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IT News: 2016

Briefs

These are the news items and technical alerts that the Pepperdine Information Technology department released in 2016.

Scheduled Downtime for Many Technology Systems

December 16, 2016

There are a number of scheduled improvements to Information Technology systems coming in the next week that will result in downtimes for important Pepperdine systems.  Information Technology has reviewed University and academic calendars to minimize the impact on the entire Pepperdine community.

Single Sign-On to Impact Multiple Services

Information Technology will be testing our Single Sign-On (SSO) failover to our backup Central Authentication Service (CAS) and SSO servers on Saturday, December 17, from 10 AM to 1 PM (PT).  During this timeframe, ALL Pepperdine systems that require your Pepperdine NetworkID and password for access, like email, WaveNet, Kronos, Lynda, MyBenefits, and Courses, will not be accessible.

This important work is to assure disaster recovery for authentication systems and is being conducted during our regular monthly maintenance period.  Here are some examples of other external systems using Pepperdine SSO: TechSmith, CBORD, ARMS, My Health Advocate, and PageUp.

Campus-Wide Internet Interruptions

As part of the Malibu Data Center refresh project, Network Engineering will be moving critical equipment/services to a new location within the Data Center.  Starting on Tuesday, December 20, at 6 PM until Wednesday, December 21 at 2 AM (PDT), WaveNet and ALL internet connections on Southern California campuses will be intermittently unavailable.

Portions of WaveNet Unavailable for Tax Update

Information Technology will be performing regular maintenance to the Payroll system on Thursday, December 22, from 6 PM to 11:59 PM (PDT).  You will still be able to log into WaveNet for a few basic functions, but during this time the Student and HR areas of WaveNet will be unavailable.  You can still access the links for email, Courses, and Timecards through WaveNet during this maintenance.


Insight Report: November 2016

December 5, 2016

With Finals just around the corner, we wanted to focus the November Insight Report on student support.  We hope you enjoy the video as we recap some of the ways students can get Tech Support.  We also give a brief walkthrough on how to print all of those important term papers on which students have been working so hard.

There are three, simple ways to view the Insight Report each month:

1) Subscribe to our Insight mailing list to receive the Insight Report in your inbox.

2) Like us on Facebook to receive news about the latest and greatest technology from Pepperdine and the rest of the world.

3) Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch the Insight Report and many other tech videos related to the most common Pepperdine tools.


Insight Report: October 2016

October 31, 2016

Pepperdine Information Technology is excited to share the October 2016 Pepperdine IT Insight Report.  The Insight Report is a monthly visual newsletter crafted by our hardworking staff and created to keep you updated on many of the great things happening in Pepperdine IT.

Insight Report: October 2016

There are three, simple ways to view the Insight Report each month:

1) Subscribe to our Insight mailing list to receive the Insight Report in your inbox.

2) Like us on Facebook to receive news about the latest and greatest technology from Pepperdine and the rest of the world.

3) Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch the Insight Report and many other tech videos related to the most common Pepperdine tools.

The next Insight Report will be distributed in November.


WaveNet Disruption/Outage

**Update** October 19, 2016 10:50 AM (PDT)

WaveNet is currently available to the entire community.

**Update** October 19, 2016 6:10 AM (PDT)

WaveNet is back online for some members of the community.  Information Technology is continuing to look into the issue and will provide further updates throughout the day.

**Update** October 18, 2016 9:25 PM (PDT)

After addressing a WaveNet outage earlier this evening, WaveNet is once again unavailable for all members of the community.  This second outage began sometime around 7 PM (PDT).

**Update** October 18, 2016 6 PM (PDT)

WaveNet is back online and currently available for all members of the community.  The outage began at 3:30 PM (PDT) and was resolved at 5:45 PM (PDT).

**Update** October 18, 2016 4:15 PM (PDT)

Disruption has been upgraded to a full WaveNet System Outage. Pepperdine IT is actively working on a solution to the problem.

October 18, 2016 3:55 PM (PDT)

WaveNet is currently experiencing slow response times.  The WaveNet team is actively working on a solution and an update will be provided as soon as there is a change.


WaveNet Maintenance Scheduled for Sunday, October 9

October 6, 2016

WaveNet will be unavailable this Sunday, October 9 from 12:01 AM to 11:59 AM (PDT).  This outage is required to provide maintenance upgrades to the servers that support WaveNet.

Access to Email, Courses, Course Evaluations, and Kronos will not be affected.  You can always access each tool directly with the links below.

  • Email - email.pepperdine.edu
  • Courses - courses.pepperdine.edu
  • Course Evaluations - courseeval.pepperdine.edu
  • Kronos - mytime.pepperdine.edu

National Cyber Security Awareness Month

October 3, 2016

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) and the Information Security Office has a number of resources to help you protect University data and preserve trust in Pepperdine.

We live in a world that is more connected than ever before.  National Cyber Security Awareness Month is designed to raise awareness about cyber security and the importance of taking simple, small steps to better protect yourself and the information you steward.

Throughout the month, Pepperdine Information Technology and the Information Security Office will be focusing on three important action areas for better cyber security.

Home Network and Personal Devices

We hope staff and faculty will join us for a Lunch and Learn Session in the Fireside room on Tuesday, October 11 to hear about at-home cyber threats and simple steps to improve security.  We will go over some simple steps to take care of your personal technology so that it can take care of you!  One step you can take right now is to visit browsercheck.pepperdine.edu from your home and personal devices.

Email

When handling unexpected email requests, it's important to remember two things: check before acting on the request and check before entering your password.  Further details on these two important steps and other email security tips are available at phishing.pepperdine.edu.

Account Access

Your network account at Pepperdine is the key to more information about you and others than you may ever have realized.  It's critical that you make and manage strong, easy-to-type passwords for all of your accounts.  Find out more about how to create strong, easy-to-remember passwords at Pepperdine by going to mypassword.pepperdine.edu.


Pepperdine University Community Advised to Postpone Upgrade to macOS 10.12 (Sierra)

September 23, 2016

On Tuesday, September 20, 2016, Apple released macOS 10.12 (Sierra).  Pepperdine IT does NOT currently support Sierra on university-owned Mac computers and recommends that you carefully considering any updates to macOS Sierra on personal Mac computers due to known challenges and incompatibilities with this release.  Known issues with Sierra include problems with Adobe products, whole disk encryption, and several other applications.

Please remain on your current Mac OS version until Apple and other software vendors resolve issues with Sierra.  You can check the current compatibility status of popular software on Sierra with the link below.

Check Software Compatibility on Sierra


SERVICE DISRUPTION: Pepperdine Email

September 14, 2016

Pepperdine email experienced slow delivery times throughout the day due to an issue with Pepperdine spam filter.  As the disruption influenced email delivery time since this morning, Pepperdine IT was not able to quickly communicate the service disruption to the community via email.

In order to better inform the community of system outages or service disruptions, Pepperdine IT has created a system status indicator visible at the top of this page.  In the future if any system outage or disruption is suspected and you have not received a notification from Pepperdine IT, check back here for the most up to date information on outages and system status.

We apologize for any inconvenience from today's disruptions.


SERVICE DISRUPTION: Pepperdine Email

**UPDATE** August 15, 2016 5 PM (PST)

The flow of mail has been restored and messages that were queued up from earlier today are being delivered to their intended recipients.  Pepperdine IT will continue to monitor the situation. No more updates expected.

August 15, 2016

Pepperdine email system is experiencing some delay in delivering messages.  This email service disruption is impacting some members of the community and Pepperdine Information Technology is currently working with one of our technology partners to troubleshoot the issue as quickly as possible.  Updates on the disruption will be posted here and on our Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PepperdineInformationTechnology/


Lynda Online Training Available for All Students, Faculty, and Staff

July 5, 2016

Pepperdine IT is excited to announce that we have signed a three-year agreement with Lynda Online Training to offer all active students, faculty, and staff full access at any time and without restriction to Lynda's incredible training library.

With a long history of simple, effective online training for anything from Photoshop to time management skills, Lynda opens the door to extended learning into tools and skills previously unavailable on this scale to the entire university.

Accessing Lynda

To access your Pepperdine-provided Lynda account and find setup instructions, visit lynda.pepperdine.edu and click the "Sign In" button.  Then, after you enter your NetworkID and password, you will be able to access the entire training library online or from the mobile app.

With popular courses like Excel 2016 Essential Training, Premiere Pro CC Essentials Training, New Manager Fundamentals, and the many Google Apps Essentials trainings, we are convinced there is something for everyone.  Lessons can be started and stopped at any time with your progress saved until you return.


New Sharp Printers on All Southern California Campuses

June 30, 2016

After a thorough evaluation and selection process, Information Technology (IT) is pleased to announce that Sharp Business Systems has been awarded the contract to service our campus-wide copier management program. Sharp will succeed Canon Solutions America after July 31, 2016.  For more than 11 years, Canon has served as a good business partner and we are grateful for their support and service to the University.

The transition to the new Sharp copiers will begin in mid-July with the plan of having all new office equipment installed and operational on or about August 1 on all Southern California campuses.  Training sessions will be conveniently scheduled in coordination with your work group and provided soon after the installation.  IT will deliver additional updates as the implementation schedule is finalized.

The new Sharp copiers will be equipped with similar functional features as their predecessors with even more features like blank page detection and removal from scanned documents and an intuitive control interface. In addition, a new print management solution (PaperCut) will be introduced allowing users to securely queue up their print job on the closest Sharp copier and to release the print job on demand.

Copy codes for tracking print charges will be discontinued in favor of tracking charges by swiping Pepperdine ID cards or entering Pepperdine network credentials.

IT looks forward to introducing the new, innovative and intuitive Sharp copiers to the University Community soon. Stay tuned for more updates.


Three Week Update with Google Mail

June 29, 2016

It has now been a little over two weeks since our campus-wide migration to Google Mail carried out June 10-13, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.  Over the past month, Pepperdine IT has migrated 18,000 accounts to Google Mail, provided more than a week of in-person support to 1,500 faculty and staff members, visited all five Southern California campuses with the combined help of 80 IT staff members, held 70 group training sessions and continue with another 40 sessions on the calendar, processed over 500 requests for delegate access to shared inboxes and calendars, made 240 one-on-one training sessions available to the community, handed out 1,100 donuts, averaged a nearly 100% increase in Help Desk tickets, and transferred an estimated five TB of emails from our Microsoft Exchange Email Server to Google Mail.


Email Upgrade to Google Mail and Calendar in Two Days

June 8, 2016

On June 10 at 10 PM (PST), Pepperdine IT will be switching the university email from Microsoft Exchange to Google Mail.  Email can be sent and received immediately from Google Mail at 10 PM, but we ask that you refrain from modifying your Google Calendar and Contacts in any way until Monday at 8 AM as we will be importing your email, calendar, and contacts over the course of the weekend.

If you are not already using Google Mail (many students and some early adopters are already in Google), we will be copying the following information from your Microsoft Exchange inbox to Google Mail:

  • All messages in your Exchange inbox
  • Scheduled events in your Exchange Outlook Calendar
  • Individual contacts
  • Inbox folders, but not archived folders.

If you aren't sure what will be copied, access your Exchange inbox by going to webmail.pepperdine.edu.  Everything listed there will be copied automatically.

We will not be migrating tasks, flags, categories, or personal contact groups/distribution lists that you may have created in Outlook.  Class distribution lists will continue to be available in Google Mail.  We are looking forward to bringing these tools to the Pepperdine community. 


Town Hall Session and Trainings before June 10 Email Upgrade

May 26, 2016

With the Email Upgrade to Google Mail fast approaching on June 10, we are excited to showcase the many training and informational opportunities currently scheduled. All of the following events and trainings are open to faculty, staff, and students.

Malibu Town Hall

On June 1, join us in Elkins Auditorium in Malibu from 2:30-3:30 PM to hear about the latest Email Upgrade updates and ask questions before the June 10 switch.  Click on the session details below to RSVP and add the event to your calendar.  Can't attend in person? Join us live online using Google Hangouts On Air with Youtube.

Watch live on Google Hangouts On Air (Youtube) ›

All Campus Training Calendar

Check out our rapidly expanding training calendar with over 50 classes available to help you get started with Google Mail and Calendar and even more sessions being added regularly.

YouTube Playlist

Want to start learning before your training session?  Our growing library of Email Upgrade information and Google Apps trainings can help.  New videos are being added weekly with a Google Calendar overview coming soon.

We look forward to seeing you at the Town Hall or in a training session soon.  We have already begun the process of copying your Exchange inbox to Google Mail to be completed by the time you log in for the first time on June 13.


WaveNet Will Be Down Memorial Day Weekend

**UPDATE** May 30, 2016 6 PM (PST)

The service to WaveNet has been completed early and access to the site has been restored.  For best results, clear your browser cache before accessing wavenet.pepperdine.edu.

**UPDATE** May 28, 2016

Downtime will continue through 11:59 PM (PST) on Monday, May 30.  Outage times have been updated in the announcement below.

May 23, 2016

WaveNet will unavailable Memorial Day Weekend between Saturday, May 28 at 12:01 AM and Monday, May 30 at 11:59 PM (PST).  This outage is part of a multi-year project to update the hardware that supports WaveNet.

Access to Courses, Email, Kronos, and Course Evaluations will not be affected.  During the outages, you can access each tool directly with the links in the table below.

  • Action Being Taken: All data is being moved to a newer, more secure server that will allow upgrades to be applied much quicker in the future.
  • Duration of Down Time (UPDATED): Saturday, May 28 at 12:01 AM to Monday, May 30 at 11:59 PM (PST)
  • Who will be affected: All Faculty, Staff, Students, Applicants, and Guests

Systems that will NOT be affected


Graduation Gift

April 2016 Graduates and Beyond Will Receive Pepperdine Email for Life

It has previously been discussed, but not formally promoted on its own. If you are a student that has just graduated or will be graduating after April 2016, you are eligible to retain your Pepperdine Email indefinitely.  This is yet another benefit of our upgrade to Google Mail. 

We are excited to officially announce this benefit and look forward to adding to the Pepperdine experience starting June 10. 

As previously stated, any unmoved accounts will be migrated between Friday, June 10 and Monday, June 13.  See the Go-Live Announcement in the post below for more details.


Email Upgrade Go-Live: June 10

May 6, 2016

After a thorough review of existing institutional schedules, Pepperdine IT is pleased to announce that we will be upgrading the University's email and calendar system to Google Apps for Education between Friday, June 10 and Monday, June 13.

Staff, faculty, university constituents, students, and even graduating students will be included in this upgrade.

What You Need to Know
  • Transition Dates: Transition from Exchange to Google will start on Friday, June 10 at 10 PM and finish on Monday, June 13 at 8 AM Pacific (PDT).
  • Impact: No emails will be missed during the transition as incoming email to your @pepperdine.edu email address will instantaneously be directed to your Google Mail inbox instead of Exchange.  Contents of your Exchange inbox will be migrated for you over the course of the weekend.  Any archived files saved on your computer will not be migrated automatically by Pepperdine IT, but instructions on how to transfer your archives with the assistance of the IT department will be provided near the transition.
  • Training: Prior to and following the June 10-13 transition, demo and training sessions will be held across all campuses and will be open to every member of the Pepperdine community.  See the full training calendar for session listings with more dates being added every week.
  • Support: In person and over the phone, Pepperdine IT will be out in force on every campus the week of June 13-17 to help with the transition and will continue with a heightened presence of support for the remaining weeks and months after the switch.
Additional Details

For more information, watch our Email Upgrade YouTube Playlist with new content being added regularly, or check out the IT News webpage for the most recent updates on this and other projects.  You can also access your email in a browser right now, regardless of whether you are on Exchange or Google, by going to email.pepperdine.edu.

We appreciate your support and understanding as we implement this important improvement to our email and calendar systems.


Brief Google Apps and Password Reset Outage May 4-5

**UPDATE** May 4, 2016 2:45 PM (PDT)

Password resets are back online using myid.pepperdine.edu, more than 12 hours earlier than anticipated.

**UPDATE** May 4, 2016 8 AM (PDT)

To reconnect your email, check the following help pages or call the IT Service Desk at 310.506.4357 (HELP).

Start using the Gmail App on your Smartphone to access your Pepperdine Google Mail: Gmail App for Mobile.

April 27, 2016

On May 4-5, 2016, Pepperdine IT will implement important improvements for our Pepperdine Google Apps service.  Specifically, we will switch all Pepperdine community Google Apps accounts from NetworkID@pepperdine.edu to the preferred, formal address, i.e. Firstname.Lastname@pepperdine.edu.

This is a critical step for the larger university-wide email upgrade scheduled this summer so that we can unify the primary email address used by all Pepperdine services.  Google Mail users will continue to receive emails sent to both addresses, and all incoming email will be delivered to your mailbox during this work.

To implement this improvement, there will be a brief impact on select Pepperdine services.

What You Need to Know
  • Brief Google Mail/Apps Login Outage: Our Pepperdine Google Mail/Apps service will be unavailable early Wednesday, May 4 from 12:01 AM to 6:00 AM Pacific (PDT).
  • Temporary Password Reset Outage: Password resets using myid.pepperdine.edu will be temporarily unavailable from early Wednesday, May 4 at 12:01 AM to Thursday, May 5 at 6 AM Pacific (PDT). In case of a password emergency, please call the IT Service Desk at 310.506.4357 (HELP).  We will manually reset your password as needed.
Accessing Your Pepperdine Google Mail/Apps
  • Web Browser: Simply visit email.pepperdine.edu and log in with your Pepperdine NetworkID and password, just like logging into WaveNet.
  • Mobile Devices (iOS and Android): No change. Your account details should carry over after this improvement.  We recommend taking this opportunity to setup the Gmail app on your mobile device.
  • Desktop Email Clients: You will need to reconfigure desktop email clients.  We recommend taking this opportunity to fully experience the benefits of Google Mail in the browser. Information for reconnecting some email clients will be provided here the morning of the switch, Wednesday, May 4.

 


Students: Upgrade Your Email to Win Incredible Prizes!

April 27, 2016

**UPDATE** The winners have been selected and contacted.  Thanks to everyone who participated and congratulations to our winners!

April 11, 2016

Pepperdine IT is currently in the process of upgrading the University's email service from Microsoft Exchange to Google Mail.  Students can upgrade right now and we are giving away some amazing prizes to convince you to do just that before midnight this Friday, April 15.

Prizes include:

  • GoPro Hero 4 Session
  • Samsung Black 32GB Galaxy Tab E Lite
  • Fitbit Flex Wristband
  • UE Roll 360 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker
  • One of two Sennheiser Professional Headphones
  • One of two Amazon FireTV sticks
  • One of four Agker Portable Phone Chargers
  • 32 GB microSD Card and USB adapter

To enter the prize drawing, upgrade to Google Mail and then reply to the announcement email you received from your Google inbox with the phrase "I Want Free Stuff" before midnight this Friday.  All your emails will transfer to your Google Mail inbox, so be sure to reply from your Google Mail inbox.  If you have already moved to Google Mail, you can enter into the giveaway too! Every student can participate.

Double your chances to win by liking our Facebook page!  Any new likes between April 11-15 will be entered into the drawing a second time. Winners will be contacted on April 18 to claim their prize.

To make the switch and upgrade to Google Mail, do one of the following:

  • Come to Malibu Central Campus, April 12-13 from 10:30 AM to 2:30 PM, for a Tech Central team member to help you make the switch in minutes.  In addition to being entered into the drawing, we will have some other free giveaways while supplies last for those that make the switch in person.
  • Visit your local Tech Support for assistance.  For Seaver, Tech Central is located on the 2nd floor of Payson Library, near ACE.  The Tech Central workers can make the upgrade for you in a few minutes.  Grad Campuses, stop by your local support desk for instruction and guidance on making the switch.

WaveNet Will Be Down

March 25, 2016

As part of the Data Center Improvement project that is making many needed improvements to that space, WaveNet will be down for a short time beginning Friday, March 25 at 9 PM to Saturday, March 26 at 6 AM.  These changes will result in improved reliability for all data center systems, including WaveNet.

Action Being Taken: IBM Servers are being physically relocated in the Data Center as part of the Data Center Improvement project.
Duration of Down Time: Friday, March 25, 9 PM to Saturday, March 26, 6 AM
Who will be affected: All Faculty, Staff, Students, Applicants, and Guests
Systems that will NOT be affected: Email, Courses, and Kronos 

We appreciate your understanding as we implement these important changes to the Data Center.


Email Upgrade QA Sessions

March 24, 2016

The Technology and Learning team is pleased to be offering Q/A sessions across all campuses in order to meet with faculty and provide support throughout the transition. Anyone with a question is welcome to attend – simply click the link and select the location and time most convenient to you. We hope to see you soon!


Keeping Our Computers Running Fast and Secure

March 10, 2016

Our Device Management service has been doing a great job of maintaining our University-owned computers by keeping commonly-used programs up-to-date, like Java, Flash, and Adobe Acrobat.  As an extension of this valuable service, we will soon launch a "spring cleaning" project in late-March.

We want our systems to run quickly, smoothly, and securely.  Working with support colleagues in schools and departments, the Device Management team has identified select applications that are potentially dangerous and consume your computer's resources.  The device management system will soon remove these unwanted programs to proactively improve the overall performance and security of our workstations and laptops.

This change will only apply to University-owned computers.  These additional security and performance measures will begin March 21, 2016.  If you would like the exact details of the programs being removed and their justifications, please visit the Device Management Blog.


Going Google for Gmail

February 9, 2016

Pepperdine University's email and calendar system will be upgraded in mid-2016 using Google Apps for Education, which includes the added benefits of advanced collaboration tools, unlimited inbox email, and easy file storage.  The decision was reached after positive feedback we received from the seventeen focus groups held in the fall as well as strategic testing of Gmail and Google Calendar with targeted areas of the University.

We value your input and have created a short, 4-6 minute survey that will give us the information we need to best tailor the Google Apps experience to the University.

Take the survey to make sure your voice is heard.

To find out more about the upgrade, including a growing FAQ, check out the Email Upgrade Blog, the IT News section of the Community website, or come to one of the Town Hall Information Sessions listed below (click on the session to add it to your calendar and RSVP):

Malibu:

West LA:


Be Part of the Exciting Future of Email at Pepperdine

November 18, 2015

Dear Pepperdine Colleague,

Pepperdine Information Technology is upgrading our University email system mid-2016.

To successfully launch this upgrade, we need YOUR input.  Your feedback is vital to IT in understanding how you and your colleagues leverage email in the office and in the classroom.

Information Technology will be hosting focus groups to listen to your advice, highlight new features, and discuss optional extras related to the email upgrade.

Sign up to be on one of the focus groups being held between Dec 1-11.​


Malibu Campus Power Outage Communication Sent

October 30, 2015 at 10:57 AM

Seaver Campus is currently experiencing rolling power outages affecting local network and telephone services.  However, network and telephone services remain intact and active for buildings that receive emergency power from local backup power generators.

Your network and telephone services will resume as soon as your location has power restored.


Pepperdine University Community Advised to Postpone Upgrade to Mac OS 10.11 (El Capitan)

On Wednesday, September 30, 2015, Apple released Mac OS 10.11 (El Capitan). Due to known challenges and incompatibilities with this release, Pepperdine IT recommends that you delay upgrading your Apple Macintosh computer to this new operating system.  Pepperdine IT does not support El Capitan on university-owned machines at this time.  Known issues with El Capitan (10.11) include problems with email, Microsoft Office, whole disk encryption, and several other applications.

Please remain on your current Mac OS version until Apple and other software vendors resolve issues with El Capitan.

Tech Central

Phone: 310.506.4357 (HELP)

Hours: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year

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