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WELCOME TO (OR BACK TO) RUTGERS, CAMDEN CAMPUS!

The staff of Camden Computing Services wants to take this opportunity to first wish you an enjoyable and productive academic year. The summer of 2005 has been a busy time for Camden Computing Services.

INFORMATION FOR EVERYONE:

The list below provides information on what's new this fall in computing on the Camden campus.  For more details on these and all of our services, please go to our web site at:  http://computing.camden.rutgers.edu/

[Faculty/staff Note:  Please consult your departmental computer support person before attempting to make any changes to your office computer]

*  Computer viruses are prevalent on the Internet.  Protect and secure your computer by keeping it up-to-date with antivirus software and operating system patches.  We recommend using RADS (Rutgers Antivirus Delivery System) as your antivirus software since it automatically updates McAfee Antivirus software for you.  RADS is free to Rutgers University faculty, staff, and students.  You can obtain Microsoft operating system patches at:  http://www.windowsupdate.com.
For more information, go to http://software.rutgers.edu/.

* NetID Required - To access most computing services at Rutgers, you will need a NetID and computer account, which provides secure access to email, web pages, computer labs on all Rutgers campuses, the Rutgers network, and the Internet. The NetID is required for online student services including registration, personalized course schedules, statement of financial accounts and online credit card payment, grades, and transcripts; and for online faculty/staff services including grade rosters, online calendaring, faculty survey, course analysis, course synopses, and grade submission.

* All Rutgers faculty, students, and staff are required to have a NetID and a valid e-mail address in the Rutgers On-line Directory.  Please visit http://oit.rutgers.edu/netid-policy.html for more information and find links to update your record.

* A new lab for Digital Signal Processing (for the Computer Science Department) was being set up in BSB 416 consisting of 12 new PCs with specialized hardware/software.  Six new Sun Workstations were also added to the I2 (Internet 2) lab in BSB.   The Fine Arts labs saw one third of the older systems in their labs replaced with 8 new PCs and 8 Macs.

* Many servers including the main email cluster, the campus web server, and the faculty/staff server (crab), have been upgraded to provide faster and more reliable service.  Additional disk space was also added to the student and faculty/staff servers, so that home directories could expand in usage and hold more email and other files. Because of this additional disk space, we were also able to increase the disk space quotas (amount of disk space allowed) by 50 meg for home directories for all faculty, staff and students.

* The wireless network on campus has been upgraded to achieve greater speeds and will be expanding to more areas in existing buildings over this upcoming academic year.   By the Spring 2006 term, Armitage Hall, Law building, Robeson Library and Campus Center are expected to be completely wireless with the new protocol.  The wireless network is now fully compatible with both 802.11b and 802.11g standards.  Sporadic problems that occurred last semester in the Library wireless network have been identified and corrected.

* Finally the Camden Computing Services web pages (at http://computing.camden.rutgers.edu) have undergone revamping in terms of content and using a new common template.  More information on the above topics can also be found here.

NEW ITEMS FOR STUDENTS:

* The Guide to Student Computing 2005-2006 is online at http://oit.rutgers.edu/studentguide.pdf.  You can also pick up a copy at any of the public computing labs on the campus:
  http://computing.camden.rutgers.edu/hours.php

* The personal, customizable, web-based informational portal to Rutgers University is just a click away.  The portal provides a single access point and sign on to an ever increasing number of Rutgers applications.  Go to http://my.rutgers.edu for more information.

* Wireless access on the campus was expanded to now include the lobbies of Armitage Hall and Business & Science building along with additional areas in the outside quad on the campus.  More information on wireless locations and how to access is found at:
   http://ruwireless.camden.rutgers.edu/

* This summer again saw the upgrade of approximately one-third of the public lab systems on the campus.  The PCs in the Paul Robeson Library public lab (first floor foyer) have all been upgraded to new Dell systems.  Many of our recent surveys of the campus community have shown that our customers desire to have more systems available in the Library lab or Armitage Hall.  The Robeson Library lab is fairly small and crowded with existing systems already and no space is available in Armitage. But there is good news!  Camden Computing Services has worked closely with the staff of the Library and space for 12 new pcs has been identified on the first floor near the Reference Area.  These PCs will be similar to those in other public labs (same login screens and software available), and along with new tables and chairs, should be installed and ready to use sometime in September.

* Speaking of upgrades, all of the PCs in the public labs on campus are being upgraded to Windows XP (from Windows 2000).  Various software has also been upgraded on the lab PCs, Macs and Sun systems.  In fact, the Macs have added Microsoft Office 2004 and Appleworks, along with an upgraded version of OpenOffice to their program suite.

* Major lab renovations were ongoing in the BSB labs on the first floor (BSB 132, 133, 108, 109 and 110).  These labs, which were showing their age (over 15 years old), will be furnished with new carpeting, tables, chairs and lighting.  The work on these labs started in July and will be complete near the end of September.  In the meantime, to meet the needs of everyone using these labs, we have been shifting systems around and making other areas with pcs available to minimize disruption to our customers. The Sun Workstations will be temporarily housed in BSB 110 during September. We know everyone will appreciate the upgraded labs when completed.

* Were you thinking of setting up wireless access in your dorm room?  If so, please go to https://resnet.rutgers.edu/wireless.php for recommendations to help you define a secure installation and operation.

* Our staff has also been busy assisting various programs on campus, including working with the Information Literacy portion of the Summer EOF program, and also working with the Freshmen and Transfer student orientations, including speaking with students and setting up discussion boards, email lists and web pages for new students.

* A team  of local and New Brunswick telecommunication staff assisted in the installation of a new cable TV system for both residence halls in Camden.  All rooms were wired for cable TV and a head-end was installed based on specifications from OIT (Office of Information Technology) telecommunications staff.

NEW ITEMS FOR FACULTY AND STAFF:

* An additional 12 smart classrooms were installed this summer in various labs and classrooms, including the classrooms at 319 Cooper (the previous Leap High School location).  The three oldest smart-classrooms (Armitage 121, Fine Arts 110 and Science Lecture Hall) have also undergone extensive upgrades this summer.

* Behind the scenes, various buildings on Cooper Street were placed on faster network connections to the Rutgers Network (RUNet).  The network backbone for many of the servers in Camden Computing Services is also being increased to a Gigabit speed including upgrading the main firewall (a firewall is a device used to provide better network security).

HELP:
*  Walk in (BSB 109 & 132; CC 017), phone in (856/225-6274), and email (help@camden.rutgers.edu) Help Desks along with online web page instructions at:   http://computing.camden.rutgers.edu

** Posted from an email message sent to the campus community on August 20, 2005.