IT Services news

We are pleased to announce that uApply launched for graduate applicants for the Fall 2014 term today, Tuesday, October 1st at 9 a.m. The new application is working well and will facilitate a smooth application process for prospective McGill students; however, during the testing phase of the latest version of uApply some issues were discovered affecting the system’s administrative functionality. At present the following uApply features are unavailable: Modify the admissions checklist of an applicant (ex: Add/remove document requirement

As of yesterday, Sept 23, 2013, the External Tools widget, used to modify lecture recording settings, was removed from all Course Home pages. Instructors who use Lecture Recordings and need to change the settings, e.g.

MyFuture will be down for all students on Wednesday, October 2, 2013 from 8:00 am - 3:00 pm for data synchronization. This synchronization will update current student profiles from add/drop.  Be proactive and don't wait until the last minute to apply to any of the October 2. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause.

McGill IT Services introduced the Drupal-based Web Management System (WMS) about 2 ½ years ago, giving us a cleaner, more modern and better structured system to support our 650+ websites. Over the next few months we will be upgrading the software that runs our websites to Drupal version 7 so we can benefit from advances made by the Drupal open source community.

IT Customer Services (ICS) has made changes to the Audiovisual Equipment Loans service. The list of equipment available to lend has been restructured to better support McGill’s primary mandate of teaching/learning, research, administrative activities and directly-related activities.Hours of operation for AV loans have also changed. See complete details at Audiovisual Equipment Loans. IT Services is happy to be able to continue providing this service to the McGill community. Your support is much appreciated.

Lecture recording is available in over 50 classrooms, including all of the large lecture halls. Many of these rooms include video as well as audio capture. This service allows students to review material that was covered in class at their own pace; students have told us they find it to be extremely helpful.

Monday, August 5, 4:56pm - Hydro Quebec has restored the power to all of campus. Wireless and wired network connectivity is fully functional. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The lower Downtown Campus is currently experiencing a power outage and loss of wireless / wired network connectivity in some buildings. Hydro Quebec technicians are working on restoring power. Please check back here for further updates, or see Hydro Quebec's Twitter feed. 

The myCourses upgrade has been successfully completed and the system is now available. The first thing you'll notice is a brand new interface. But don't be worried; once you start working with it you'll realize that all the familiar tools are basically unchanged. There are improvements to general usability and to tools such as Content and Grades. See the New Features on the LMS website.

As of July 1st, 2013, access to McGill electronic databases, e-journals and other e-resources is changing at McGill affiliated hospital sites in order to comply with the McGill University Library's licensing agreements. If you are affiliated with McGill as a faculty or staff member, or as a resident or student, you will be asked to log in using your McGill username and password to access the library’s electronic resources. If you are not affiliated with McGill as a faculty or staff member, or as a resident or student, you will no longer have access to McGill

As part of an ongoing effort to streamline services, the guest.mcgill.ca campus wireless network has been decommissioned. Guest users should now use one of the following two wireless networks to connect on campus: wpa.mcgill.ca mcgill.ca If you have a saved connection to guest.mcgill.ca, please delete it at your earliest convenience. Note: this change does not impact the guest.mcgill.ca network that is part of the McGill Residences wireless service. 

The new myCourses Learning Management System has been in use for a full academic year, and we are now considering a first upgrade for Fall 2013. Why so soon? 

A Message from the Office of the Dean of Students - Termination of Turnitin Service As of June 1, 2013, McGill University has ended its licensing agreement with Turnitin and the service is no longer available within myCourses. As always, McGill is fully committed to academic integrity, and to teaching students how to do ethical, honest, and effective academic work.

The new version of EndNote software - version X7 (Windows) - is now available for download at http://kb.mcgill.ca/it/endnote. We will no longer be offering ProCite or Reference Manager since the software provider is no longer updating them, and the McGill community has access to both Endnote and RefWorks.

There is a new general telephone number for contacting Directors, Managers and other staff members within IT Services: 514-398-7979.  This new number replaces 514-398-5023 and 514-398-7200. All 5-digit extensions for IT staff members are now also available from this new number.  For example, to reach a staff member whose old phone number was 514-398-5023 ext. 1234, you would now dial 514-398-7979 and enter extension 1234.

On Wednesday, June 5, 2013 at around 7:00 am, the certificate for McGill wireless network will be renewed.  Once the change is made, you may be prompted to accept the new certificate the next time you sign on to the wireless network (wpa.mcgill.ca or wpa.rez.mcgill.ca). If you have any questions feel free to contact the ICS Service Desk.