Free Microsoft Office for Students

ATTENTION STUDENTS!

Ferris State University is now offering Microsoft Office to students for FREE! As long as you’re a current student at Ferris, you’ll be able to use this software for free.

Download Office for FREE and get:

• Get the latest version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and more!
• Installation on up to 5 PCs and Macs!
• 5 additional installations on tablets and phones, including iPhone and iPad!
• Gain valuable skills on the world’s most popular productivity software!
• Use the same programs as the faculty to ensure full file compatibility!

To download:

1. Go to office.ferris.edu
2. Sign in using your MyFSU credentials (username@ferris.edu and MYFSU password)
3. Select your language and click install

For more information please review the FAQ at
http://ferris.edu/HTMLS/mytechsupport/sts_iconnect/sts_software_hardware/StudentAdvantageFAQs.htm. If you have trouble downloading the software please contact the TAC @ 231-591-4822 or toll free @ 877-779-4822.

Acrobat Advanced Search

Are you unable to find a PDF file that you know you created and saved in a specific folder? There is a solution to finding lost documents! The tool is Acrobat Advanced Search.

Steps in finding lost documents:

• Select the Edit menu in Acrobat.
• Find Advanced Search.
• Search your computer, chosing All PDF Documents.
• Type the word or phrase you want to search.

Select the Search button at the bottom of the dialog box. The advanced search will look for any document  that contains that word or phrase.

When the search is complete, you will see a list of all of the documents that contain the word or phrase.  You will now be able to choose the correct file.

http://blogs.adobe.com/acrobat

Making Scanned Text in a .pdf Document Editable

Do you have a document that you scanned in and saved as a .pdf that has text you want to edit?

Here are simple steps to follow to make scanned text editable:

1. Open the file that was scanned.

2. Click Tools and Text Recognition.
    
    Select In This File.

3. Click Edit…

4. Select the Primary OCR Language
    and PDF Output Style.

    Select OK, then OK again in the next box.



5. Wait for Adobe to prepare the text.

6. You now can click through the text and edit it.

Written by: Emily Tiesenga

Using Adobe Reader on Touch Devices

Do you ever find yourself with work to do when you’ve only have a smartphone or a tablet handy? Good thing it’s easy to use your mobile touch device to read, comment on, or sign PDF files with the free Adobe Reader mobile app. Take a look!

Getting Started

Open up your PDF file on your mobile device.

Tap the screen to open the menu.
 
To choose viewing preferences, tap the view menu. Choose your view option: Continuous, Single 
Page, or Automatic.


Now open up the commenting toolbar. Here are all of your options for adding comments: Add sticky notes, highlight, strike out, underline, or add text. You can even draw random shapes with your finger.


Close the commenting toolbar to return to the main menu.

Search Feature

You may search a PDF file for a specific term. The results will be highlighted in the PDF file’s text.

Completing and Signing Forms

You can also fill out and sign PDF forms on the go:

Open the commenting toolbar again.

Tap where you want to add text and type it in. 

To Sign, choose the signature tool and tap to add your signature. Draw your signature in, then click “save.” You may format the color thickness of the signature or move the signature to center it.
When you’re done, you have the option to email it right away.

www.adobe.com

Being Secure in a Public World

Do you use public WiFi connections when you are at a restaurant, coffee shop, or airport? Public WiFi is great for staying connected, but presents a host of security problems. Most of us know this, but how can you keep yourself secure while using a public WiFi network?

The first thing is to ensure your email uses HTTPS. HTTPS is a secure system for

transmitting and receiving information across the Internet. Many email clients send through HTTPS to logon, but change to HTTP after you login. HTTP makes your information vulnerable for anyone on the same wireless network to access without a password. This allows others to steal your session cookie and log in to your webmail session without your password.  Gmail and many corporate email systems use HTTPS throughout the access period making them more secure.

Paid Hotspots give the illusion of security while not giving any real security at all. Though many of these sites use HTTPS in order to secure your credit card data, they switch over to an unsecured HTTP connection that does nothing to protect your data.

Being aware of these simple facts can help you stay much more secure while using a public network.

Written by Russell Smead

Emergency Text Alerts for Computers Update

As mentioned in a University Wide Notice earlier this week, Groupwise Messenger, our emergency messaging tool for University owned computers, will not be used for emergency messaging after October 6, 2013. 

To ensure that emergency communications can be delivered to classroom and office computers, we are deploying the new emergency messaging client for university computers, AlertUs. It will be automatically deployed to different areas of campus starting at the following days:

October 3

Student Affairs computers

Executive area computers

Governmental Relations and General Counsel computers
University Advancement & Marketing

October 4 in the morning

Administration and Finance computers

Academic Affairs division computers

All Lab and Classroom computers, (VFS and MCO Clinic computers will not be getting the installation at this time.) 

Kendall College of Art and Design will not be getting the install at this time.

If your computer was not on the network at the start time, the next time you connect your computer to the network, the AlertUs software will be installed.  You will have to reboot before the icon shows up.

After a reboot, you will notice a new icon showing up in the system tray in the bottom right corner of your screen (near the clock) on a Windows computer, and on a Mac it will be in the menu bar on the right hand side. The icon will look like this:

The main purpose of Groupwise was to distribute emergency notification to Ferris computers, such as campus weather-related cancellations, employees have been using Groupwise to communicate with colleagues. The implementation of Office 365 has been scheduled for Spring/Summer 2014, and will have a chat tool for us to use.  

Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions, contact the Technology Assistance Center at (231) 591-4822 or toll free at (877) 779-4822.

Ferris Information Technology Services

Student Software/Hardware Academic Program Requirements

The Desktop and Classroom Technology Standards Committee is in the process of posting a site where students can go to find information about software/hardware recommendations and requirements for their personally owned computers.
 
The committee would like to know more about how each academic program informs students of these requirements and if there is an interest to make this information available centrally from the committee website. 

Click here to complete a short questionnaire to assist the committee with moving forward with this initiative. 

Written by Jody Gardei

Help Students Change Their MyFSU Password

As you know, we have been moving from Novell to Active Directory.  Our last phase of this project is to change the students’ accounts over to Active Directory. Ferris students may require assistance and you can help by sharing this information.

When their MyFSU password expires, they will need to go to the ID lookup page to find out their new, temporary password. They will then need to set up challenge questions and reset their temporary password using the same password tool you now use. 

A link to these tools and instructions are available on the MyFSU login page titled “ID and Password Help.”

If they are still having problems, have them call the TAC at (231) 591-4822, or toll free (877) 779-4822.

Note: students at satellite locations may use a slightly different process depending on the location.  Please talk to your technicians about the process at your location.

What Must You Do To Use The New Password Assistance Tool?

Did you know there is a new set of password assistance tools for changing your MyFSU password? 

Now that the migration from using Novell to Active Directory is in its final stages, it is important everyone who works or studies at Ferris sets up their challenge questions so they are able to use the password reset
tool.

First, you must set up your challenge questions. Instructions for how to set up your challenge questions area available here:

• Instructions for setting up challenge questions for students
• Instructions for setting up challenge questions for faculty & staff

Second, go to http://pwdhelp.ferris.edu and change your password. You will be required to answer two of the challenge questions you set up. Instructions for how to change your password using the new tool area available here:

• Instructions for changing your password for students
• Instructions for changing your password for faculty and staff

Contact the TAC at 231-591-4822 if you need assistance.

Adobe Acrobat Pro X – Hide Private Information

Do you have a PDF file to publish that has private information you want to hide, such as emails, phone numbers, or addresses? Adobe Acrobat Pro X has tools available to help hide information.

Select the Tools pane, and expand the
Protection drop down menu. Under the Black Out & Remove Content heading are the tools available for searching and removing text from the document. You have the option to select the text manually using the Mark for Redaction tool, or run a wizard to search for words to mark for redaction using the Search & Remove Text tool.

Using the Protection tools will hide the private information using different colored boxes to block out the information or make the spot white. Use the Redaction Tool Properties option to make changes to the default settings. 

Written by Emily Tiesenga & Jody Gardei