Day: June 27, 2017

When Technology Problems Happen

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06/27/2017

2:24 pm

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Help Desk, Online Classes, Remote Classes

You can assume that at some point you or the college will have technical problems. There are way too many places for something to go wrong and in the course of a semester, something always does.

What to do?

First: Call the Help Desk – 1-866-614-5004 –PRESS 1 — someone will answer that phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Help Desk can test to see if the problem is on your end or on the college end.

The next important part of this is to speak up! Tell your instructor that you are having technical problems so you figure out together what options you have. The options you have will depend on what the problem is. This is why you often have an office telephone number for your instructor. Even at night or on a weekend, leave a message and tell your instructor when and where he/she can call you back. Most instructors don’t usually check voice mail on Saturdays and Sundays, but some may.

On a weekend, especially if a quiz or exam is due, make sure you leave at least a phone message as soon as you determine you have a problem. Don’t wait until Monday night to let your instructor know you had a problem on Saturday night. The voice mail systems puts a time and date stamp on every message, so they will know when you leave it.

If there are technical problems on the college’s end (for example, the server goes down or the Internet collapses), your instructor may  adjust things; what your instructor does is up to them. But you should have at least downloaded and printed the basic semester schedule so that you have a clue of what you should be working on at all times. You may not be able to complete an on-line quiz or participate in a discussion, but you can keep working on the material in the textbook without the Internet.

 

If you have a chronic technology problem that will not go away, your instructor may or may not make individual adjustments as needed. The adjustments they make may not be to your advantage. This is to discourage anyone from calling every Saturday night reporting that your computer has broken down and “can I have extra time for the test?”

Browser Check

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06/27/2017

2:22 pm

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Browsers

The browser check will take a look at your browser configurations and tell you what setting you have. It’s useful to try this with both Internet Explorer and Fire Fox. There’s no guarantee that the browser check will pick up every problem but it can help; this is especially useful if you do not know how your browsers are configured or you are using a computer that you do not own (i.e. work, a library).

First, check to see what browsers Blackboard supports. You can do that on the Blackboard Support Page. (As of June 2017, Genesee is on “2017 Q2”)

Now, let’s see what browser you actually have.

One possible browser check: https://www.whatismybrowser.com/

Now. Just because your browser may be “out of date” doesn’t mean it won’t work.

You need to put the Blackboard list and the results of the test together to see if your browser will actually work.

Still confused? Send an email to helpdesk@genesee.edu and tell us what browser you’re using and we’ll help figure out if you need to do anything about that!

ID Cards

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06/27/2017

2:04 pm

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Faculty, Staff, Students

Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to obtain a Genesee picture ID card. This card can be used in any campus office as proof of identification when conducting business on a campus and in the library.

Students living in College Village need a ID special card; the special ID cards serve as your key for the building you are living in. There is a separate key for your room.

In Batavia

In Batavia, ID cards are obtained from the Student Activities Office located in the Wolcott J. Humphry III Student Union when the Union is open. To get a student ID card, you will need your GCC ID number, picture ID and you must already be registered for classes. It takes about 1-2 hours for newly registered students to get their data into the ID card system.

At a Campus Center

At a campus center, your picture can be taken at the campus center and the ID card will be returned to the same campus within a week’s time.

Anyone who cannot come to Batavia or a Campus Center to have a picture taken is not issued a Genesee ID card.

Policy – Dealing with Students Who Misuse Computing Resources Proc 420

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06/27/2017

12:49 pm

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Accounts, Banner, Everyone, Faculty, Help Desk, Home Computers, Security, Staff, Students

The use of computing and information processing resources is a privilege granted by the College to students who have demonstrated an appropriate need in their program of study or work assignment at Genesee Community College. All users of GCC computer resources must comply with the applicable statutes of New York State and Federal law, in particular, Chapter 514 of the New York State Penal Law. The purpose of this procedure is to outline the steps which will be followed if student misuse of computing resources is suspected.

This is an official College policy, numbered Procedure 420.

Policy – Statement on Non-Discrimination

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06/27/2017

12:47 pm

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Everyone, Faculty, Staff, Students

Genesee computer systems shall not be used for transmission of information that promotes:

  • discrimination on the basis of age, marital status, veteran status, national origin, race, creed, color, gender, religion, disability or sexual orientation;
  • sexual harassment;
  • copyright infringement;
  • personal political beliefs;
  • personal business interests; or
  • any unlawful activity.

Computer Labs – Campus Centers

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06/27/2017

12:45 pm

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Computer Labs, Students

Every Campus Center has at least one instructional computer lab as well as a secondary lab where students can complete coursework when there is a class meeting in the instructional lab. Availability of computers will vary from center to center and you should check with the center you wish to work at about the hours that the building is open and when the computer lab is available for use.

The Campus Center computer labs have the same basic software as the computer labs on the Batavia campus. There is some specialty specialty software that has licensing requirements that do not allow the college to install the software in all locations. When specialty software is required at a campus center, students need to work with their instructor to review the needs and determine if the software is required to be installed. The instructor will, in turn, then work with Computer Services to work within licensing and access issues.

Computer Labs – Batavia

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06/27/2017

12:45 pm

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Computer Labs, Students

The largest concentration of computer labs in Batavia is located in the Conable Technology Building. In that building, there are five dedicated classrooms for instruction (T204, T205, T206) and a Computer Learning Lab (T207) open to all currently registered students to use a computer on a drop-in basis.

Open Computer Lab

The Computer Learning Lab is staffed by student workers when it is open who are available to assist you with basic computer questions. They cannot help you directly with homework assignments but can help you find the software or electronic information you may need to complete an assignments. More extended help and tutoring is available in the Assisted Learning Lab (D209) which is part of the Center for Academic Progress.

The Conable Technology building computer labs have, in addition to computers, scanners and printers. There is access to color printing on a limited basis in T207 for students creating materials for class use.

T204

In addition to the computer labs in the Conable Technology Building, there are a small handful of labs that support specific programs:

  • Language Lab (A312) is dedicated to supporting foreign language, reading and ESL classes
  • CSN Lab (D203) is dedicated to the support of the various Computer and Technology degree programs
  • CAD lab (E125) is dedicated to the Drafting and Engineering program
  • Apple Lab (E122) is dedicated to the Communications and Digital Arts program
  • Assisted Learning Lab (ALL – D209) is dedicated to tutoring and academic support
  • Math Lab (D210) is dedicated to math programs and learning assistance
  • Library Computer Lab which is used by Library staff when training students in using Library bibliographic resources
  • BEST Center Lab (T104) is used by the BEST Center to offer training programs to outside organizations and provide workforce development opportunities

There are student computers in smaller labs, for example the Math Tutoring Lab, the Writing Lab, Library to allow students to complete work.

In addition, there are locations in the library and T207 for students to use personal laptops. Students using the library must bring a flash drive and print from one of the main library computers. T207 provides wireless printing resources.

Computer Labs

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06/27/2017

12:43 pm

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Computer Labs, Explanations, Students

Genesee Community College has a major commitment to making computer labs available to support instruction. Classes in a number of disciplines use the computer labs for instruction and almost all faculty expect that students will use a computer in some way to complete assignments or simply keep in contact.

Every Genesee location has at least two computer labs for these purposes.

Apple Computers

Genesee uses primarily Windows based computers. There is a lab of Apple Macs on the Batavia campus that supports the Digital Arts and Communication degree programs; students in those programs will be expected to work in the Mac lab on assignments.

You are more than welcome to use a Mac laptop on a campus wireless connection for your own personal use but do be aware that the majority of faculty will be using Windows as their base system.

Printing

Laser printers are available in all student labs to allow you to print documents to hand in to instructors and for your own use. There is no separate printing fee, that is included in the Technology Fee paid every semester.

The Computer Learning Lab (T207) on the Batavia campus has a color printer to allow students to print a final copy of a project that is to be handed in to an instructor. We have a limit to many pages you may print on the color printer. You may only print 10 pages on the color printer a day, per person.

The Laptop Zone found inside T207 also allows for wireless printing from personal laptops. Instructions on how to connect to the printer are on location in the room.

Saving your Work

All campus computers have readily accessible USB ports for you to use a flash drive. We recommend that you purchase multiple, smaller flash drives rather than one large flash drive, in case you are in a class (often a CIS class) where the instructor requires you to turn in your work on a flash drive.

Make sure that you put your name on the flash drive so that when you lose it, you can easily identify it. Additionally, create a file on the drive named “_Owner Information” — the underscore will sort the file to the top of the list — with your name and email address so that you can be contacted if your flash drive is found.

Additionally, you can email files to yourself using your Genesee email or any other Cloud based system you may have access to.