Working Off-Campus Planning Guide for Students
Do these things now
- Update your contact information
- Make a list of the tools you would need to work off-campus
- Make sure you have an active CougarNet account and update your password
- Identify your departmental technology providers
- Complete the planning checklist below
- If you are also a UH employee, complete the Planning Guide for Staff
Planning Checklist
- Identify the tools you will need to work off-campus
- Identify the files you will need to work on
- Maintain security practices when working off-campus
Detailed Instructions
Step 1: Identify the tools you will need to work off-campus
CougarNet Accounts
To access many UH tools, including the Virtual Private Network (VPN), you'll need a CougarNet account. If you already have a CougarNet account, reset your password before you have to start working off-campus.
Virtual Private Network
To work off-campus, you may need access to the UH Virtual Private Network (VPN). VPN requires an active CougarNet account. Use the list below to identify if the applications you use require VPN.
| Tool | Needs VPN | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Office (Excel, Powerpoint, Word, Access) | No | You'll still need VPN access to get to shared network folders. |
| Mail.uh.edu | No | |
| Other email clients | No | |
| myUH (PeopleSoft) | No | |
| WebCT/Blackboard | No | |
| Library | No* | *May require VPN for access to specific databases |
|
Home Drives (H: Drives) |
Yes | AskShasta Answer #405 can help you connect to your H: Drive, once you have VPN running. |
| On-campus Shared Network Folders | Yes | AskShasta Answer #405 can help you connect to shared network folders on campus, once you have VPN running. |
| UH Software Downloads | Yes | Includes Anti-Virus downloads |
These UH websites do not require VPN:
Collaboration Tools
IT provides and sponsors multiple services to faculty, students and staff to enable collaboration whether you are on campus or off-campus.
| Tool | Needs VPN | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| WebCT/Blackboard | No | |
| No | ||
| IT Twitter | No | |
| Working Off-Campus Blog |
No |
Department-specific tools
For college/department specific software, please contact your professor or your college/department support person. For further assistance, please contact the IT Support Center by calling 713-743-1411 or sending email to support@uh.edu.
Step 2: Identify the files you will need to work on
If you are working with files located in shared folders on the campus network, you will need VPN installed and running on your off-campus computer. In some cases, you may be able to use remote desktop to access shared files. Contact your departmental IT support person for more information about using remote desktop to access shared files.
If the files you are working with do not contain sensitive information, you might also use a USB jump drive, burn a CD, or send yourself email with the files you need off-campus.
Step 3: Maintain security practices when working off-campus
- Update your anti-virus and anti-spyware software frequently.
- Run a full scan on your computer once a week to detect any problems.
- Check with your departmental technical support contact to be sure your system is configured safely.
- Report any suspicious activity on your computer to security@uh.edu .
- Avoid giving others physical access to UH equipment.
- Don't leave sensitive information unattended.
- Logout before you walk away from your computer.
- Talk with your supervisor before taking sensitive information off-campus.
For more about Information Security, you can visit our IT Security web site or the Texas DIR IT Security web site.