For Students

• Welcome!
• How To Get Help
• Technology Services For You
  • Simmons Computers
  • Your Computer
  • Free Training
  • Network Services
  • Multimedia
  • Cable/Phones on Residence Campus
  • Examples of Problems & the Assistance Technology Provides
• Safe Computing
• Student Responsibilities
• Username and Passwords
• Email
• What to Buy

Network Services

Network Access
Simmons provides wired Ethernet Internet access free to students in the residence halls and in public areas on the main campus. To connect, a computer must have an Ethernet port. Students supply their own "Cat 5 RJ-45" Ethernet cables. There is wireless access (802.11b, a.k.a. WiFi) available in public areas on the main campus. (See Wireless Info for information about locations and configuration) Technology will advise students in the purchase and configuration of wireless cards. Students living off-campus can access the College's resources by connecting to the Internet via a local Internet Service Provider. Off-campus students are responsible for choosing, setting up and paying for dial-up or broadband Internet access.

Technology acknowledges that while students often create network or server problems unintentionally, we must suspend network access to computers creating such problems until the offending machine has been verified by the Help Desk to be running properly with up to date OS, and antivirus software and definitions. Because of the impact on others, network access may have to be revoked without notice. Examples of causes for revocation include: consuming excessive bandwidth, distributing IP addresses through an unauthorized wireless hub, relaying large quantities of spam, attacking other computers on the network, and legal notification of filesharing in violation of copyright. Some of these manifestations are caused by filesharing software, viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, and attacks launched by such software.

Email
All Simmons students receive email accounts with 200 megabytes of space. Students are required to check their email accounts on a frequent basis in order to remain current with College-related communications. Official College communication distributed by email will be done only through simmons.edu accounts. Professors, staff, and fellow students will contact you using your Simmons address. Because of the importance of these messages, you may choose to forward your Simmons email to a non-Simmons account (see http://preferences.simmons.edu/, and follow the link "Set up email forwarding"). 

Students may use the Simmons web client or any email client that supports POP or IMAP.  Basic server settings for IMAP and POP clients are available on the Technology web site. Technology provides guidance to students in configuring and using common email clients. For more information about using email at Simmons, see our Email Tips. Student accounts are terminated 2 months after commencement or withdrawal.  When email accounts are terminated, so is access to other Simmons online resources, including Simmons eLearning (the online learning management system, WebCT Vista).  Already graduated or just about to? Check out our page about technology services for Alums.

Storage
Every student has 200 megabytes of password-protected storage space on the file server (i.e. your personal folder). Technology strongly encourages students to save important files on the file server for two key reasons:

• File server storage is backed-up regularly
• File server storage is accessible from any computer on the Simmons network (except public email/Internet stations) by using personal log-ins.

Student accounts are terminated and storage space deleted 2 months after commencement or withdrawal.

Technology provides guidance to students trying to access their personal folders from College or personal computers, but will not access the folder for a student.

If a student misplaces a file, Technology will assist the student in searching for the file. Technology offers advice on disk management.

If a student cannot access a file or other data either due to damaged removable media (e.g. floppy or zip disk, USB memory stick, or compact flash camera memory cards) or a system or application crash, Technology attempts recovery or extraction of data. Students may be required to sign a release form before Technology staff attempts to recover documents. Technology also makes recommendations of back-up techniques.

If a student's personal videotape, which contains academic-related content, is damaged, Technology will attempt to splice it, replace the casing, and duplicate the video. Technology staff cannot be held accountable for the timeframe in which this occurs or the quality of the final product.

Web space
Every student has 10 megabytes of space available to create her/his own web site. Technology offers training classes for creating pages for academic purposes. Students may not post their own "cgi-bin" scripts. Technology maintains a few general scripts that faculty teach students to use as part of their coursework. Students may request additional web space from Technology if needed for their academic work. Student accounts are terminated and web space deleted 2 months after commencement or withdrawal. For more information, see Personal Web Publishing.