Are you working remotely, traveling, or simply unable to visit campus due to prolonged campus or building closures? Information Technology Services (ITS) has provided this page to help guide you through preparation to and conducting working or teaching remotely.
Before You Work or Teach Remotely
Before you are able to work or teach remotely, please ensure that the following resources are available at your remote location.
Laptop or Desktop Computer
A working laptop or desktop computer will be required for most routine work or academic functions. User are highly encouraged to follow safe computing principles available in detail on the Safe Computing home page.
University Issued Laptops
Some faculty and staff may be eligible for a university issued laptop. If you require assistance with or would like to request a university issues laptop, please contact your academic or administrative support personnel.
Microphone and Webcam
Many collaboration and remote meeting tools require the use of a microphone and have the option of using a webcam. Many, but not all, personal computers have a built in microphone and webcam. Users with computers that do not have them, or are simply looking for an improved experience, should consider investing in external solutions such as USB microphones and webcams.
Internet Access
Whether you are on or off campus, an internet connection is required to access web-based applications and resources, as well as connect a device to a virtual private network (VPN) or to remote desktop solutions. Available networks on campus, as well as internet solutions off campus and on the go, are available in detail on the Networks page.
Test Your Access and Equipment
In order to be as prepared as possible, please test these resources before they are needed. Need help? Contact the ITS Help Desk by voice at 315.443.2677 or by email at help@syr.edu and we are happy to assist!
Missing Resources
Missing a key item listed above? Please first contact your academic or administrative support personnel to review available solutions.
Working Remotely
Web Conferencing and Remote Meeting Tools
Need to meet or collaborate online? Information Technology Services provides a hand full of solution to meet your unique needs. Complete details including access instructions, as well as help in determine which solution is best for your need, are available on the Web Conferencing Tools home page.
Other Tools
Please be advised that although other tools may be available from your specific department or college, they may not be available to the campus and support may be limited. Other third party applications not listed on the Web Conferencing Tools home page may be used at your own discretion. For the best experience possible, we strongly advise using the provided tools notated above.
Virtual Private Network (VPN)
Some University resources and web-based applications are not accessible unless the user is connect via a secure connection. If you require a secure connection to access University resources via virtual private network (VPN) please use the steps below based on your operating system.
Windows (via SURA)
In order to connect Windows computers to the VPN, Information Technology Services (ITS) has provided Window using a downloadable tool, called Syracuse University Remote Access, or SURA. Using SURA provides access to University network drives (H drive), connect to SU's VPN (virtual private network), use network printers at SU, and access your email via a web client.
MacOS
MacOS computers require manual configuration to achieve a VPN connection.
Manage Campus Phone Lines
Faculty and Staff members may wish to configure call forwarding or voicemail for their campus phone line. Instruction to do so are available based your phone type below:
If you have any problems with managing your phone line or unsure which phone line type you have, please contact the telecommunications team by voice at 315.443.4730 or by emailing telecom@syr.edu.
Teaching and Learning Remotely
Blackboard
Blackboard is a very useful platform used by Syracuse University that allows Faculty and Students to work together in their classes remotely, allowing faculty to store and display documents and lessons in a readable and accessible format available for all students who are enrolled in the course.
More information can be found in the Blackboard Answers Page
Blackboard Collaborate Ultra
Blackboard Collaborate is a tool that is a part of the Blackboard platform that allows Faculty to hold synchronous class sessions that can be fully interactable and collaborative. It allows Faculty members to emulate the class experience using tools such as screen sharing, whiteboard
More information can be found in the Blackboard Collaborate Ultra Answers Page
If at any time you require additional assistance with Blackboard Collaborate, please contact the ITS Help Desk by voice at 315.443.2677 or by email at help@syr.edu. We are available Sunday-Thursday 8am-midnight EDT and Friday-Saturday 8am-5pm EDT.
G Suite and Microsoft collab tools → link to G Suite , describe using hangouts remotely,
Syracuse University also offers tools to collaborate remotely via G Suite's Google Hangouts and Microsoft Teams which allow students, faculty, and staff to set up live meeting sessions where users can collaborate on projects within a private space.
For more information on those products, please visit the G Suite Answers Page and Teams Answers Page respectively
Getting software
Office365 Suite - Go to http://portal.office.com/ and enter your SU email for access to the Office365 suite to download Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. Only available for active students, faculty, and staff.
iSchool Students - Visit the iSchool Student Software Access instructions page or access the RLab
School of Engineering Students - Access the ECS remote lab
Whitman Students, Faculty, and Staff - Access the Whitman remote lab
School of Architecture Students - Visit the School of Architecture Software page for info about free software and where to buy purchasable software
Faculty or staff - Contact IT personnel for software installation requests (see Contact information for distributed staff section above)
SU Book Store - Software students may need for classes that is not provided by their school or college may be purchased at the Book Store.
General
Safe Computing
In order to make sure that your remote experience with the college works without error, you'll want to make sure that you're taking the steps to protecting yourself from online threats. This can range from not clicking on links you aren't aware of, to making sure your passwords get regularly changed, to not sharing files or personal data to people you aren't sure of. For more specific information, please refer to our Safe Computing Answers page.
Know Our Policies
All users on campus should be aware of our File Sharing policies, and other technology policies including the Information Technology Acceptable User Policy. For all IT polices, head over to the Information Technologies Policies home page.
VPN Connections
To use services that require a secure connection, the college has a virtual private network (VPN) available for faculty, staff and student to use. These connections allow you to use most resources that the college provides, without having to physically be on the campus.
If you are a macOS user, please refer to our page to Configure VPN on macOS for more information.
If you are a Windows 10 PC user you will be using the Syracuse University Remote Access (SURA) tool. Information on that can be found on our SURA Utility for Windows page.
Please note that ITS does not provide VPN configurations and settings for use on Linux, Android, or iOS devices. Faculty and Staff requiring approved work-related configurations should contact their academic or administrative support personnel.
Remote Desktop Access
General Faculty and Staff Remote Desktop (RDP)
Faculty and Staff may have the option of connecting remotely to a University owned desktop computer. This feature may require training and/or departmental approval for certain functionality such as accessing shared network drives and/or connecting to a dedicated PC through a remote desktop connection.
Need to connect? To request access, configure your work desktop, or to report an issue related to connecting to your work computer, please contact your academic or administrative support personnel.
Department Specific Links:
Arts and Sciences Faculty and Staff Instructions
iSchool RLab (formerly Remote Lab)
The iSchool RLab is a remote desktop environment available to iSchool students only. Full information, including configuration and troubleshooting, can be found in the RLab support documentation.
RDP Recommended
User's are encouraged to use the RDP client (on both Mac and Windows) as errors with the HTML5 web client may occur.
Engineering Remote Access
The Engineering School, in collaboration with the Student Association, provides Engineering students remote access to a lab environment. Full instruction to configuration both Windows and Mac computers on or off campus can be found on the ECS Remote Access home page.
Please note that students enrolled in the College of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) need to obtain an ECS computing account for college-specific computing services, including ECS computer lab access and ECS specialized software applications. ECS computing accounts can be obtained through the ECS Computing and Information Technology Group.
Whitman Remote Desktop
Whitman Remote Desktop is a remote desktop solution available to Whitman faculty, staff and students. It provides a Computer Lab experience accessible over the internet and from any device. Full details can be found on the Whitman Remote Desktop page.
File Sharing and Collaboration Tools
Microsoft Teams is now included with the Microsoft Office package provided to faculty, staff and students. For most people, this will be their "go-to" for connecting, sharing, and collaborating with your peers. More information can be found on our Microsoft Teams page.
Through the use of G Suite, you will have access to the G Drive using your g.syr.edu account, and from there you can share files with others remotely. G Suite also provides access to Google Hangouts, which is a tool that you can use to chat or video call with your peers. For more designated information please refer to our G Suite at Syracuse University page.
2SU students may also use Zoom as a collaboration tool, and if you use Zoom for any classes and need support, you can visit the 2SU Support Pages for Zoom specific support.
Antivirus on personal devices
For both Windows and Mac computers, the built-in antivirus is recommended. For more info about antivirus, visit the Antivirus Software page.
Need Help?
If at any time you require additional assistance, please contact the ITS Help Desk by voice at 315.443.2677 or by email at help@syr.edu