Telecommunications

Voice-over-IP (VoIP) technology – The VoIP system communicates across the network rather than using traditional phone wiring at some HSC locations. Learn more about VoIP phones and features.

Web

Content Management System – The CMS is a way of providing information for HSC websites that ensures a consistent look and feel throughout.

Custom web services – These services are available through the Office of Information Technology when you initiate a web project.

Webconferencing – Conferencing options connect campuses and communities using various options including Google+ Hangouts and Centra through TAMU.

Web Hosting – Hosting of specialized sites for colleges, institutes or departments within the HSC can be done through Web Services. For information, please contact web@tamhsc.edu.

Video

Videoconferencing solutions – OIT connects colleges and communities through an ever-growing videoconference network by managing, maintaining and troubleshooting the videoconference infrastructure of TAMHSC. The department provides consultations and recommendations on a wide range of options including web-based solutions.

Schedule a videoconference

Mobile

Web access – HSC sites can be accessed on mobile devices including tablets and mobile phones due to responsive web design which allows web content to be modified to fit your device.

eduroam – eduroam (education roaming) is a secure network access service developed for the international research and education community. It allows students, staff and faculty to use their home institution’s credentials to access wireless network services when visiting other eduroam-participating institutions without having to set up a guest account.

myHSC is the secure intranet for TAMHSC, and the web portal allows faculty and students to access internal information. It works specifically by knowing who you are with respect to the university, delivering content to you based on who you are, and providing access to course registration, financial aid, student services, course management utilities, and other day-to-day essentials.

See an explanation of myHSC features.
How to customize your myHSC layout and add channels.

Gateway to information

myHSC allows access to the Banner student information system at TAMHSC, and brings together resources such as Webmail, Blackboard, online communities, calendars, personal bookmarks, news feeds and other web content. For students, myHSC is  a gateway for activities such as course registration, financial aid, student services and research. The portal is made up of channels, window-like boxes that you see all over your screen. Channels are organized in to tabs, which are located towards the top of the page. Tabs and channels are customized based on your role in the HSC and will include information pertinent to you.

How to register

You can register for myHSC at my.tamhsc.edu and select “create an account” under the login menu. You’ll be directed to a webpage that requests a username and password, which are the same ones you utilize to login to Webmail. Your account will automatically be created.

In subsequent visits you can login with your username and password in the appropriate boxes from the main myHSC webpage.

Find out how to customize channels.

myHSC is the secure intranet for the HSC, that serves as a gateway for information. Features allow access to a message board, calendars and customizable content.

More on myHSC and how to register.
How to customize your myHSC layout and add channels.

Features within myHSC

• Group Studio – a message board and file sharing utility to promote the formation of online communities here at TAMHSC.
• Single Sign On is a great time-saver.  Once you log in to myHSC, you’re automatically logged in to many other systems.  For example, College Station Blackboard/WebCT users can take advantage of SSO to Blackboard on the Academics tab.
• Event Calendars – Receive TAMHSC-wide events as well as those from groups that you are a member of.
• Customizable Content – Add your favorite RSS feeds, websites, and other online content to your portal homepage.

Group Studio

If you Click the ‘Groups’ button in the button bar it allows you to request the creation of a new group, interact with groups you’re already a member of, or join existing groups.  For more information on Group Studio, check the Portal Spotlight channel on the Home tab. Public groups that are of general interest to students and  faculty will be approved. These groups must not promote activities that are illegal or that violate the rights of others.

Note: Newly admitted student accounts are now automatically created.

Accounts are set up through a designated departmental Human Resources representative. To get an e-mail address, off campus access, library access, neo, VPN, modems or other special campus access, you will need to complete an account request form from your representative.

Faculty, staff and students must provide a UIN in order to gain access to HSC systems. This number will be provided to you as a new employee when you receive your other accounts. If you are not on payroll or a College of Medicine affiliate, two forms of ID are required, one being a photo ID:

• Driver’s License
• Military ID
• TAMU Student/Faculty/Staff ID
• Passport
• Social Security Card
• Birth Certificate

To complete the process, scan the form and IDs to your departmental representative. After your information has been submitted and set up, go to http://gateway.tamu.edu/ and click on the link for “set a new password.”

Student accounts are created automatically from the Banner student information system. Students can activate their own account remotely and as soon as they accept our offer of admission. The Help Desk can assist with any step of the account activation process, although the Registrar’s Office is better equipped to help with some pieces (denoted below).

The automated process only applies to new students who are attending the Health Science Center for the first time.  Student workers who are not students of the HSC must still follow the manual account request procedure.  Returning students should contact the Registrar’s office to have their account reactivated.

 Account Activation Timeline

1. The HSC Registrar’s Office records the fact that a student has accepted their offer of admission.
2. Every weekday at 4pm, an activation email is sent to all students who have accepted offers of admission. (For this to take place, the HSC must have an email address on file for the student.)  If you are a new student and you have not received an account activation email, please contact the HSC Registrar’s office.
3. The activation email contains a link to our online account activation form.  When the student clicks this link, they will begin the activation process.
   1. First, the student must verify their identity by matching personal information such as UIN, address, and phone number with information in our database.  Please contact the HSC Registrar’s office with any issues regarding the identity verification step.
   2. Next, the student accepts our Computer Use Agreement Form.
   3. Finally, the student provides us with their desired password. This password is stored securely and discarded once the account is created.
   4. The student’s account information is placed in a queue for account creation.
4. Every 6 hours (midnight, 6am, noon, and 6pm), we process the account creation queue.  This is the step that actually creates the student’s account.  The creation utility sends students an email containing their new HSC username and email address.
5. Once the student receives their account creation email, they can now register his HSC account with myHSC, our student information portal.  Students use myHSC to interact with our financial aid office, register for courses, pay tuition, and access many other student services.

For questions or assistance, please contact the HSC Help Desk at 800-799-7472 or email helpdesk@tamhsc.edu.

Classroom Support functions—including videoconference connections through the Tandberg Management System—are provided through the Office of Information Technology. This includes assurance of equipment functionality and connection tests to remote sites. For assistance, contact:

OIT Classroom Support Helpline
(979) 436 – 0950
8am – 8:30pm

What you can expect inside the meeting room or classroom:

• Technicians specifically trained to troubleshoot issues in meetings and classes.
• Technical equipment checks for power and functionality are performed before each lecture and include replacement of microphone batteries if necessary.
• Troubleshooting is performed on an as-needed basis once a video conference, class or meeting has begun.
• OIT is responsible for the AV infrastructure, equipment acquisition, installation and repair.
• For your convenience, local AV assistance/classroom support numbers are posted on each podium.
• An AV feedback form is available online for your issues, concerns and suggestions.

Our goal is to make the delivery of services as seamless as possible. With our focus on technical aspects of meetings, classes and videoconferences, we aim to make your classroom experience the best it can possibly be.

Schedule a videoconference

An online learning environment should open doors for learners, educators and administrators. Blackboard Learn™, the HSC’s Learning Management System, was built from the many questions and concerns that learners, educators and administrators often have about online learning. It provides the foundation needed for engaging and assessing learners at all levels in and beyond the classroom and allows integration with other technologies.

Access the HSC Blackboard server

See Blackboard tutorials. College-specific tutorials and information can be found on respective sites. For more information, please contact your course designer.

General Issues

I can’t login / I forgot my password

I can’t see my course menu, only the announcements

How to view course calendar events from the “My Institution” page

Student Tutorials

How to hide old courses from your course list

Who can use the Blackboard Mobile Learn

When to contact your instructor or course designer

Check requirements for your College before placing any order. Some specifics:
College of Nursing
College of Pharmacy (info to come)

HSC laptop computing standards

Microsoft Windows (Minimum of Windows 7)
Microsoft Office (2010 or higher)
4GB DDR3 RAM (Memory)*
500GB Hard Drive
DVD Burner
3-year warranty with accidental protection such as Dell CompleteCare or a similar warranty
*8GB of RAM may be required for your specific software needs.

Check out current offerings and pricing.

Mobile device recommendations

1st Choice: Apple iPad*
2nd Choice: Android devices*
3rd Choice: Windows Mobile Devices*
* Our recommendations are solely based on our support experiences and compatibility with the Health Science Center systems (including wifi). Please note that the device requirements may vary based on your program’s specific needs.

Purchasing Information

• HSC-recommended laptops available for purchase at a discount through Dell; they include all the basic requirements plus the ability to customize for your needs.
• Recommended machines also enable excellent support offerings; OIT technicians are Dell-certified, and parts can be ordered within 24 hours, allowing quick repairs.
• The HSC has setup an ordering website, edutechu.com/tamhsc, designed specifically for the online purchase of the OIT recommended laptops; make sure you choose your correct city (where you will pick up the laptop) on checkout.
• When purchasing a device (laptop or mobile device), consider purchasing an extra battery and/or power adapter to ensure charging capabilities at home and on the go.
• Software is available to you at drastically reduced prices from TAMU Sell; select TAMHSC for your campus, and login with your HSC Username and Password to see what you are eligible to purchase. Some offerings include Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat Professional and many others.
• OIT staff will gladly assist you with software installation.

Frequently asked questions

Lynda.com training allows unrestricted web-based access to an entire library of instructional videos for HSC faculty, staff and students. You can create personal profiles, utilize bookmarking and obtain certificates of completion.

Login, use and logging out

Login to Lynda.com at lynda.tamhsc.edu. Enter your HSC username and password to access training from anywhere. Do not login directly from the lynda.com site, as you may experience an error message that prevents login.

Note: It is important to close your browser after each session to ensure that your session is not left open and active.

Course offerings

Key benefits

• Access to all courses, plus exercise files
• Personal queues to prioritize classes
• Personal profiles as well as enhanced reporting and metrics
• A platform that supports different learning styles and provides self-directed learning paths
• More current than textbooks and manuals
• Anytime, anywhere learning on most mobile devices

Additional features include closed captioning and text transcripts.

Most email clients can easily be configured to access your HSC email account, both on and off campus.

If you can’t find where to input these settings on your client, please contact the HelpDesk (800-799-7472 or helpdesk@tamhsc.edu)

Incoming Mail Server (IMAP):   mail.tamhsc.edu

• Use port 993 with SSL (this might be in the advanced settings)

Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP):   smtp.tamhsc.edu

• Use port 465 with SSL (this might be in the advanced settings)

Logon Credentials:

• For the IMAP/SMTP section credentials, enter your HSC username and password.

We also provide webmail access at webmail.tamhsc.edu or full Microsoft Exchange support using Outlook.

External email encryption is utilized for any confidential information that is being sent via email such as patient data, student data or anything else of a confidential nature.

All traffic sent from one tamhsc.edu account to another is encrypted automatically. OIT has provided a method to send encrypted emails out to external email addresses. To encrypt an email, you need to put the string *encrypt* into the subject line. Directly after that string, you can add the intended subject.

The individual receiving the email will receive in their inbox an email with a link in it.

When they click on the link it will send them to a page requesting them to sign up for an account to receive the information being sent to them securely.

After the account is set up and the user logs in, it will take them directly to the encrypted message.

The email will be saved for 30 days.  If another encrypted email is sent to the external individual, they will not have to set up a new account if it is within a 30 day window of last use.

The Email Selection Advisory Committee at Texas A&M University, convened in fall 2013, reviewed options for email migration and recommended transition paths for faculty, staff and student email. Read the committee’s full recommendation.

As faculty, staff and students of Texas A&M HSC, you may have questions regarding how the transition affects you. We’ve compiled information and frequently asked questions (FAQs) to help you better understand your options.

*Note: The Google Apps/email transition requires the use of NetIDs that can be claimed through Texas A&M University. Texas A&M HSC Help Desk will NOT be able to assist with NetID password resets.

FAQs

Click on each category to see information about HSC cloud services and data security.  For more information, please contact the OIT security team at 979-436-0487.

Data Classification types are listed in Policy 29.01.03.Z1.05
HIPAA = Health Insurance Portability and Accessibility Act
FERPA = Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
SSN = Social Security Number
ITAR = International Traffic in Arms Regulations
IRB = Institutional Review Board

* denotes that it may be possible to store ITAR protected data if properly encrypted prior to being uploaded (e.g., Truecrypt volume), but faculty should consult with OIT to determine if there are any other issues or concerns.

Office 365 Education provides cloud-based tools that allow students, staff and faculty to work, collaborate and even synchronize notes using OneNote. Additionally, Word, PowerPoint and Excel can be accessed anywhere, anytime and across a wide variety of devices.

With TAMHSC’s organization-wide Microsoft Office license our students, staff and faculty can receive:

• The latest versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access and Publisher
• Installation of applications on up to 5 computers (PCs or Macs)
• Microsoft Office Apps on mobile devices including Windows tablets and iPads
• Microsoft Office Apps online through web browser
• 1 Terabyte of OneDrive cloud storage

See important answers to Office 365 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

Welcome to the TAMHSC Cloud powered by Syncplicity! We are excited to introduce this powerful tool for file sharing and collaboration. 

Access and Use

TAMHSC Cloud can be accessed at cloud.tamhsc.edu.

• Share files and folders with others – Syncplicity keeps everyone in sync, automatically.
• Create, edit, and share Microsoft Office documents on your mobile devices.
• Break out of the box – Syncplicity lets you share any file or folder on your computer without copying them to a designated folder, like Dropbox.
• Send large files – there are no file-size limits, and no FTP hassles.

General Guidelines

• Anything on your computer can be synced to the TAMHSC Cloud.
• You cannot share or sync file/folders from your H drive or other network drive.
• Panorama access is currently only available utilizing an iPad. Access from other devices is planned for the future.

Storage Guidelines

With the TAMHSC Cloud service, OIT is offering two different types of available cloud storage. 

Off-premise (the cloud)

• As a default, you will be allocated 150GB of cloud storage, stored on servers hosted by Syncplicity.
• IMPORTANT: No FERPA, HIPAA, Confidential, Mission Critical or Employee Records are allowed.

On-premise (local servers)

• Each user can be allocated cloud storage, which is stored locally on TAMHSC servers.
• Local storage allows any file classification; documents containing FERPA, HIPAA, Confidential, Mission Critical or Employee Records ARE allowed.
• A work order must be submitted for this type of account.
• Quota limits apply.

If you have questions, please contact IT Support Services at helpdesk@tamhsc.edu or call 1-800-799-7HSC (7472).

If you already have an account, login with your TAMHSC username and password:

Access TAMHSC Cloud

New Users

For account registration and setup:

Self-registration

• Self-registration is only required once in order to establish your account; must have TAMHSC username and password.
• Users who self-register will be allocated cloud storage as an individual user. If you require on-premise storage for confidential or mission-critical information, or if you need to be a part of a departmental group, please contact the Help Desk for account set-up.
• Use our Quick Start Guide for pointers regarding first-time access.
• To enjoy the full features of TAMHSC Cloud, we suggest you view our TAMHSC Cloud Training. (Duration: Approximately 50 minutes)

Benefits

• Securely share files and folders with others.
• Create, edit, and share Microsoft Office documents on your mobile devices.
• Share any file or folder on your computer without copying them to a designated folder, like Dropbox.
• Send large files – there are no file-size limits!

Helpful Links

• TAMHSC Cloud Overview
• TAMHSC Cloud FAQs (webpage) | FAQs (PDF)
• Comparison of Google Docs and TAMHSC Cloud
• HSC Approved Cloud Services (DropBox is not approved, recommended or supported.)

Video Tutorials

• TAMHSC Cloud Training
• Syncplicity Quick Videos (illustrates features of TAMHSC Cloud)

For assistance, contact the Help Desk at 1-800-799-7472.

Proofpoint Protection Server provides a daily digest of email flagged as spam and bulk messages to give you more control over the messages that are delivered to your inbox.

A daily digest message is sent to your mailbox from Proofpoint, with links to manage your list.

Managing Mail From the Daily Digest

In the digest message, you have the option to choose between View, Release, Release and Safelist, and Not Spam.

• View:  Allows you to view the message before taking action.
• Release:  Sends the email to your inbox.
• Release and Safelist:  Sends the email to your inbox and marks that address as a SafeSender, so no further emails will be quarantined.
• Not Spam:  This link allows you to report to Proofpoint directly any message that you believe is not spam.

Email digest site

In addition to your daily digest email, you can access your spam & bulk mail and your preferences at any time at https://hpeb-proof-admin.tamhsc.edu/.

The username for the site is your TAMHSC email address.

From the web interface, you will have the same options as in the daily digest email, plus the ability to manage your safe and blocked senders and more.

1. Open the CrashPlan client on your desktop.
2. Use the Restore tab to bring back deleted files or folders. Make sure the “Show deleted files” option is checked.
3. Select the file or folder to restore and select “Restore”.
4. By Default the file/folder will restore to the Desktop
   • Settings for restore can be adjusted at the bottom

1. Use the Settings tab to customize certain features for CrashPlan, some settings may be locked by your administrator.
2. On the Backup tab under Settings you can edit the Frequency of your backup, add Filename Exclusions
   • Default Backup frequency is set to every 15 minutes
   • Filename Exclusions feature allows you to exclude files and folders from the backup that end with “pattern”.