Welcome to Eastern Illinois University. Information technology plays a key role in your educational career at Eastern, and the university strives to provide the appropriate resources and services to enable you to have an exceptional learning experience. This guide provides basic information on the many technological resources available at Eastern our support options section of this guide if you have any technology issues.
Every Eastern student is assigned a technology identity, consisting of a NetID and E-number, as well as a PantherMail email account, when they are first admitted to EIU. Your NetID is a combination of your initials and last name and possibly a number. For example, if your name were Jane Q. Student, your NetID would be jqstudent. Your PantherMail address would be jqst...@eiu.edu.
Your E-number is your essential means of personal identification at Eastern. To protect against identity theft, the university limits the use of Social Security Numbers, substituting a proprietary nine-digit E-number instead. This number can be found on your Panther Card. Use it to identify yourself in all communication with Campus Technology Support.
Eastern's email system, known as PantherMail, is the official communication channel for all academic and university notices. PantherMail is powered by Microsoft Office 365. You should check your account regularly. Official communication includes class schedules, student financial aid notifications and account statements from the Business Office. Failure to monitor your PantherMail inbox can result in missed messages. It is your responsibility to ensure that your PantherMail account is checked regularly and that it has sufficient free space to receive university communication.
The easiest way to access your PantherMail is via the secure Web interface located at www.eiu.edu/panthermail. All you need is a computer with an Internet connection and a Web browser. No configuration is necessary. Simply enter your NetID and password in the spaces provided in order to get started.
The university maintains a website that will tell you if an email that you have received was actually sent from Eastern. If you receive an email purporting to be from the university and you are suspicious about its nature, go to our Email Verification page . If the email is listed there, it is safe to open.
Phishing scammers continue to target university email accounts. Be on the lookout for suspicious emails asking for your username and password information. It only takes one or two people to fall victim to a phishing scam to negatively affect the delivery of campus email.
Your Panther Card is essential for many of your daily activities on campus. To obtain your Panther Card, visit the Panther Card office, located in Room 3040 of the Student Services Building. Call 581-6596 for information. Your Panther Card is your official university identification card, which you are required to carry with you at all times. Use your card to check out books at Booth Library, gain access to computer labs, utilize printers in those labs, be admitted to the Rec Center, enter sporting events and to attend other university-related functions, purchasing university goods and services, and for on-campus dining.
You must create a password to use in conjunction with your NetID to access your EIU accounts. You should choose a password that would be difficult for others to guess, keep it secure and change it occasionally. Never share your password; remember, you are responsible for all activities tied to your account.
When creating a password, choose one that is easy for you to remember but hard for others to solve. Password security, however, does not end with picking a strong password. In order to ensure full password security, you must also take steps to protect your password.
Phishing is an attempt to acquire information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. If you receive an email asking for personal or account information, do not answer or click on any enclosed links. Remember, Information Technology Services will never ask for your password information in an email. Never answer such requests.
Online social sites such as Facebook can provide an easy and fun way to express yourself. However, be careful about how you use those sites. If you follow some simple suggestions, you can minimize the risks to your personal privacy and safety.
--Do not post too much information about yourself. Especially avoid publishing your class schedule, your home phone number and/or cell phone number, your specific whereabouts at any given time, inappropriate photos of yourself or anything else that might embarrass you later.
Identity theft happens when a criminal steals a victim's identifying information and uses it to get credit, credit cards, apply for bank loans and even steal money from existing accounts. Most victims find out they have been taken advantage of when they apply for a loan or when creditors call trying to collect on the debts the criminal racks up.
If you are going to be away from your computer for a while, make sure it is locked. This will require you to re-enter your password before you can use your computer again. To perform this task on PCs with Windows operating systems:
If you suspect that someone has guessed your password and accessed your account, change your password immediately. If you suspect that there is a security breach or flaw in the university system, please notify Campus Technology Support at 581-HELP.
Peer-to-peer downloading of music, movies, TV shows, games and other copyrighted material is one of the most problematic Internet activities at Eastern. Illegal file sharing not only is against the law, it also slows your computer and makes it vulnerable to virus infections and spyware and denies network bandwidth to other campus users.
It is the policy of Eastern Illinois University to respect the intellectual property rights of others (IGP 48.4). If the university is notified that an individual is using Eastern computer equipment and/or network access to download materials without permission, the university will take action to stop such activities.
Any copyright violations traced to students will be referred to the Office of Student Standards for adjudication as a violation of the Student Code of Conduct. Copyright violation penalties may include the loss of network connectivity, community service and monetary fines.
In addition, violations of copyright law can lead to criminal charges and civil penalties. Under current copyright law, criminal cases of copyright violation carry a penalty of up to five (5) years in prison and a $250,000 fine for commercial infringement. Civil penalties for copyright infringement include a minimum fine of $750 for each work. While criminal prosecution for illegal downloading is rare, civil lawsuits are more common.
The single most common source of copyright violation notices is peer-to-peer programs such as Limewire, BitTorrent, Ares, Frostwire, etc. While these peer-to-peer programs are not illegal in themselves, they can be used in illegal ways. It is important to understand that files shared using these programs may violate copyright law. A good rule to follow is this: If you are downloading something for free that you would normally pay for, there is a good chance that it is illegal.
Information Technology Services has installed new compliance and filtering software which is expected to reduce the level of copyright violations on the campus network caused by students downloading music and video. Eastern utilizes special monitoring equipment to identify illegal file sharing on its network. If this action is identified, students will temporarily lose access to the network with the device identified as conducting the sharing. Notification of this action is performed through webpage messaging. Students will have to confirm to discontinue the activity before connectivity will be restored.
Eastern uses standard Web server access logs and gathers information on the time of day, IP address of the accessing Web browser and destination URL for the purpose of measuring system performance of university-owned computers on the campus network. In compliance with the Illinois State Agency Web Site Act ("Act"), Eastern websites do not use permanent cookies or any other invasive tracking programs that monitor and track website viewing habits. Eastern websites may, however, use transactional cookies (session variables) that facilitate business transactions. While Eastern uses transactional cookies to track your visit to eiu.edu, and our Web server automatically logs the IP/Internet address of your computer, this information does not identify you personally, and you remain anonymous unless you have otherwise provided personal information.
University computing facilities, equipment, and services are provided for the instructional, research, and administrative computing and information technology needs of the university. University technology resources include, but are not limited to, network and internet access, file storage, computers, email systems, and telephone systems.
Users of university technology resources are expected to utilize good judgment and reasonable care to protect the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of all networks, computers, equipment, data and software owned, leased, or made available by the university.
--Each individual shall use only those specific technology resources for which they have both authorized access and a need to use. In addition, such use is to be only in the prescribed manner for which the individual is authorized and must be consistent with intended purpose of that specific resource.
--Each individual shall use university technology resources in accordance with all university policies as well as federal, state, and local laws. Each individual shall respect university, departmental, and individual contract and licensing agreements.
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