article provided by Adobe and adapted for K-State.

For additional information about software available to K-Staters and provisions extended due to COVID-19, visit the ITS Software page.

Help resources

Register now for CanvasCon online Oct. 15

Posted on by Academic and Student Technology

CanvasCon logoFor the health and safety of all attendees, Instructure is combining their annual InstructureCon event and regional CanvasCon events into one free online global conference. Come together with other Canvas users for professional development, idea-sharing, and skill-building at CanvasCon Online on Thursday, October 15.

Register now for free! Continue reading “Register now for CanvasCon online Oct. 15” →

Zoom: Maintaining your privacy while sharing your screen

Posted on by Christine Doucette

As you continue to learn, teach, or work from home, you may need to share your computer screen with other Zoom meeting participants. Before you click the Share Screen button, protect your privacy by making sure you know exactly what you are sharing.

When you click on the Share Screen button at the bottom of the Zoom window, you can choose to share your full desktop or a specific window or application you have open on your computer. The best practice is to share only that specific window or application. Continue reading “Zoom: Maintaining your privacy while sharing your screen” →

Access for software such as SPSS, SAS, MatLab, Mathematica and Minitab available

Posted on by Information Technology

LabStats Remote Access is available to current students, faculty, and staff providing remote access to some computer labs on campus. The tool gives access to specialty software such as SPSS, SAS, Matlab, Mathematica, and Minitab and was created by LabStats to accommodate online learning for the COVID-19 quarantine period.

Users establish a Remote Desktop connection to the computers in the labs, which natively works on Windows based operating systems, and will also work on Mac, Android, iOS, and ChromeOS devices with the installation of the Microsoft Remote Desktop application. Once connected the user is presented with a window that contains the remote computer’s desktop. This experience mirrors what would occur on the lab computer.

Lab computers are locked down, which resets the computers back to their configured defaults on log-out or reboot. K-Staters who use this software via remote access need to save their data to OneDrive or a preferred cloud storage solution. Data saved on the remote computer will be lost once the remote session is terminated.

To access the tool visit https://www.k-state.edu/its/software/software-licenses/labstats/index.html. For technical assistance or questions please contact the IT Help Desk, (785) 532-7722.