Campus Computing Resources for New Employees
IT Accounts: https://apply.rice.edu
Once your information in the Human Resources' employee database is complete, you can learn your assigned NetID and set your NetID password. These, respectively, are your identification name and password for several campus computing systems. Visit the Rice University Online Account Management System to learn your preset NetID and to create your NetID password. You will have the same NetID and password on most of the IT accounts you obtain from the list below (eventually on all of your IT accounts).
ADRice
This account is used to log on to most office and lab computers on campus.
Your email can be read using a variety of programs (including over the web at http://webmail.rice.edu). You can use your NetID as your email address. For example, if your NetID is yourname, your email address would be preset as yourname@rice.edu. However, you will also be allowed to have up to three email "aliases". One is set to your name (i.e. Peter.K.Choo@rice.edu), but you can set the others however you like. This being said, it is important to remember that you will log in to email and other accounts with your NetID, not with an alias.
Dial-up
Although many people already have a broadband Internet connection at home (cable modem or DSL), you can connect to the campus network even if you only have a computer with a dial-up modem. The Help Desk can help you set up a dialup connection.
VPN
These accounts provide secure transportation of data between Rice University and a computer connected to the Internet outside of Rice. If you need to have access to secure Rice-only sites from home, visit the Help Desk to activate this account.
Oracle Calendar
Rice has a site license for Oracle, a calendar program. You can synchronize data from Oracle Calendar with many PDAs or mobile devices. Note: Oracle Calendar accounts are not automatically created; contact the Help Desk to activate this account.
Other Accounts
There are other accounts at Rice that are not provided by IT. These accounts do NOT automatically use your NetID and password. However, we highly advise you to use the same login name and strong password for all secure servers, since Rice is moving to a "single sign on" environment. The goal is that you will access all systems with your one NetID and password. Manually synching your passwords will ease future transitions.
Anti-virus/Security: http://www.rice.edu/it/security
Keep your computer safe, secure, and virus-free using tips from this webpage.
Purchases: http://www.rice.edu/market
You are eligible for an educational discount on computers, printers, phones, software, and more for both departmental and personal purchases. Details are available on Rice's Technology Marketplace site.
Help Desk: http://helpdesk.rice.edu
The Help Desk is the central point of contact for computing help or service needs. Help Desk staff answer technical questions and route services requests to other IT professionals. We highly encourage you to submit requests at any time via our website, but we are always happy to see you at the Help Desk or take your phone calls and email messages during our working hours.
Email: helpdesk@rice.edu
Phone: 713.348.HELP (4357)
Walk-in: Mudd 103
Hours (except holidays):
Monday-Thursday - 8 am to 6 pm
Friday - 8 am to 5 pm
Training: http://www.rice.edu/it/help/training.html
IT offers a wide variety of free, instructor-led computer short courses to Rice faculty, staff, and students throughout the year. The courses accommodate all skill levels, from beginning to advanced, and the courses generally last 2-3 hours. You can also use IT's online training tutorials on the IT Tutorials site.
Telecommunications: http://www.rice.edu/telephone
The Telecommunications group manages the campus telecommunications network and provides telephone services for faculty/staff offices and for students living in the colleges. The department also provides operator services for the university switchboard. To report a needed repair or to make changes, call x5555 (on campus) or email tele@rice.edu. To find telephone usage instructions, go to the Telecommunications Homepage. To find someone's extension, call the switchboard (x0), look in the Campus Directory, or search from Rice's main website.
Hours (except holidays):
Monday-Friday - 8 am to 5 pm
Travelling: http://www.rice.edu/it/travel
Web Interfaces
Email via Webmail: http://webmail.rice.edu
Calendar via Webcal: http://webcal.rice.edu
Email Auto Reply
Go to https://www.mail.rice.edu or call the Help Desk for assistance.
Voicemail
To check your messages remotely, call 713-348-2000 (follow instructions). To set up a temporary voicemail greeting, log on voicemail, and press 82 (follow instructions).
Storage: http://www.rice.edu/it/data/index.html
In addition to the email storage space provided, Rice University provides enterprise calss (mirrored, high availablity, snapshot-capable disks) file storage.
