Practical Matters: How to Access Your Office Computer Files Remotely

by Sarah Kain Gutowski, Chair, New Member Mentoring Program

Happy Labor Day! I hope you enjoyed your day off, because we don't have any more holidays until October -- and then the Academic Calendar gets a little screwy. But I'll talk about that in another post!

For now, I wanted to share with you one of THE most important and useful tips someone once shared with me -- the fact that we have access to computer files that we create on our office computers. And we don't have to resort to a flash or portable hard drive to do it. 

I know it's been hot, but savor these last summer days.

This means that if you forgot to upload that PowerPoint lecture to Blackboard, and now you're standing in front of your students wondering if they will take the same kind of notes without the usual visuals, you don't have to worry. You simply access your My Documents folder, locate the lecture, download it, and begin class.

OR, maybe you're working on a report at work and the clock hits 5 p.m. -- you have to go pick up kids and take them to soccer, karate, basket-weaving, etc. You think, I'll work on this later, after everyone's in bed. And then that time comes, four hours or so later, and you realize, *@#$?! I didn't save the document to my jump drive!   

No problem. You simply access your My Documents folder, locate the document, download it, and begin working. (For a short while -- you need your sleep, people, and that report can probably wait.)

How do you do that? you ask. Well, I'll tell you (as if you haven't figured that out yet from the title of this post). Far be it from me to encourage laboring over a weekend (and especially a holiday weekend at that) or into the wee hours of the night, but you should know that if you ever forget to email yourself a document or save it to a flash drive, there's still another way to access your files without driving several (or several + several more) miles back to your home campus.

First, type https://roam.sunysuffolk.edu/ into your web browser (or, you know, click the link and then bookmark it). You'll arrive at this:

Then, enter your MYSCCC login information. You'll be taken to this screen:

At this point you're asked to select the link to your home campus. It's important to note that if you were formerly an adjunct who began teaching on another campus, or even a full-time member transferring from another campus, your files are probably located under your original campus. (example: I transferred to the Eastern campus from the Ammerman campus a couple of years ago, and my files are still located under the Ammerman link.)

Click the link and be patient. I find that depending on the amount of traffic on the college server or the strength of the wifi signal at my own home or the coffee shop where I'm working, it can take a minute or two for something like this to appear: 

Use the arrows on the top right of the screen to scroll through the list until you find your MYSCCC Login. When you do, click the link, and you'll be directed to another link for your files ("My Documents").

Once you're in there, you can access anything that you created on your office computer and saved to your My Documents folder. (A word of warning: if you were working on a document and didn't save it to your My Documents folder, you'll be unable to open it up remotely.) You can even upload documents that you create at home to the school's server, and they'll be ready for you to access once you return to the office. All in all, this little tool is a pretty useful one to remember. Remote access to my office files has saved me time and stress on more than one occasion. May it do the same for you!

Practical Matters: How to Access Your Office Computer Files Remotely

by Sarah Kain Gutowski, Chair, New Member Mentoring Program 

A Rose of Sharon bloom that appeared on Labor Day.

Happy Labor Day, fellow unionists! I hope you spent your Labor Day relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather. I labored a little, despite the holiday -- there was a house to clean after weekend guests, and some prep to do before classes Tuesday. And in order to do that prep, I had to access computer files that I created back in my office last week -- but I didn't have to use a flash or portable hard drive to do it.

How did you do that? you might ask. Well, I'll tell you (as if you haven't figured that out yet from the title of this post). Far be it from me to encourage laboring over a weekend (and especially a holiday weekend at that), but you should know that if you ever forget to email yourself a document or save it to a flash drive, there's still another way to access your files without driving several (or several + several more) miles back to your home campus.

First, type https://roam.sunysuffolk.edu/ into your web browser (or, you know, click the link and then bookmark it). You'll arrive at this:

Then, enter your MYSCCC login information. You'll be taken to this screen:

At this point you're asked to select the link to your home campus. It's important to note that if you were formerly an adjunct who began teaching on another campus, or even a full-time member transferring from another campus, your files are probably located under your original campus. (ex. I transferred to Eastern from the Ammerman campus last year, and my files are still located under the Ammerman link.)

Click the link and be patient: you'll find a redundant screen that asks yet again for your MYSCCC login, and then you may have to wait while a red "LOADING" sign appears in the top right hand corner of the screen.:

I find that depending on the amount of traffic on the college server or the strength of the wifi signal at my own home, it can take a minute or two for something like this to appear: 

Use the arrows on the top right of the screen to scroll through the list until you find your MYSCCC Login. When you do, click the link, and you'll be directed to another link for your files ("My Documents").

Once you're in there, you can access anything that you created on your office computer and saved to your documents folder. (A word of warning: if you were working on a document and didn't save it, you'll be unable to open it up remotely.) You can even upload documents that you create at home to the school's server, and they'll be ready for you to access once you return to the office. All in all, this little tool is a pretty useful one to remember. Remote access to my office files has saved me time and stress on more than one occasion. May it do the same for you!

Accessing Your Office Computer Files Remotely

by Sarah Kain Gutowski, Chair, New Member Mentoring Program

As we move deeper into the semester and your workload is increasing (it's not just me, right?), the last thing I really want to do is encourage you to bring lots of work home with you. 

But let's face it -- it's a necessity, right?

You may have a thumb drive that you use to shuffle files from your office computer to your home computer, and sure, those are nice -- but what happens when you leave that thumb drive plugged into the USB port of your office computer? When you wake up an hour early to work on those handouts/meeting notes/governance report, the last thing you want is to be stymied by technology. So while I will urge you to keep home time YOUR time (a rule I preach and have yet to follow myself -- hey hypocrisy!) it might help you to know that you can access your computer files from home with a web address and your MYSCCC login.

First, type https://roam.sunysuffolk.edu/+CSCOE+/logon.html into your web browser (or, you know, click the link and then bookmark it). You'll arrive at this:

Then, enter your MYSCCC login information. You'll be taken to this screen:

At this point you're asked to select the link to your home campus. It's important to note that if you were formerly an adjunct who began teaching on another campus, or even a full-time member transferring from another campus, your files are probably located under your original campus. (ex. I transferred to Eastern from the Ammerman campus last year, and my files are still located under the Ammerman link.)

Click the link and be patient: you'll find a redundant screen that asks yet again for your MYSCCC login:

I find that depending on the amount of traffic on the college server or the strength of the wifi signal at my own home, it can take a minute or two for something like this to appear: 

Use the arrows on the top right of the screen to scroll through the list until you find your MYSCCC Login. When you do, click the link, and you'll be directed to another link for your files ("My Documents").

Hopefully this isn't a totally unnecessary post for you all -- I just realized that I found out about the VPN service when it first came about at the college, and I'm not aware if it's part of the formal orientation for new members. I DO know that I find it incredibly helpful being able to access my files in the smart classroom, and also at home . . . where I do more school-related work than I'd like to admit.

(Look out for one more post/email from me tomorrow, when I archive Nick Giordano's talking points from The New Member Discussion Series event, "Hindsight: What You Can Learn From My First Year.")

Guest Post: Tech Tips!

by Liz Foley,Grant Campus Coordinator, New Member Mentoring Program

Editor's Note: SKG again! Please welcome Grant Campus Coordinator Liz Foley as our second guest blogger of the semester. Liz, who works in the Educational Technology Unit on the Grant Campus, has some particularly useful information for those of us who are new to SCCC. Personally, I don't know where I'd be without the last two tips -- it seems like there's always some document I began at school that I need to access and finish at home, or vice versa -- and having access to my files, and/or being able to use my laptop on campus, has helped me be infinitely more productive than I would be otherwise.

 

New job, new office, class prep, departmental meetings, meeting new people… and TECHNOLOGY too!

 

Here are some tips that you may not be aware of to get you started with working with the technology here at SCCC:

• There is electronic equipment available in most every classroom which you may incorporate into your classes, including computers, projectors, Smartboards, and DVD/VHS players. Each campus has an Educational Technology Unit (ETU) that you would contact if the technology is not working. Each campus will explain their service request system. While the technology is not working, call the Media Services department on your campus to deliver a smart cart that has a computer, a projector and a VHS/DVD player. Meanwhile, always have a backup lesson plan that does not include using the technology!


• If you have any issues with your office computer, you may submit a Desktop Service Request Form using the following link - http://desktop (this only works on campus) or call X4357 or x4505. This link works from home - http://depthome.sunysuffolk.edu/Central/CSS/survey/srform.asp to submit a request.


• You are provided an SCCC email account, which is an official means of communication from the college, which you access through your MySCCC faculty portal and then clicking on the email icon in the upper right of the page. You may also access your email directly through http://www.sunysuffolk.edu/exchange, logging in with your SCCC credentials.


• Rule of thumb: Always use the BCC: line (Blind Carbon Copy) for all of your student’s email addresses when sending emails to your class, and not the To: line, so as to keep email information private from other students.


• Did you know that you can access files in your ‘My Documents’folder that reside on your office computer from home?






Using https://roam.sunysuffolk.edu, you will then see this screen: (Include the s in http)

 

Click on ‘Continue to this website (not recommended)’ and you will see this screen:

 

 

Login using your SCCC credentials to proceed.

 

• Did you know that you can access files in your ‘My Documents’folder that reside on your office computer from home?


• Do you want to connect to SCCC’s wireless while on campus? Log into your MySCCC portal and on the Home tab in the right-hand column, click on ‘Wireless Access Network Registration’. Then click on ‘Acceptance Confirmation’. You may register up to two devices for wireless access, contacting the Academic Computing Center on your campus to troubleshoot any problems.