Yearly Archives: 2013

CryptoLocker Threat and Response

A new computer malware program called CryptoLocker is spreading across campus. Several individuals' computers and even some college share drives have been attacked. The program will make all of your files inaccessible and ask for a ransom to access them again. CryptoLocker disguises itself as a pdf or zip file attached to an email. When the [...]

By |2018-01-26T15:19:19-06:00October 29th, 2013|Cybersecurity|0 Comments

Tragedy of the Commons

A recent ECAR report cites a tragedy of the commons playing out in the ether of university wireless networks. It seems that the number of "Internet capable devices" is increasing at a steep rate among campus humanoids, most sharply among students. In fact, the prediction is that there will be four devices per student on [...]

By |2019-03-01T16:43:20-06:00October 29th, 2013|Stories|0 Comments

The Four C’s

One of the smartest administrators I know has a saying that he applies to the work we do in Student Affairs. "Anything good we do will require Collaboration, Cooperation, Coordination, and Communication." The Four C's, as they are known, have become a mantra for professionals in our division. While we don't always succeed in implementing [...]

By |2019-03-01T10:52:08-06:00October 4th, 2013|Stories|0 Comments

Serving Students in Crisis

In a crowd of 50,000 students, there’s always someone experiencing an unexpected turn of events.  Car accidents, apartment fires, sexual assaults, hospitalizations, and other types of unplanned events can severely disrupt a student’s ability to focus and perform well academically.  While some of these incidents may make the evening news, more often the disruptive problems [...]

By |2022-01-22T11:47:22-06:00July 2nd, 2013|Stories|0 Comments

Office365 vs. Google Apps

Our journey to the cloud may be approaching quicker than we think. Recently, TAMU has launched two pilot projects to examine the feasibility of moving all university email  to a cloud-based service. The two leading candidates are Google Apps for Education and Microsoft Office 365. None of this should be a surprise to anyone as [...]

By |2019-03-01T16:54:55-06:00July 1st, 2013|Stories|0 Comments

Student Research Week

Aggie students do great real-world research.  Student Research Week (SRW) showcases some of this outstanding work with competition and special speakers.  In its 15th year, this annual endeavor is a collaborative effort between academic and Student Affairs offices.  But managing 1185 competitors, judges and event volunteers also requires having IT as a strategic partner.  This [...]

By |2022-01-22T11:37:52-06:00May 31st, 2013|Stories|0 Comments

Housing Assignments

How do you assign more than 7,750 students into less than 7,450 residential spaces? That question gets much more complicated when you have to consider each student’s application date, gender, age, eligibility for participation in residential living learning communities, and preferences for roommate and room price.  That’s the kind of challenge Residence Life has been [...]

By |2022-01-22T11:34:18-06:00May 30th, 2013|Stories|0 Comments

The Mobile Strategy “Gold Standard”

When the Mobile Strategy Task Force at the University of Texas issued their recommendations last December, they compared themselves with 30 peer institutions.  They placed themselves in the bottom three of existing commitment to mobile support.  They rated Texas A&M in the top three and featured A&M’s home page as one of two examples of [...]

By |2019-03-01T17:15:53-06:00May 29th, 2013|Stories|0 Comments
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