IT Guide to Working Remotely

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Eastern University: The Compleat Guide to Working Remotely

Information Technology

March 2020

Overview

Many of EU’s technology resources are already available through your web browser, but there are a few that require a VPN to access from off-campus. Please remember everything you already know about handling sensitive information. Do not access EU’s VPN or the data it grants access to from a personally-owned or shared computer. EU issues all staff and non-adjunct faculty computers appropriate to their work needs. 

Getting IT help

The BEST way to get help is to use web helpdesk: https://whd.eastern.edu

Fill out the form completely, including name, phone number, email address and as much detail as you can give about the problem. If the issue is that you can’t access your Eastern University email address, please include an alternate email address we can use to reach you. 

You can also call 610.341.1726 . This allows you to leave a message that will be transcribed into a Helpdesk ticket. Leave a detailed description of the problem and information that we can use to contact you.

Sending an email to helpdesk@eastern.edu will also work. Again, please include all your contact information and a description of the issue.

We will triage tickets. Priority will be given to those requests to establish remote access for teaching and University operations.

The worst way to get help is email Eric. He’ll just have to forward your request to the helpdesk, which puts you farther down in the queue.

Using Multiple Google Accounts

If you are working from home, you are probably logged into your personal GMail account. Make life easy on yourself. Add an additional person in your Chrome web browser. In the top right corner, you’ll see either your picture or your initials. Click there, and at the bottom, click add. This creates two browser sessions. It keeps your work and personal items separate AND it bypasses any login problems.

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Phones

EU faculty and staff are about to use our Zoom phone system from their computers.. If you are having trouble, please open a helpdesk ticket. 

Things that will just work

All of these EU websites work from any web browser, even off-campus:

• http://eaglemail.eastern.edu

• https://colleague.eastern.edu

• https://croa.eastern.edu/BOE/BI/ 

• https://selfservice.eastern.edu 

• https://eastern.brightspace.com 

• https://eastern.edu  

• https://directory.eastern.edu  

• https://password.eastern.edu 

• Homepage | Warner Library - Eastern University  

• https://my.eastern.edu  

• https://whd.eastern.edu  

• https://eastern.joinhandshake.com 

• https://zoom.us  

• https://chat.google.com 

Things that will likely need a bit more work 

These resources are protected and require VPN to access. VPN means Virtual Private Network. It allows for your computer to connect to EU resources securely, as if you were on campus.

• All network share drives \\dcd\Moses Share

• All mapped drives, such as S:\ or U:\

• Perceptive Content

If you need access to these things, please contact the help desk.

Online Learning

Faculty with questions about getting classes online should reach out to the Center of Teaching, Learning & Technology, brightspace@eastern.edu  

If your webcam is broken or you don’t have one, open a helpdesk ticket. We have a supply of extras and will send one to you overnight.

Options for Online Discussions or Meetings:

• http://Zoom.us : If you haven’t already, you can create an account using your http://eastern.edu address that will let you host an online meeting that allows video meeting and screen sharing.

• Chate.google.com: Quick, primarily text-based discussions. You can include multiple team members or create a room. Easy file sharing.

• http://Meet.google.com : Similar features to Zoom, but some prefer it instead.