Employees Returning to Campus: UPDATE
Note: This article originally ran in June 2021; however, the information has been slightly updated and bears repeating this fall.
Technology Considerations for Employees
Just as it took some time to get your computer set up at home last year, it may take some time to get set up back in your campus office. Please expect up to a day of lost productivity for you, your staff, and colleagues.
- Coordinate with IT in advance.
To avoid unnecessary delays and overwhelming ATUS or your departmental IT staff, coordinate plans with IT in advance, particularly if you anticipate needing assistance setting up devices. It will be very helpful to stagger your team’s return to campus rather than returning all at once. If you will require furniture moves (e.g., office desk), coordinate with Transport Services first because your desk will need to be set up before your computer. - Gather your equipment and office furniture.
Gather any office equipment that you took home. Possible items may include your computer, monitor(s), docking station, cables, keyboard, mouse, printer, headset, webcam, mobile hot spot, office chair, lighting, other. Carefully package your equipment to avoid damage. - Update your computer.
If you took your work computer home and have not been regularly connecting it to VPN, make sure and connect it to VPN for about 4 hours to install the numerous updates that have come out regularly. Similarly, if you have work computers in your university office that have not been connected to power (e.g., laptops in a closet or on a shelf, desktops plugged into power strips that have been turned off), you’ll want to plug them in and turn them on to get updates before you return to campus. They will go through several downloads, installations, and reboots. If you have wireless equipment (e.g., keyboard, mouse, headset), make sure you have fresh batteries. - Put your data in SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams.
If you have been using a personal computer at home, make sure all your work files are in the appropriate cloud storage location so you can easily access them from campus. - Update your mobile device with your password.
You will have changed your password within the last 6 months, so you’ll want to update your Wi-Fi password on your mobile device to match. Otherwise, your device may make repeated attempts at connecting to the wireless network, potentially locking you out of your account. The best solution is to “forget” the WWUwireless-Secure network, re-add it, and enter your username and current password. - Still need help?
If you are running into issues while setting up your computer or connecting to resources, please submit a ticket via the Get Help button on the ATUS Help Desk website, or contact your departmental IT staff.
New Dell Monitors for Hybrid Work
Setting up a mobile-friendly workspace is now easier with Dell’s new “Collaboration Series” video conferencing monitors. You can now connect your laptop to a Dell C series monitor with just one USB-C cable to deliver audio and video, in addition to charging your laptop.
The monitors include an integrated pop-up camera that hides out of sight when not needed, dual integrated speakers, and a noise-canceling microphone. There is also an Ethernet port if you want to connect your laptop over Ethernet instead of using wireless. This is all available without the need of a docking station. Additionally, you can daisy chain additional monitors for a two- or three-monitor setup, or you can connect two PCs to one monitor and control both PCs with a single keyboard and mouse.
The Western Marketplace has this series of monitors in 24” (C2422HE), 27” (C2722DE), and 34” (C3422WE) starting at $315.11. All three models are currently backordered for at least 5 weeks; the 24” monitors are backlogged quite a bit longer than that due to a very large federal government purchase.