SSCC's Summer Training
Stata and SPSS classes begin next week. The Wordpress class is scheduled for later this month. Visit our training page for details and to register.
R and a second round of Stata classes are scheduled for the end of August, so even if you're leaving Madison for the summer you may be able to fit in the training you'll need for the coming year before classes start.
Need to learn a statistical package but missed the class? The SSCC Knowledge Base is always available, and includes Stata for Researchers, Stata for Students, SPSS for Students, Multiple Imputation in Stata, and much more. QSR also has a set of online NVivo tutorials.
A New and Improved VPN Service
We are pleased to announce that we're adopting the newly-upgraded campus VPN service—the new service is faster, more secure, and has better mobile compatibility than the SSCC's existing VPN service.
For those unfamiliar, a VPN (Virtual Private Network) allows a device to connect to the SSCC network as if it were in the building regardless of its location. This gives you access to network drives and printers. It also allows you to use services that are restricted outside of the university (like many library databases).
To get started using the new campus VPN you can follow the steps in our Knowledge Base (KB) article Connecting to the SSCC Network via VPN. If you've previously mapped drives using the old VPN service you may need to follow the KB article to remap them. You can continue to use the old VPN service for a while but it will be phased out eventually since there are security weaknesses on the horizon.
Changes to Winstat Software for Instructional Users
Several software licenses have been made more restrictive recently, and as a result we are no longer allowed to provide access to SPSS, Microsoft Office, and Mathematica for instructional users (those who receive accounts in conjunction with a particular class) on Winstat. They can still use these programs, but only in our two computer labs in the Sewell Social Sciences Building. This does not affect research users, though instructors will need to be aware of how this change affects their students.
To implement these new restrictions and comply with the licenses, we will create a separate Winstat server farm for instructional users that only has software installed that they are allowed to use. When you log in you'll be directed to the correct farm automatically. L&S provided the funding needed for the additional servers through its 2013-2014 Instructional Laboratory Modernization funds and we plan to have the new server farm ready for fall semester. We will hold an orientation for instructors using SSCC resources shortly before the fall semester which will include discussion of how to work around students not having access to Microsoft Office on Winstat. If you have any immediate questions about these changes, please contact the Help Desk.
Changes to SAS and SPSS Availability
In case you've missed the announcements in the last two SSCC News:
- 32-bit SAS will be removed from Winstat on August 30. 64-bit SAS, which is the default, will be the only version of SAS on Winstat. This change will affect you if you import Excel files into SAS or have catalog files that were created using 32-bit SAS.
- SPSS will be removed from Linux June 30. SPSS data files created on Linux are compatible with Windows, and syntax files will only require minor changes (for example referring to V:\ rather than /project).
Visit last month's SSCC News for details.
Tip: Can You Answer Your Security Questions?
Summer is a popular time for forgetting passwords, so if you won't be using SSCC resources this summer take a moment now to visit the password reset page and make sure you can still answer your security questions. While you're there, make sure no one else could answer your security questions simply by searching the web. If needed you can change your security questions here.
(This does not apply to users who log in using SoE-AD.)
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