ACC PARKING PERMITS
Once again, it is time to purchase your ACC parking permit. Permits for 2010-2011 will be available at all Cashier Offices on Monday, August 2, 2010. Current permits (2009-2010) expire August 31st. Also, Green Car permits for 2010-2011 will be available at all cashier offices at the same time. Green Car permits are free for the vehicles listed at: http://www.austincc.edu/sustainability/greencar.php
Please pick up your new parking permit at any campus Cashier’s Office. If you wish to have the payment deducted from your paycheck, complete and submit the payroll deduction form at the Cashier’s Office. The form is located at: http://www3.austincc.edu/it/eforms/forms_int/CAPO.041.pdf
Additional information on parking regulations, permits and enforcement can be found at: http://www.austincc.edu/police/services/ParkingRegs.htm
Permit Fees are unchanged.
- Administrators $50
- Full-Time Faculty $40
- Staff: Prof-Tech $35
- Staff: Classified $30
- Adjunct Faculty $20
- Hourly Staff/Students $15
- All Motorcycle Permits $15
ACC STAFF WIRELESS ACCESS CHANGE
For the past several years ACC staff and faculty have been using the ACCstaff wireless network on mobile devices such as laptops. Recently, ACCNet has been piloting a new system that is now ready to deploy. This system has many improvements including, ease of setup, usability, better security, and it is OS platform independent. The new system works well with Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and iPads.
All that is required to convert to the new system is the Cisco VPN client that is easily downloaded from the ACC Helpdesk website, a wireless capable device, and an active ACCEID account. Directions to setup the new service can be found at: http://www.austincc.edu/helpdesk/docs/wireless_doc.html
Please, contact the ACC Helpdesk if you need assistance in setting up the new service.
A NEW SERVICE FOR FACULTY AND STAFF: GOOGLE APPS FOR EMAIL
We are pleased to announce that we have an email solution that will provide greatly improved functionality for Austin Community College at the best possible value. Starting immediately, Information Technology will begin the planning and conversion process to move all ACC email and calendar services to Google Apps for Education, a service very similar to that offered to ACC students, but focused to meet the institutional and administrative needs of the college.
This decision was not made lightly. For the past year, a team of faculty and staff at Austin Community College have been evaluating the limitations of the college’s current email system and examining alternative systems offered by various vendors. The team spent a great deal of time researching and testing many different email products. They examined the process by which each of these solutions would integrate with ACC’s existing systems and evaluated the expense, both monetary and otherwise, in implementation and support. Feedback was gathered from internal faculty and staff groups, as well as other community colleges and universities, about their email systems. Google Apps rose as the clear leader in every category.
Among other features, the new system will offer greatly expanded online storage; larger attachments; less spam; a better web interface; a calendar that integrates with the email system; online document, chat, audio, and video collaboration; enhanced security; and a contractually guaranteed level of service.
The transition to Google Apps will occur during the Fall Semester 2010. Faculty and staff will retain their current email addresses before, during, and after the transition. For example, if your current e-mail address is [email protected], it will remain the same after the transition to Google Apps. In the coming weeks and months, we will send out additional information about the new features and services our email system will provide, and instructions and training to help users prepare for the move.
For additional information or questions, please contact Stan Gunn, Associate Vice President for Information Technology, at [email protected] or 223-1200; Richard Smith, Associate Vice President for Instructional Resources/Technology, at [email protected] or 223- 7667; or Mary Hensley, Executive Vice President, College Operations, at [email protected] or 223-7618.
NEW WINDOWS 7 OPERATING SYSTEM
The new Windows 7 operating system for PCs was released in October of 2009. Since then, IT and IRT staff have been hard at work performing installations and upgrades on several test machines. Staff have been documenting procedures for migration and support; and working to address the common issues that will arise with a wider-scale move.
With the opening of the new campus in Round Rock, Austin Community College will be making its first large-scale commitment to this new operating system. All staff and faculty PCs for Round Rock will be running Windows 7. Professional Development is in the process of finalizing training for new staff who will be making the switch from Windows XP or Vista. As well, technicians have a set of procedures to follow to move data from older machines for employees transferring to the new campus.
Beginning in September of 2010, ACC will only order PCs with Windows 7 installed, and will not place orders for Windows XP or Vista after that date. Windows XP sales will be discontinued in October 2010. We recommend that all departments examine the software they use and make sure that they are prepared for the move to a new operating system. Most software vendors will have a strategy for their support of Windows 7.
At this time, we do not plan to make a large-scale conversion to Windows 7. Instead, we will use ACC’s three-year replacement cycle to phase-in the new operating system between now and September 2013. This does not, of course, preclude a department from using departmental funds to upgrade to Windows 7.
If you have questions about this change, please contact Stan Gunn, Associate Vice President of Information Technology or Richard Smith, Associate Vice President of Instructional Resources and Technology.
Back to Top