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November/December 2022
McMaster Connectivity Newsletter


For the IT community, by the IT community.

This will be the final edition of 2022. Connectivity will resume in January 2023. Wishing everyone a joyful holiday season and a Happy New Year!

McMaster IT News

Happy Holidays, McMaster IT!

McMaster IT concludes Women in Tech Fall Series: featuring female IT leaders within McMaster

The McMaster Office of the AVP and CTO concluded the Women in Tech Fall Series, which was launched in September 2022 to further highlight and distinguish female leaders within McMaster IT.

Three female leaders from McMaster University’s Office of the AVP and CTO joined Gayleen Gray for enriching and inspiring virtual conversations open to the McMaster community. The Fall Series also featured a special edition session with CUCCIO Executive Director Lori MacMullen.

Recordings of these sessions are available via the link below!
Watch recorded sessions here

Happy Holidays! UTS Holiday support hours now available 

McMaster University Technology Services (UTS) business hours are changing during the holidays. Please note that the service desk will close at 2:00 PM on December 23 and will open on January 4, 2023, at 8:30 AM with regular hours. Please note, faculty/departmental IT units may operate differently.

Learn more about UTS holiday support hours

ATTENTION: NEVER share your MacID password with anyone!

Please stay aware of suspicious communication targeting students, faculty, and staff at McMaster. We will NEVER ask you to share your password via call, text, email, or social media platforms. In addition, NO ONE outside of McMaster should ever be granted access to install an application on ANY computer for any reason, without appropriate involvement from a known IT support team within McMaster – whether Faculty IT, departmental IT, UTS, or Information Security Services.

Stay in the know and follow McMaster UTS and McMaster IT accounts on Instagram and Twitter:

McMaster ITTwitter Instagram

McMaster UTSTwitter Instagram

IT Notice: Executive impersonations and gift card scams

McMaster’s Information Security Services team is advising students, staff, and faculty to be aware of current online phishing and spoofing attempts involving executive impersonations and gift card requests.
 

Please Note: Your dean, professor, instructor, supervisor, or colleague will never send you an email asking you to buy gift cards or send them gift card codes.

Learn how to protect yourself and stay cyber safe

IT Security tips for McMaster users traveling abroad

Planning a trip? Check out these handy tips to help maintain IT security best practices before, during and after you travel.

Learn how to secure your account

Do you manage a McMaster website? Put it in Pope Tech! 

Pope Tech is a Web Accessibility Testing tool at McMaster, used to evaluate our AODA Web Compliance.

Not only can Pope Tech scan your site as an automated accessibility checker, but we are leveraging the software to use as our website inventory management tool as well!  

The AODA Web Compliance Reporting requires a list of publicly accessible websites associated with an organization. If you manage McMaster websites, we ask that you please ensure all the websites for your department/faculty are included in  Pope Tech

To add a new website(s) to PopeTech or to update a website record already in Pope Tech, please speak to the person leading your area/unit/department's web accessibility activity. If you are unsure who your group leader is - please refer to the  Website inventory  or contact Clark Cipryk at ciprykc@mcmaster.ca
 
To delete a website from Pope Tech, please contact Clark Cipryk at ciprykc@mcmaster.ca and include the URL of the website that has been decommissioned. 

NOTE: Before a website can be removed from Pope Tech, it must be decommissioned first. 

For more information on AODA compliance initiatives at McMaster University,  join the AODA Roadmap Teams Channel.  

Blue by Explorance administers Student Course Experience Surveys (SCES) starting Fall 2022

Student Course Evaluations, now referred to as Student Course Experience Surveys (SCES), will now be administered through the Office of Institutional Research & Analysis (IRA) starting this Fall, using Blue by Explorance. The transition to Blue for Student Course Experience Surveys is a partnership between the Office of the Vice-Provost of Teaching and Learning, IRA, the Faculty of Humanities Media and Computing team, with support from University Technology Services (UTS). 

If you have questions, feel free to email Chris or Thomas at evals@mcmaster.ca

Read more about McMaster's Student Course Experience Survey here

Office App (office.com) is now Microsoft 365 App (microsoft365.com)

In the coming months, the Office app for web (office.com), Windows, iOS, and Android will be rebranded to the Microsoft 365 app. The web app will be accessed at a new URL (www.microsoft365.com) although, for the time being, it can still be used at the existing URL (www.office.com).
Learn more about the Microsoft rebrand

Stay up to date with changes or new features in Zoom or Microsoft 365 apps. Pin the Discover App to your Teams Navigation Bar

The Discover App gives you quick access to Microsoft 365 & Zoom resources, important Terms of Use, training, and support.

To add the app:

  1. Open your Teams app or use Teams web by signing in at microsoft365.com and opening Teams.
  2. Click on the Timbits (...) on your Teams navigation bar to open More Options.
  3. Search for DISCOVER.
  4. Select the app.
  5. Right-click on the app to Pin It to the navigation bar and right-click to Pop it Out when you use it.

If you're a Microsoft 365 user, you need to check these tips!

  1. Schedule when you want emails to send in Outlook
  2. Privately magnify slides in Teams 
  3. A cloud signature to use on all your Windows devices
  4. How to use Polls App in a Teams Meeting
  5. To Do App support ends for iOS 13 and MacOS 10.14
  6. How to Add Polls to a Teams Meeting

Do you use Zoom? Here are the latest updates!

  1. Solution for the recent Zoom update error message
  2. Schedule and join Zoom meetings in Outlook on any device 
  3. Assign Scheduling Privileges to another McMaster Zoom user to allow them to schedule meetings on your behalf.
  4. The Zoom Chrome OS app will be retired

McMaster IT Governance Committees | Join the Teams channel for the latest updates

Stay on top of the latest updates from McMaster IT Governance Committees. Join the IT Governance MS Teams channel where all  meetings agendas, information and materials are available.
Learn more about IT Governance at McMaster here

Data Governance Update

Data Governance has been working with functional areas (Domains) to define key Data Elements and Data Processes and now has 408 Data Elements and 124 Data Processes (e.g. reports, extracts, dashboards, ETLs) defined. These definitions will support McMaster employees in understanding university data and data processes. This understanding will create efficiency, improve quality, and enhance access to data for authorized users.
Check out the November 2022 Data Governance Update and find more information on Data Governance on the website or reach out to Data Governance at datagov@mcmaster.ca.

Data Governance Success Story

Watch this demo by Katie Millar, Program Manager in the HR Data Analytics Team to learn how Human Resources (HR) has integrated the data cookbook software with the Mosaic HR reporting hub. As HR defines data elements, they'll will be hyperlinked in the reports and users will be able to hover over them and see that the definition associated with that element. HR hopes to achieve a few key goals in incorporating data governance into day-to-day processes; standardizing HR data definitions and HR data processes, removing HR data silos, and in turn improving the overall user experience.
Data Cookbook & HR Reporting Hub Integration video

SAVE THE DATE for Connectivity 2023: McMaster IT Forum!

Mark your calendars for Connectivity 2023: McMaster IT Forum! This event will be a hybrid format and take place from February 21 - 24, 2023. Preparations have already started! If you are interested in being part of the organizing team, make sure to sign up as a volunteer through the link below. Spread the word with your fellow IT colleagues, as we are hoping to have a team from diverse departments across the campus. Looking forward to working with you all!
Sign up to volunteer for the Connectivity 2023: IT Forum organizing committee here

Have you subscribed to the UTS Service Dashboard?

The new UTS Service Dashboard allows you to customize your preferences for alerts on upcoming planned maintenance and unplanned major service interruptions. The dashboard is built on Atlassian. You can set your preferences to receive your alerts via email and/or text for the services most relevant to your work. Subscribe today!

Subscribe to UTS service dashboard here

Thank you to all who attended the McMaster-IT Community Get-Together!

In early preparation for the festive season, the Office of the AVP and CTO held an in-person McMaster IT community event to catch up with colleges over hot drinks and desserts. Thank you to all who attended!

Have a story you want to share with the IT Community? Email McMaster IT Communications team at itcomms@mcmaster.ca to feature an article!

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2022, McMaster IT

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