Internal - Faculty & Staff

Service Catalogue

Borrow Equipment

Faculty, staff, and students can borrow equipment from our circulating collection of audio, video, photography, and computer-related equipment to complete academic requirements.

  • To borrow equipment, visit Technology Support Center on the 3rd floor of Lefavour Hall.
  • To have equipment delivered to your classroom, please fill out the online request form.

If the equipment available or the policies governing loan periods do not meet your needs, you may want to use a Rental Company.

Calendaring

Google Calendar is standard electronic calendar at Simmons University and is available to all students, faculty, and staff.

This tool has the ability to keep track of your appointments, share your calendar with others, and set up meetings with almost anyone at the University. It can be accessed through any computer or mobile device with Internet access, and it can be synchronized with calendar apps on smart phones.

To access Google Calendar, log in to your Google Apps for Education account and select the calendar option on the top of the web page. To learn more about Google Calendar, please click here or contact the Service Desk.

Desktop Computers

One of Simmons Technology’s basic missions is to provide computing facilities to the faculty, staff and students at Simmons University. Among these provisions are file and application servers, network infrastructure and internet connectivity, specialized event and presentation equipment, and technologies specific to particular areas of study.

Learn More

Digital Signage

In the file below, you’ll find a variety of templates to choose from when making your slide. Please don’t significantly alter the slides as they are now approved and reflect our branding.

When you have a slide ready for the screens, please send along files in both PPT and JPEG format to [email protected].

To export your PPT slide into a jpeg, please do as follows:
Go to “File”
Select “Export”
Choose jpeg for the file format
Select “Save as Current Slide Only”

Please indicate in the body of your email what day you would like the slide to begin playing, and for what duration. In an effort to keep content on the screens fresh, there is a two week limit on playtime for slides.

Download digital signage slide templates

Email Services

Every community member at Simmons is given a Simmons email account. Simmons email service includes access to mailing lists, antispam filtering, out-of-office notices, mail forwarding, documentation and tips on configuring your account, quota management, and more.

Set Up and Access Email

Your email is activated when you are hired or matriculate at Simmons. All you need to do is log in with your username and password. Click here to see how to receive your username and password and set up your account.

All students, faculty, and staff at Simmons use Google Apps for Education to access their email at gmail.simmons.edu. To learn more about using Google Apps for Education, click here.

Notes on Using Email

All official communications from Simmons will be sent to your Simmons email account. If you usually use any other email account, you should forward your Simmons email to your non-Simmons account so that you do not miss these communications.

Web browsing and email are the two of the most common routes by which computers and their users are exposed to viruses, phishing, and other questionable electronic activity. Please be sure that you and your computer are protected from these dangers by visiting the Information Security section of this site.

Expiration of Email

Your Simmons email will expire when you graduate or leave Simmons employment. See the schedule for account deactivation and a list of actions you can take to prepare.

For questions about email, review the available Instructions and FAQs or contact the Service Desk.

File Server

A file server is a storage device on a network that gives computers on that network access to shared resources. Simmons Technology provides storage space on our file servers to all members of the Simmons community where users can save, open, copy, delete, and share files.

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Information Security

Information security has become critical with today’s increased reliance on online services for managing and storing electronic records. Simmons takes steps to ensure the security, integrity, and reliability of college electronic resources, but people and their behavior are an essential part of the process.

Learn More

Media Services

Technology supports teaching and learning in the classroom through the planning, support, and maintenance of Simmons’s AV infrastructure.

To report a problem with classroom technology during class, please call us at 617-521-2222.

Faculty and staff may also borrow non-standard equipment from the Service Desk.

Labs and Classrooms

We provide and maintain computer hardware and software as well as AV equipment in classrooms, study rooms, and event spaces throughout campus. Students can use the Media Viewing & Listening Room in Beatley library to view media checked out from the Library.

Production Services

Technology provides multimedia capabilities for course-related content capture needs. We can advise on effective uses of video capture for instructor or student produced content. For special events, we have external partners that can provide videography and post production services for a fee, depending on your requirements.

To make a media production request, please contact the Service Desk.

Moodle

Simmons Moodle (moodle.simmons.edu) is the College’s officially supported Learning Management System (LMS), a highly customizable learning platform for enhancing and delivering dynamic content and courses. All courses in the Simmons course catalog have a corresponding course space on Simmons Moodle where instructors can create and share digital course content, discussion forums, quizzes, videos, interactive lessons, online library course reserves, and more.

Accessing Simmons Moodle

Simmons Moodle is cloud-based and mobile-friendly. You can access it from any device with an Internet connection and a modern web browser. To log in, use your Simmons username and password.

Getting Support

You can find answers to common questions about Simmons Moodle by visiting the Technology Service Desk website and searching for any Moodle function or activity.

Faculty can also access video-based Moodle tutorials via the training site Lynda.com.

If you have specific questions about Simmons Moodle, please contact our support team by completing a brief request form.

Network: Wired and Wireless

Simmons University has a state of the art, high performance network infrastructure. Direct access to the network is available at many locations throughout campus, including faculty and staff offices, PC and workstation labs, study areas, residence halls, and in a growing number of classrooms.

The Wireless Network is available throughout the Main Campus and the Residence Campus. As you move from room to room, your computer will seamlessly reconnect to the nearest wireless access point to receive the best signal possible.

How to connect to the Simmons network.

For security reasons, your use of the Internet via the Simmons Wireless Network is limited.

For questions or help connecting to the network, review the available Instructions and FAQs or contact the Service Desk.

Phone and Voicemail

Simmons provides phone and voice mail service to all faculty and staff in their offices.

Telephone service includes standard local and long-distance calling, voice mail, voice mail to email, conference calling, and call forwarding. To find out more, please see the links below.

Remote Computing

WebVPN Service (https://vpn.simmons.edu)

WebVPN service lets you use your web browser while you are off-campus to access documents on the Simmons file server. When accessing the file server this way, you can navigate to a specific file server folder and copy files between your local computer’s hard drive and the file server.

Simmons WebVPN service also gives you “internal” access to campus web sites.

A more robust VPN service is also available to authorized users by clicking AnyConnect from the Simmons WebVPN service window.

For questions about using WebVPN, review the available Documentation and FAQs or contact the Service Desk.

Technology Consulting

Technology’s Business Analysis & Solutions Consulting group offers technology/process guidance for departments seeking to enhance productivity and/or improve the services they provide.

Specific services we provide include:

Consultation/Discovery

Our Business Analysis skills can help to determine the scope of a potential solution by reviewing an existing problem or gap in service.

Project Implementation

Our Project Management experience will help ensure that your technology solution is implemented successfully whether it is assisting with the upgrade of a single application, the implementation of a new process, or the roll-out of a complex, campus-wide system.

Business Application Support

We provide support for various business applications such as Intelliworks, Kronos, and Touchnet to ensure processes and systems integrate and communicate with our core ERP systems.

Technology Training

Simmons Technology offers several options for training. Instructions for many of the most popular applications at Simmons are available from the Service Desk website.

Through LinkedIn Learning (formerly lynda.com), current students, faculty, and staff can gain knowledge through self-paced courses that are available 24/7. Available topics include:

  • Microsoft Office
  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Web Design
  • Project Management
  • Computer Programming

Click here to find out more about using LinkedIn Learning.

Workday

Workday is an innovative, cloud-based software solution which replaced older systems, such as Colleague and AARC, as of Fall 2021. The majority of Academic, Financial, Human Resources, and many other processes now take place in a single system: Workday.

Some specialty Academic software – including Moodle and Starfish – continues to be used.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Workday project was to transform, modernize, and simplify administrative processes at Simmons in order to improve workflows, ensure data accuracy and transparency, and strengthen the University’s position in the higher education marketplace to ensure long-term success.

For more information on Workday visit workdayproject.simmons.edu.

Technology Support

For technology support, reach out to [email protected] or visit the Service Desk website.