Computer Support
The computing department is responsible for meeting the law school’s computing needs, including maintaining desktop and laptop computers, installing and upgrading software, and managing the computer network.
To request assistance with your computer or network service, please contact John Weingarten (323-3775) or Mike Lavoie (323-3717). If you experience a computer emergency, you are welcome to call John on his cell phone (434-4293) or Mike Lavoie on his cell phone (pending). Please note that John and Mike’s cell phone numbers are for use by law school faculty and staff only.
Passwords
A pre-created account password is given to each faculty and staff member when the account is created. This password allows you access to your law school account for the first time. Although we don't require you to change your password at set intervals, we strongly suggest that you change your password frequently (at least every three to six months) or whenever you have reason to believe your password has been compromised (meaning someone else might know your password).
When creating a new password, keep in mind that the most secure passwords consist of a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. Replacing letters with numbers, for example replacing o with 0 or i with 1 is a good method for creating more secure passwords. Also, consider creating password phrases instead of just single passwords. For more tips on ensuring account security, please contact Dalean Neiner (323-3795).
Accessing Your EMail Account
You may access your email account not only from on campus but also from off campus through the law school webpage. Click the “Email Login” link on the upper-right side of the webpage.
Although it is possible to forward your law school email to another account, we strongly recommend against this practice. Forwarding messages can cause all sorts of problems, especially if the account to which you forward your email becomes overloaded or unavailable for any reason.
Since your law school email account is used for official communication, forwarding your email puts you at risk of missing important messages. Further, because an unavailable account to which your mail is forwarded may create law school network problems—such as endless email loops—we may have to access your email box to correct problems, delete forwarding rules, and disable your account.
If your account is disabled for this or any other reason, please contact Mike Lavoie (323-3717), or John Weingarten (323-3775) to resolve the problem and have your account reactivated.
Global Distribution Lists
The Law School establishes and maintains various global distribution lists to facilitate official communication from the law school faculty and staff to the law students. Only faculty and other designated persons are permitted to send messages to the global distribution list—and then only for important law-school related messages, e.g. class schedule changes, and guest speaker announcements.
Where to Store Your Documents
The way to ensure only authorized users have access to your confidential and/or sensitive documents is to save them to your H: (home) folder.
To save files to H:, follow these steps--
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Choose File>Save As (Save As dialog box appears)
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Click the Save in: drop-down arrow (list of destination locations appears)
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Click Desktop or My Documents
To save files to the Desktop, follow these steps—
WARNING: Documents stored solely on your local computer are not safe or secure.
In order to resolve problems that may arise with your computer, it is often necessary for the computing department to erase the entire contents of your computer’s hard drive. If that need arises, any documents stored solely on your local computer will be deleted and will be unrecoverable.
Office Computer Must Remain Turned On
You are required to keep your computer turned on at all times. Computing Services regularly schedules routine remote computer maintenance for the installation of security and anti-virus updates, and this process can only work if the machines are turned on.
However, to ensure security, it’s important that you always log off or lock your computer whenever you leave your computer. Locking, (simply press Ctrl+Alt+Delete, then Enter) is a quick and easy way to secure your computer without having to close all your programs.
IMPORTANT: Remember to always save your work before leaving your computer. Any unsaved documents can, inadvertently, be lost due to power failures or myriad other reasons.
TIP: To refresh your computer’s memory and prevent a variety of problems, it’s a good idea to restart your computer at least once per week. Perhaps each Friday when you leave you should get in the habit of clicking Start>Shut Down>Restart.
Word Processing Programs
Although some faculty members use WordPerfect to create and/or edit documents for their scholarly writing, it is the policy of the Law School that only Microsoft Word documents be distributed electronically. Microsoft Word is the only officially supported word-processing program. Computer Services will provide function support only—e.g., document not printing—for WordPerfect. However, Computer Services does not provide assistance with using WordPerfect.
