Technology Support Guide for Faculty and Staff
Technology Help | ITS

General requests for technical assistance

Faculty and Staff may submit tech support requests during regular business hours to the local support desk at 312-341-6460. Requests can also be submitted to the general RU call center at any time to 312-341-4357. After-hour requests will be recorded by a help desk agent and forwarded as needed to staff technicians for resolution. Self-service help is also available at the online support site. For details see the Help Desk User's Guide.

Consulting the Knowledge Base

A variety of technical information is available on the ITS web site, and also in the Help Desk Knowledge Base (no login required).

Your computer accounts

All faculty and staff receive an email/network account. Your username and password are used to log onto your university-provided computer and access your email either using Outlook or the Outlook Web Access web page. The same account is used to access the RU Files networked file sharing and storage service. Depending on your responsibilities, you may also receive an account for accessing Banner, RU Access (the web interface to Banner), and Blackboard (Roosevelt's learning management system). Your credentials on these systems will be different from your main email/network account. For details on RU accounts visit the computer account information page.

Printing services

Users with assigned computers and offices usually have access to either an attached or networked printer. Printing in the libraries, labs, and computer classrooms are on the Greenprint card-based system. For more information on this service see the Greenprint information page.

Using the classroom technology

If you're unsure how to operate the equipment in the classrooms or need help in connecting your laptop to the classroom projection system, a good place to start is the Standard Classroom User Guide. For additional help, contact your local MMS office, or place a formal request with the help desk.

Quick help with classroom problems

When you're in a class and encounter problems with computing or projection equipment, placing a formal request with the help desk takes too much time. In these cases it's much faster to contact your local Multimedia Services (MMS) office, either in person or by telephone. There's an MMS office at all three buildings, and they are staffed whenever classes are in session. Contact information is listed below. If you call and no one answers, it's probably because MMS staff have been called momentarily out of the office to handle another problem. Leave a message with information about your problem and your location, and a staff member will be with you as soon as possible.

Chicago Campus (Auditorium) Room 576 312-341-3650 (office) 312-405-759 (mobile)

Chicago Campus (Gage) Room 305 312-281-3201 (office) 312-617-7509 (mobile)

Robin Campus (Schaumburg) Room 700 847-619-8601 (office) 312-617-7692 (mobile)

Requesting a different classroom

If the classroom you've been assigned in adequate either because of capacity or the lack of equipment, you may be able to find an alternative space. For more information, contact the scheduling clerk in the Office of the Registrar at 312-341-3721.

Requesting special equipment for classroom use

If your classrooms does not contain the technical resources you need, you can request special assistance from Multimedia Services. The most efficient method is to submit your request using the online equipment request form. This equipment is available on a first-come, first-served basis so be sure to get your requests in early.

Additional services

ITS maintains a variety of services to support instructional and research activities. Here's a quick overview. Follow the links provided for details.

• Blackboard is Roosevelt's primary online course management system for both standard classroom-based courses and courses offered through RU Online. Blackboard shells are automatically created for all RU classes -- no special request is required.

• Moodle is an alternative course management system that is now available to all interested faculty members. Course shells are not created automatically but are available by request. Moodle can also be used to support administrative groups.

• iTunes U. Podcasts and other audio or video materials for use by classes can be posted on Roosevelt's iTunes U service. The system can be configured to restrict access to members of the class and also supports student uploading of media files for sharing with fellow students.

• RU Files. This service provides secure networked file storage support not only for personal files, but also for files intended to be shared with colleagues or students. For example, you can embed links in Blackboard that provide students with direct access to files on the RU Files server.

• Mailing list support. Our Listserv mailing list service can be used to support a variety of electronic mailing list services. While direct communication with students is most easily done through Blackboard or RU Access, the Listserv approach is particularly useful for mailing lists that include both students and faculty, graduates of the University, and subscibers from other institutions or organizations.

• Faculty web. All faculty members have access to tools supporting the creation of personal web pages. This system supports simple form-based web pages that require no technical skill to create as well as uploading of custom-coded HTML pages.

• Multimedia Services. The MMS office provides support for a wide range of technologies for use in the classroom, video and audio recording devices, interactive "clickers," digitization services to convert analog materials into digital formats, and technical training.

[Rev. 24 July 2009]

ITS | Mutimedia Services