Guide to Services 2002-2003: Office of Information Technology

Your Home Computer

The Office of Information Technology provides some support for personal computers. How much depends on who uses your computer and whether you use your computer for non-University purposes.

Internet Access

The University does have a limited number of incoming lines to support dial-up Internet connections. These may only be used by University faculty, staff, students, or retirees with valid accounts on bama.ua.edu. More information on setting up your computer to use this service may be found at helpdesk.ua.edu/internet/dialup.

If you or your family need more service than UA dial-up can provide, you will want to contract with one of the many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) available in the Tuscaloosa area. Many Tuscaloosa residents have a choice between cable modem service, DSL, or standard dial-up. OIT attempts to keep an updated list of ISPs offering local service; for more information see helpdesk.ua.edu/internet.

University-Licensed Software

All computers owned by University faculty, staff, students, and retirees are licensed to run antivirus software from McAfee. You are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this service by downloading either VirusScan for Windows or Virex for Macintosh from computercenter.ua.edu/software or by bringing a Zip disk or blank CD-R to the HelpDesk.

The Microsoft Campus Agreement includes home-use licenses of Microsoft Office for participating departments. These home-use licenses must only be used by the faculty or staff member for University purposes. See helpdesk.ua.edu/software/microsoft for more information.

Other software, such as WS_FTP, Fetch, SSH Secure Shell, and others, is available for download from the Software Library, which is located at computercenter.ua.edu/software.

Software Pricing

Depending on how you use your computer, you may qualify for educational pricing on many software packages. Your best local source for educationally-priced software is the University Supply Store; see its Web site (supestore.ua.edu) or contact its computer department at 348-0668 for more information. Licensing terms for educationally-priced software vary, but using it for an outside business is generally prohibited.

Support

The Network & Computing Support HelpDesk provides support for home computers using the UA dial-up service and/or common software applications. Go online to helpdesk.ua.edu for more information.