Issue 40, May 17, 2022 

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) in Knoxville offers faculty and staff weekly sessions titled Microsoft Mondays Learning and Moving Forward Together in May and June.

Each session begins at 8:00 am and you can register for a session by clicking the link:

• May 9 – Microsoft Teams: Communication, Collaboration, and Meetings (session recording link)
• May 23 – Bookings: Learn to make scheduling easy.
• June 6 – MS 365 Overview: So what is this MS 365, and how can it help me?
• June 13 – OneNote: Learn to keep up with all your project details.
• June 20 – Microsoft 365: Sharing and Collaborating
• June 27 – Planner: Learn to keep up with all your project details

Grab a cup of coffee, login, and learn more about Microsoft 365 and all the tools available to you!

'New to Campus' Knowledge Base Category

With our UTHSC TechConnect knowledge base, we strive to make everything easier, including having a whole category for new employees!

If you look at the top level of the TechConnect knowledge base, you will see a New to Campus category.

If you have a new employee coming into the area, share this New to Campus link. It has information on how to:

• store files in the cloud
• get access to WiFi
• install Microsoft 365
• set up voicemail
• set up Outlook on their phone
• get a WordPress lab website
• download Adobe Creative Suite (faculty and staff only)

The information found in this category can help new employees learn more about technology on campus, and who knows - there may even be some information you didn't know!

Seriously, you only have a few weeks to do something with your QuestionPro survey questions and data or say goodbye to them forever!

One-on-One Training

ITS Application Support offers one-on-one QuestionPro training to learn how to export your data and survey questions.

Sessions are available at 10:00 am or 1:00 pm on:

• May 19
• May 25

Please fill out this form to register. Please bring your laptop with you to the training session!

DIY

If you are more of a do-it-yourself kind of person, we have two TechConnect knowledge base articles to help:

• QuestionPro: How to Export Survey Questions to Microsoft Word
• QuestionPro: How to Export Survey Data to Microsoft Excel or SPSS

Microsoft has some excellent FREE training courses we recommend. As UTHSC faculty or staff, you can access all Microsoft 365 apps listed. Students may not have access to all these apps.

Basics and Beyond in Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to create, view, present, or share presentations quickly and easily. Get started by learning to navigate PowerPoint, design presentations, and use helpful presentation tools. Register

• May 25 - 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Get Started with Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel, the spreadsheet app, lets you create, view, edit, and share files quickly and easily. Get started by learning to navigate excel, organize data, and use basic formulas. Register

• May 24 - 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Intermediate Microsoft Excel

In this training, you will learn how to: •Expand knowledge of notable functions in Excel. •Understand a wide variety of cell formatting to manipulate and interpret data. •Learn to create Pivot tables for data analysis. •Understand options to restrict and protect data in Excel. •Utilize accessibility options in Excel using the Check Accessibility tool and how to add alternative text. Register

• May 23 - 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Advanced Features of Microsoft Excel

Take a dive into the intermediate features of Excel’s navigation, functions, and custom formulas. Register

• May 23 - 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

In less than a minute, you can learn how to merge and unmerge cells in Excel (and trust us, you will run into instances where you need to know how to do this!).

Our Cybersecurity team instituted a policy that puts [Ext] before the subject line of external email messages. This was more of a cautionary thing just to let you know that the email was not sent from someone within the UT system.

This does not mean you cannot or should not open the email. Especially if you communicate often with partners at other institutions (ROH, VA, or St. Jude), professional associations (AMA, ADA), higher ed associations (EDUCAUSE, ACGME), or vendors (Roche, Fisher Scientific). Even our ITS newsletter has the [Ext] prefix in the subject line because it is sent through MailChimp.

All the [Ext] means is a simple, “Hey, this email didn’t come from an internal UT source, so use caution when opening it.”

Have a question about a suspicious email? Either forward it to abuse@uthsc.edu or contact our Cybersecurity Office at itsecurity@uthsc.edu.

Mac Tip: Copy Text from an Image

If you have ever transcribed words from an image, you know how frustrating that can be.

macOS Monterey ends that frustration!

You can use Live Text to copy words from an image. Open the image in Preview, hover over the image text (the pointer will turn into a text cursor), click, select, and paste into another app like Word.

Don’t have Monterey yet? Follow these easy instructions to upgrade today!

Policy Highlight - Standard - InfoSec-CP-001-Business Continuity Planning

Planning for system outages, resuming normal business operations, and recovering from an emergency or disaster – these are all situations that need to be thought of in advance by data and system owners and custodians so that all departments and business units are prepared to rapidly restore critical functions. Business continuity is not solely an ITS function, but ITS can support responsible parties develop continuity plans for their systems. This standard is both a requirement for system owners and a guidance document on how to prepare for an emergency and resume normal operations.

As school wraps up and the summertime vacation season begins, millions of people will be traveling. If you are among the many, here are some tips to help keep you cyber-savvy and safe.

Mobile Devices

Bring as few devices as you can. The fewer devices you bring while traveling, the fewer devices can be lost or stolen. In fact, did you know that you are far more likely to lose a mobile device than have it stolen? Whenever leaving a hotel room, restaurant, taxicab, train, or airplane, do a quick device check and verify you have all your devices. Don’t forget to have friends or family traveling with you to double-check for their devices, too, like children who may leave a device behind on a seat or in a restaurant. As for the devices you choose to bring, make sure they are patched and running the latest operating system and apps. Keep the screen lock enabled. If possible, ensure you have some way to remotely track your devices if they are lost. In addition, you may want the option to remotely wipe the device. That way if a device is lost or stolen, you can remotely track and/or wipe all your sensitive data and accounts from the device. Finally, do a backup of any devices you take with you, so if one is lost or stolen, you can easily recover your data.

WiFi Connections

When traveling, you may need to connect to a public WiFi network. Keep in mind you often have no idea who configured that WiFi network, who is monitoring it or how, and who else is connected to it. Instead of connecting to a public WiFi network, whenever possible connect to and use the personal hotspot feature of your smartphone. This way you know you have a trusted WiFi connection. If that is not possible and you need to connect to a public WiFi network (such as at an airport, hotel, or cafe), use a Virtual Private Network, often called a VPN. This is the software you install on your laptop or mobile device to help protect and anonymize your WiFi connection. Some VPN solutions include settings to automatically enable the VPN when connecting to non-trusted WiFi networks.

Public Computers

Avoid using public computers, such as those in hotel lobbies or at coffee shops, to log into any accounts or access sensitive information. You don’t know who used that computer before you, and they may have infected it accidentally or deliberately with malware, such as a keystroke logger. Stick to devices you control and trust.

Social Media

We love to update others about our travels and adventures through social media, but we don’t always know who every friend or viewer is online. Avoid oversharing while on vacation as much as possible and consider waiting to share your trip until you are home. Additionally, don’t post pictures of boarding passes, driver’s licenses, or passports, as this can lead to identity theft.

Vacation should be a time for relaxing, exploring, and having fun. These simple steps will help ensure you do so safely and securely.

In each issue, we feature one of our amazing ITS team members. We learn more about Ammar Ammar with our Cybersecurity team in this segment.

What is your role and how long have you been in ITS at UTHSC? I am the Deputy Chief Information Security Officer and Director of Cybersecurity. I have been with UTHSC for the past 7 years.

What is a day in the life of Ammar like? On the days I’m in the office you can find me walking across the street at 7 am to get my iced coffee before I start responding to emails. Afterward, I begin to look over the news in cybersecurity to see if there is anything we need to respond to or proactively begin taking steps against it. This has been the most exciting and dangerous time in Cyber. The team has to be agile as we try to work on our strategic initiatives while being able to respond to emerging threats. You also never know when something may happen that would be considered an incident, and everything changes in an instant.

What is your favorite thing about working at UTHSC? The life balance is one of my favorite things. I’ve also made some great friends while working here for the past 7 years whom I am always happy to work with.

What’s something most people don’t know about you? The name Ammar comes from my father, whose name is also Ammar Ammar. Which was also his father’s name. We have different middle names. Middle eastern families also have a lot of children, so on my father’s side, I have around 32 first cousins.