New To Campus

New Student Technology Guide

There are a variety of technology resources available to students at UST.  You will find information about the most commonly requested resources listed below:

Acceptable Use Policy   

The university encourages computer use by providing easily accessible computing resources to the university community.  Whenever this type of service is provided, abuse can and does occur.  The Acceptable Use Guidelines/Unacceptable Use Policy is intended as a guideline for students in appropriate use of university computing resources.

Make sure to read the University of St. Thomas Policy on Responsible Use of University Computing Resources. All St. Thomas students are responsible for understanding and following this policy.  A general rule of thumb:

• If any activity without a computer would be illegal or a violation of university policies, it is illegal or a violation of university policies with a computer.  Use common sense; the bottom line for our policies is respect for the work and privacy of other St. Thomas community members.

Public Computing Labs   

St. Thomas students have access to a variety of computer labs on campus to complete coursework or for personal use and exploration.  These computing labs have applications for word processing, spreadsheets, database management, statistics, electronic mail, and accessing the Internet.  All lab PCs are equipped with the Microsoft Office 2007 Suite and all of the lab Macs are equipped with the Microsoft Office 2008 Suite.  Every lab computer has Internet Explorer, Safari or Firefox installed to browse the Web and access email.  Many labs are also equipped with course-specific software. Computer assistance is provided in the main labs.  Public Computing labs are located in the following areas:

• The Information Commons, O’Shaughnessy–Frey Library, St. Paul
• The Information Commons, Keffer Library, Minneapolis
• O’Shaughnessy Science Hall, St. Paul
• McNeely Hall, St. Paul
• Koch Commons, St. Paul
• Summit Classroom Building, St. Paul
• Schulze Hall, Minneapolis

Students living on campus may also use computing labs located in many of the residence halls and commuter students may use the computers in the Commuter Student Center in the lower level of Murray-Herrick—MHC, St. Paul.  Most labs offer both PC and Macintosh computers; specialized equipment is also available.  You will find scanners and multimedia computers in both of the Information Commons.  Many departments on campus also have discipline specific computing facilities for students enrolled in those courses.

Residence Hall Labs

The following labs are open to St. Thomas students who live in the Residence Halls. Priority is given to those students completing coursework. The Residence Hall Labs are located in: 

• Koch 010
• Dowling 010
• Dowling 524
• Ireland 010
• JPII 003
• Cretin 109
• Grace 001
• Selby  

Residence Halls - Getting Connected   

Phone Service in Residence Hall Rooms

St. Thomas provides a digital phone in all residence hall rooms (except Selby and the CDC), so a favorite phone from home will not work on campus. Cell phones, however, do work in most buildings. Local phone service is provided free of charge. There is a per-minute charge for long distance service without the added fees and taxes that you get at home. St. Thomas also provides voicemail to all resident students.

Note: Modems do not work in residence hall rooms because residence halls are equipped with digital phone lines.  

Network Security   

The university has firewalls and security tools in place to protect the campus network from attack and intrusion.  These systems should not interfere with resident students being able to access servers and services located on or off campus.  In order to maintain security and maximum availability of the network to community members, certain personally owned devices are prohibited on the university network.  These devices include but are not limited to: wireless access points, switches, and routers.  The university also expects that all community members who use network resources will comply with the Acceptable Use Policy.

Computing Security Tips:

• Passwords:  Make sure you change your password often.  Hackers use a number of generic passwords to try to access your computer.  Keep your computer safe by creating a password that no one else knows. 
• Personal Firewall:  Most operating systems today come with a built in firewall that protects your computer from potential hackers, viruses, and worms.  It is important that you enable the firewall on your computer as added level of security. 
• Windows Update:  Windows Update alerts you when Microsoft has an update for your computer, such as patches for new viruses, software, or drivers for the hardware attached to your computer.  These updates are important for the security of your computer. 
• Anti-virus protection is up to date:  It is critical that your anti-virus software is up to date.  New viruses come out daily and it is important to protect yourself against these potential threats.     A current version of anti-virus software is required to connect a personal computer to our network. Free Sophos anti-virus software is available at UST. Note: You will need your UST username and password to login to the site.
• Peer-to-Peer Sharing:  A popular activity many college students participate in is sharing music and video files.  Many applications/freeware that students use to download media are intrusive and open your computer to vulnerabilities.  It is also against the law to download copyrighted music and material.  The RIAA (Record Industry Artist Association) and MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) take action against users who illegally download music.  Complaints by these organizations against students are also forwarded to the Dean of Students Office for possible disciplinary action.

Please visit our security support page for more information.

Internet Traffic   

The university uses an Internet traffic management system to limit and prioritize traffic to and from the Internet.  The purpose of the system is to allow the university to better guarantee access to its own web sites for students, faculty, and staff off campus, and to ensure access to the Internet for students, faculty and staff working from offices, labs, and classrooms.  It is also intended to make sure that traffic of any one type, such as peer to peer traffic, does not so overburden the Internet link that nothing else works.

 

Printing @ UST   

The university administration partnered with student leadership to implement a print management program on campus.  Every student has an allotment for “free” printing and is charged a per-print fee over and above that allotment.  The allotment is $40 for Fall, $40 for J-Term/Spring and $40 for Summer.  The $40 allotment is equal to 400 black and white letter size prints. Each page printed beyond $40 will be charged back to the student at a rate of $.10  per standard print page, and $.25 per color print page. For more information click here.

Software Applications at UST   

Productivity Software (such as Microsoft Office)

All lab PCs are equipped with the Microsoft Office 2007 suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and FrontPage) and Internet Explorer to browse the Web, and Outlook Web Access to access your email.  Macs in the labs will be equipped with Microsoft Office 2008 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), with Safari and Firefox to browse the Web and Outlook Web Access.   Many labs are also equipped with course-specific software needed for classes.

Email

The email environment used at the University of St. Thomas is based on Microsoft Exchange.  The university’s email system has both a “client” piece (the software you use) and a “server” piece (the application that handles the mail centrally).  Your email is received and stored on the Exchange server.  You can retrieve your email (and send out new messages) using any compatible client software program you want.  IRT provides support for Outlook Web Access as we expect that most students will use this resource.  OWA allows you to check your email from anywhere in the world with access to a computer and internet access. 

Your Email Account   

Email is an official form of communication at the university and email accounts are automatically created for all students.  Accessing email requires a NetID. To access your email for the first time follow these steps:

• Create your own unique password at www.stthomas.edu/new
• Next log in to http://mail.stthomas.edu
• That is it – your account is ready for you to use!

It is important that you familiarize yourself with email before school starts.  You can retrieve your email (and send out new messages) using any Microsoft Exchange-compatible client software program.

Personal Storage Space   

UST provides personal storage space for each student at the university, for more information visit the MyStorage page.

Buying a New Computer   

If you are interested in purchasing a new computer or software check out the UST Tech Store. Apple and Dell as well as other vendors provide educational discounts on computers, printers, scanners and select software to the UST community.

Buying a Computer Faqs

NOTE: Items purchased through the UST TechStore cannot be supported by the university.  For technical support, please contact the vendor through which you make your purchase.

Getting Help   

St. Thomas students can contact the Tech Desk for assistance with computer problems, but support is limited to password problems, network connections and general computer usage questions.  If you’d like to stop by in person, the IRT Client Services has staff in OEC Lower Level 08, the St Paul Information Commons located in the O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library and at the Scholars counter in Opus Hall on the Minneapolis campus.