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Microsoft 365 Office Suite Available for Free Download

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Current students of Sul Ross State University have access to the Office Suite, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and other applications through a download link in Microsoft 365 (https://office.com). Only current student, those that are actively attending classes (does not include those auditing a class), are licensed for the download.

Under the agreement between Sul Ross and Microsoft, you are allowed to download and install any of the Microsoft Office applications on as many as five devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones.

Here are some resources to assist you in the download and installation processes.

Follow the link below (requires login) for a video to that shows how to download and install the applications you need.

https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/b6c18088-4a48-47e4-a6db-48e71ed99d82

Additional information from Microsoft is linked below:

To download and install on PC or Mac

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/download-and-install-or-reinstall-microsoft-365-or-office-2019-on-a-pc-or-mac-4414eaaf-0478-48be-9c42-23adc4716658

To download and install on a mobile device

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/set-up-office-apps-and-email-on-a-mobile-device-7dabb6cb-0046-40b6-81fe-767e0b1f014f

If you have any questions or need help with this process, please call us at 432-837-8888.

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OneDriveforBusiness Now Supports Version History for All File Types

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OneDrive is a great place to store all your important documents.  Prior to the recent announcement from Microsoft, while you could store and edit almost any file type on OneDrive, only Microsoft Office documents allowed you to store and edit multiple versions of a file.

Microsoft today (7/29/2017) announced that version history is available for all (yet to be defined) file types and not just Office files. This allows you to look at and edit previous versions of older PDF and CAD files, for example.

“Previously, version history only supported Office files. Now, version history is compatible with all file types, so you no longer need to worry about your PDFs, CAD files or even your photos and videos getting accidentally edited—you’ll always be able to restore or download a previous version”

See more at this web page:
https://blogs.office.com/en-us/2017/07/19/expanding-onedrive-version-history-support-file-types/

The Journey with Office 365 Continues

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It has been several months since I’ve taken time to write about our experiences with Office 365. From the looks of it, it has been several months since I’ve written about anything. Our use of Office 365 has some positive growth in some aspects and almost none in others. To date, we have over 2400 individuals here at the university that have logged into Office 365 and have created a One Drive for Business space in Office 356. We currently have no way to determine exactly how One Drive is being used. Our belief is that most individuals have simply downloaded the free Office suite and have never returned. Some, however, are using OneDrive for Business based on questions we get from time to time at the Helpdesk (LTAC), on the sidewalk, or in meetings. As with most technology, we have the early adopters, we anticipate a few laggards, and there is a large number of individuals in the middle that have started using the product or will shortly.

The use of Sharepoint has begun to spread around campus as well but not at a rate I had hoped for. I don’t have a count in front of me but I’d guess we have set up 25 or more site collections for various departments or groups in Sharepoint.

I’m using some speaking opportunities at the start of this semester to remind faculty and staff what Office 365 can bring to the table and that it is great place to store files that are accessible from almost anywhere on any device. Little by little we will bring them along and hopefully allow them to see the value this technology offering can bring to their world and how it can change the way they do their work.

Office365 ProPlus Free

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Over the last several months, OIT has been working toward a university-wide implementation of Office365, Microsoft’s recent offering that places many of their most popular pieces of software, Word, Excel, Powerpoint and others, in the cloud. With this implementation, all students, faculty and staff have access to download Microsoft Office and install it on a maximum of five personal computers.

Also included in Office365 are two relatively new features, OneDrive for Business and Sharepoint. Both of these applications allow files to be stored, safely and securely, in the cloud. Having your files in the cloud allows access to them anyplace you have an internet connection and on any number of devices including desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones, and may be shared with anyone. A primary differentiator between OneDrive and Sharepoint is that OneDrive is primarily for your own files while Sharepoint is best suited to departmental and workgroup uses.

This service is available NOW for all Sul Ross faculty, staff and students. Go to our Office365 page and learn how you can download, install and use this software.

It’s Been A Busy Summer

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Much was planned for the summer.  Not all was accomplished but most of what we wanted to do has been done or is being completed.  Here is a list of some of the major accomplishments over the summer.

– Staffing.  We are once again at full staffing on the Alpine campus.  Our recent additions include:
  • Rob Stolz, Webmaster
  • Pad Rayburn, System Administrator
  • Shana Smith, Tech Support II
  • Michelle Castleman, Tech Support I
  • Al Brautigam, Web Developer
– Area207 – We are re-establishing what used to be the Instructional Technology Area and moving it to ACR 207 to assist faculty with their classroom technology needs.  This new area will be managed by Sandy Bogus and Estella Vega along with Rusty Klein.
– Updated Labs at RGC Campuses.  The lab computers are updated at the RGC-Uvalde and RGC-Del Rio campuses.
– Disaster Recovery Implementation. Hardware configured and running at the Del Rio location. We will start pushing data to this DR site and begin the process of testing our disaster recovery plan during the fall semester.
– Wireless Internet and Improved CATV Services in Residence Halls.  The Lobo Village residence halls as well as Fletcher Hall now have wireless internet capabilities and improved television services.  .
– New Blackboard Features available during the fall semester:
     + Bb Mobile. Allows access to Bb content via mobile devices (iOS and Android)
     + Bb Content. Allow sharing of Bb content across courses and adds ePortfolios to the available features.
     + Bb Community. Allows groups to be created and managed within Bb (e.g. Social organizations).
– Ellucian Mobile Implementation. Allows access to student information (grades, classes, holds, schedule and other information.)
– Anti-virus.  Malwarebytes anti-virus software was implemented for all Sul Ross owned computers.
– Training for Student Employees.  We spent time this summer creating training plans for the students that work with us here in OIT.  Our intention is to provide better service at the point of contact on technology issues.

A few items we are looking at for the near future:

– Castroville Campus.  In the coming weeks, we will complete the installation of equipment and network, working closely with the team from SWTJC, at the new Catroville campus.  The first classes at this new campus will be in the spring 2015 semester.
– A Campus Portal – Various frameworks being considered with a possible roll-out in spring 2015.
– Office 2013 for Students.  All SRSU students have the opportunity to download and install Office 2013 to their personal computers while they are active students at the university.  This new feature should be available in the October time frame.
– Upgrade to Exchange 2013 – Will provide a better Exchange experience for Desktop and Web. Also interacts with Office365, Microsoft’s cloud-based productivity suite.
– Desktop Backups – We will continue to look at backup options for desktop and laptop computers.
– Website Redesign.  We have started the process of redesigning some of the content on our public pages.  The redesign will take several months to work through.
– Telephone Switch Upgrade or Replacement.  We are looking at several options to upgrade our phone switch to provide more stability and features such as caller-id.

This list represents many of the major projects completed this summer.  There were many other smaller projects that were completed as well.  On to fall!