The deadline for requesting software to be included in our physical labs, virtual labs, and classrooms has been extended to August 13th. Software requests must be entered by this deadline to ensure the application is available in the labs for the Fall 2021 semester. Note: All software requests must be renewed each semester. Please see our Wiki page for information about this process. 

Requests for licensed software must include: (1)  Proof of purchase and license information, and (2)  software media and installation instructions. Please contact us if you have questions about the appropriate license volume or type to purchase. Requests to install unlicensed software, software with license modes incompatible with our labs, or software with system requirements incompatible with our labs, may be rejected. DoIT will make accommodations for such requests to the extent they are practicable. 

The DoIT Technology Support Center is looking to hire additional consultants to work during the fall semester and beyond. Please see our job description below and visit our job posting on UMBCWorks to apply. (Search for TSC Student Consultant.) The application will be open until August 6th.

We're specifically looking for students available to work during the following hours:

• Tuesdays 2pm-8pm
• Wednesdays 8am-2:30pm
• Thursdays 8am-12pm
• Fridays 8am-12pm
• Saturdays 12pm-6pm

TSC Student Consultant Job Description

Technology Support Center (TSC) student consultants are the first points of technical contact for the UMBC community and those who do well often go on to work in other areas of the Division of Information Technology (DoIT). Minimally, consultants are expected to provide initial triage and support for a wide range of information technologies including accounts, hardware, instructional technologies, networking, software, telecommunications, and basic web development.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following:

• Provide technical assistance to users by phone, online and in person;
• Answer TSC phones in a professional and courteous manner;
• Create, update and resolve tickets in the Request Tracker (RT) ticketing system;
• Create, update, suggest and recommend relevant FAQ articles to users (www.umbc.edu/faq);
• Provide direct assistance to users on technical issues they cannot easily resolve on their own;
• Respond to all work-related communications in a timely manner;
• Escalate urgent problems to the Full-Time staff, as appropriate.

Required Skills and Experience

• Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate by phone or in person.
• Demonstrated writing ability.
• Demonstrated ability to achieve successful outcomes in handling difficult situations and customers.
• Demonstrated analytical and troubleshooting skills.
• Ability & willingness to learn coupled with a clear understanding of one’s technical abilities, so as to triage and escalate an issue that leads to an effective solution for the user.

Tonight the GlobalProtect VPN will be upgraded to the latest version. Users will not experience a disruption in service but may receive a prompt to upgrade to the new version the next time they log in. 

Performing regular software updates on the VPN is an important step for keeping up to date with security fixes, bug repairs and compatibility with the newest operating systems. During the update, users will not experience a loss in service and will continue to work uninterrupted. However, users will receive a message that a newer version of the VPN software is available on their next login. This message is expected and we ask that you follow the prompts to download and install the new version of VPN software. 

If you experience any challenges installing the new software, please contact the Technology Support Center. 

Ray Soellner

Assoc. Director - DoIT

rays1@umbc.edu