Campus News
One Minute Silence: tribute to key workers
April 27th, 2020
The University is inviting staff to observe a national one minute silence being held tomorrow, Tuesday 28 April at 11am in remembrance of front line workers who have lost their lives in the battle against coronavirus.
Since the start of the pandemic, at least 84 health workers including 69 NHS workers and 15 care workers have died due to the virus.
The one minute silence coincides with International Workers’ Memorial Day, an annual observance that pays tribute to workers who have become unwell, injured, disabled or have died due to their work.
It has been organised as part of a collaboration between public service trade union Unison, the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Midwives.
The hashtag for the campaign to use on social media is #neverforgotten
Tags: care workers, coronavirus, COVID-19, key workers, NHS, one minute silence
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Anxiety Management in Uncertain Times: virtual session for staff
April 27th, 2020
Back by popular demand, Dr Xenia Pestova Bennett will be hosting an online workshop via Microsoft Teams for staff introducing simple techniques to reduce anxiety.
Join Dr Pestova Bennett on Wednesday 13 May from 10.30am – 11.15am as she guides participants through simple breathing, movement and focus exercises to help create an individual “anxiety toolkit” which can be accessed in times of need. The session will be followed by an optional Q&A
Past participants have said: ” The breathing practices are very beneficial and I am continuing to use these!” and “I would recommend this to anyone who has trouble sleeping or calming down because the exercises mentioned are really helpful.”
To join this online workshop, please email Julie Thomas by 12 noon on Tuesday 12 May 2020. Please note – Due to the incredibly high level of interest received, once all places have been filled, a waiting list will be held.
The 45-minute workshop will be recorded.
About the host
Dr Xenia Pestova Bennett is a professional pianist, certified yoga instructor and performance coach. She delivers individual and group sessions on anxiety management. Her clients and collaborators include Facebook London, Moving on Music, Sound and Music, Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Nottingham.
Tags: anxiety, Dr Xenia Pestova, managing anxiety
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UKRI open access policy consultation – deadline extended
April 21st, 2020
Earlier this year, staff were asked to share their feedback on the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) proposed open access policy.
Due to disruptions related to COVID-19, the internal deadline for feedback has been extended to Monday 11 May to give staff additional time to have their say on the future of open access.
Feedback is encouraged from individuals as well as schools and departments, and will help to inform a University-level response.
The policy forms part of UKRI’s Open Access Review which aims to align its open access policy with Plan S principles.
Find out more and have your say
Tags: consultation, open access, open access review, UKRI, UKRI consultation
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Update from Information Services: April 2020
April 21st, 2020
Information Services would like to share some news and technology updates taking place in Spring 2020 — including University storage moving to OneDrive, an update to the Print Service, guidance on using Zoom, privacy when setting up a Team, remote working and device housekeeping, communication tools and changes to personal courses in Echo360.
Below are the technology updates and news taking place in 2020:
- Changes to file storage
- Update on refresh to the Print Service
- Use of Zoom at the University of Nottingham
- Creating an Office 365 team in Microsoft Teams
- Information on working remotely, device housekeeping and communication tools
- Changes to personal courses in Engage (Echo360)
For all the latest news from Information Services, visit the Digital Network blog or Office 365 news.
For maintenance and updates with core IT Services, visit the IT Status page.
Tags: Echo360, engage, Information Services, IS, IS Update, Microsoft Teams, Office 365, print service, working remotely, Zoom
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Changes to personal courses in Engage (Echo360)
April 21st, 2020
There will be some changes to the way recordings are managed in Echo360
From Wednesday 29 April, ‘personal courses’ labelled with your email address (in the format ‘firstname.surname@nottingham.ac.uk’) will no longer be visible in your ‘Courses’ list on Echo360.
These ‘personal courses’ were created a few years ago when we ran our own system on campus but since the move to the Cloud in 2018, Echo360 provides each user with their own personal library called ‘My Content’ and we no longer need to use the old ‘personal courses’.
- You will find that all your old recordings are available in your ‘My Content’ area so you will still be able to create direct links to share to modules and other users.
- If you wish to use your library instead of recording direct to your module (allowing you to check and edit the recording before sharing), you no longer need to change the ‘Publish To’ dropdown on your Capture Details when starting a recording as ‘Library’ is already selected by default.
All guidance training materials can be found on the Introduction to Engage for Staff Moodle page. For any queries about this change, please email engage@nottingham.ac.uk or contact the IT Service Desk.
For all the latest news from Information Services, see the Digital Network blog or Office 365 news.
For maintenance and updates with core IT Services, visit the IT Status page.
Tags: cloud, Echo 360, engage
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Information on working remotely, device housekeeping and communication tools
April 21st, 2020
Information Services have recently updated their Working remotely web page, ways to access your University data, systems and applications remotely and when to use them. This includes information on Office 365, University systems, Remote Desktop, Virtual Private Network, and Windows Virtual Desktop.
Maintaining a University Windows Managed Device
During times of prolonged remote working, it is important that university devices are maintained while on or off campus. Based upon feedback and reported issues by users, we have some advice for users with a Windows university managed device.
When a university device is not connected to the university network (wired or wireless), it is not controlled in the usual way as it would be when on campus. As such, in some cases devices won’t receive important Windows and security updates.
Because of this, it is essential that users with a university Windows device follow some key steps to ensure the device is kept up to date and maintained:
- Restart your device that is on or off campus at least once a week
- Connect to the university Virtual Private Network (VPN) using the IPsec connection and have it connected for a couple of hours each week
- Ensure your device has enough air flow so the fan is not blocked
For more information about known issues with preventative and reactive actions, please see the Digital Network blog.
Communication tools
Making calls while working remotely
Staying in contact with colleagues is especially important when working remotely.
In addition to mobile telephones for calls, the University has two recommended solutions for text, voice, and video communications when working remotely:
- Internal calls – Microsoft Teams
Every member of staff and student has access to Microsoft Teams via their Office 365 account.
Teams can be used through a web browser, the desktop or mobile application. Teams can be used for instant messaging, virtual team meetings and voice calls with other University colleagues.
Further information on Teams can be found here.
Please note that calls to external numbers is not currently possible with Teams and any communication will use your data allowance if you are not connected to a Wireless network.
If you need to make or receive external calls and do not have a mobile phone that you can divert calls to, we recommend using Skype for Business, which can be installed on a personal computer, laptop or mobile device depending on the equipment available to you.
- External calls – Skype for Business
Please contact the IT Service Desk to request your University telephone number to be linked to a Skype for Business account (note that this is only available to University Staff and Postgraduate Researchers).
Further information on Skype for Business can be found here.
Tags: device housekeeping, Working from home, working remotely
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Creating an Office 365 team in Microsoft Teams
April 21st, 2020
When creating a Team in Office 365 it is important to set the preferences to private.
All content in public Office 365 Teams or Groups can be viewed by anyone within the University (both students and staff). This includes files, conversations (spoken or written), videos, recordings of meetings etc. Additionally, anyone in the University can join your Team or Group and edit or delete the content.
This has significant implications for all participants as their personal data (names, faces, opinions) is being shared. To protect our professional confidentiality and support our increasing use of these O365 tools, please:
- Change the security of the Team or Group to private as soon as you are able.
- Review the membership of the Team or Group and remove anyone who has no need to access the data.
There are guides to change the security of a Team or Group, and assistance is available from the IT Service Desk if you have further questions.
Further advice on data protection and information security can be found here.
Tags: Microsoft Teams
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Use of Zoom at the University
April 21st, 2020
We are aware that some staff and students have been using Zoom to conduct meetings or hold conversations. Questions have been asked by the community around the use of this system within the University of Nottingham.
The Information and Compliance team, IT Security team and the Teaching and Learning Board have confirmed that Zoom should not be used for any internal University meetings. This is due to concerns around Zoom’s security vulnerabilities and ensure compliance with our GDPR requirements.
For internal meetings and phone calls, only Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business, MeetingZone or StarLeaf should be used. Our contractual arrangements with these suppliers ensure information, meetings and conversations are stored securely and confidentially.
Please do not use Zoom for internal meetings. If you use Zoom, this should only be for:
- your personal use
- or to attend meetings and webinars organised externally
We are aware that our current video conference tools may not support hosting webinars. While Zoom is just one of many video conferencing / webinar platforms, we will be working on some guidance and recommendations for the University and will communicate further.
Tags: IS, video conferencing, webinars, Zoom
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Update to refresh to the Print Service
April 21st, 2020
Since last year, Information Services have been refreshing and improving the University Print Service. Some of the final elements of the project will be delayed. Here are some updates:
- Printer replacements and removals are currently on hold until access to University campuses is resumed.
- Due to the current circumstance, an unscheduled review of the print service costs will be taking place with Xerox, IS and Finance teams. We will provide an update in next financial year.
- We are continuing to update printer champions details for all printers to ensure they are correct. We will be working on updating posters next to printers, improving instructions and releasing a new SharePoint site for all print guidance and support.
- There are currently no monthly print reports, this is something we will continue to work on and will share more information with Departmental Print Managers (DPMs).
Further information and updates will be made available on the Digital Network blog.
Tags: print service
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