The end of the academic year means transitions . . .graduates move on to “the real world.”  Undergraduates enjoy a break so they can rest and refresh before beginning another year, hoping to earn a few bucks over the summer. Professors and staff enjoy a break from the faster pace of the school year while they consider how they can make the next year better than ever. Student organizations anticipate the changes of having new leadership in place. No matter your role, as you prepare to leave campus for the year (or forever), you will have a smoother transition if you remember these things.

GRADS!  Did you know there is a webpage with all the specific reminders for you?  You can see the reminders at this URL: http://www.valpo.edu/it/documentation/graduates/index.php

Did you live in a residence hall?  Remember that your voicemails will be purged over the summer. Make sure to capture any important information from saved messages, since they will no longer be available in the fall.

Are you in a student organization?  Outgoing leadership should ensure that incoming officers have the necessary access they will need to organizational resources.  If you use a mailing list, share the administrative password with the incoming officers, and work with your faculty adviser - who is the official owner of the list.  If you use a shared email folder, add the new officers to the folder, and show them the common management tasks.  Remind them to remove access for outgoing officers!

If you have stored large files on your H: drive, you may wish to download them to a flash drive, or burn them to a CD.  Disk space quotas for H: drives are reset to the default over the summer, and if you have existing large files in your home directory, you may have difficulty saving files in the fall.

Make sure to check your Valpo email over the summer, to get any important announcements from University administration.  You may also wish to check your spam quarantine over the summer.  To check the spam quarantine, go to http://www.valpo.edu/it/osc, login with your Valponet username and password, and select the PureMessage System link.

If you forget your password over the summer, you can reset it yourself! All you have to do is make sure you have set up your challenge response questions (See Ask IT for details). Later when you forget your password, simply go to http://www.valpo.edu/it/valponet, and click the link for “Forgot Password?”  This will save you time, because you won’t have to bring your photo ID to the Help Desk.

For any other questions you have as you depart campus over the summer, feel free to contact the IT Help Desk via phone (219-464-5986) or email (IT.Helpdesk@valpo.edu).