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IT guidance for staff returning to campus

If you’ve not worked on campus for a while, there may be some changes you need to make to the setup of your IT equipment.

  • Coordinating the arrival of returning staff

To avoid a very high number of urgent requests for support coming into the IT Support Centre in one go, we are asking that the person responsible for coordinating your team’s return to campus consolidates resulting support requests as much as possible for each building, and for them to be submitted using the “Return to campus – IT Support” form on the IT support portal (search term return support), with as much notice as possible before staff are expected to return to campus regularly.

This approach will allow us to best plan how to provide the required support, and give us the best chance of enabling staff to begin working in the office again without major disruption.

  • eduroam Wi-Fi

We’ve been busy upgrading Wi-Fi to ensure a more robust and reliable network.

A change made in March 2021 means that, unless you’re using a University managed computer, you may need to set up eduroam again on your computer or mobile device. Connect to UoM_WiFi as a temporary measure and follow the instructions on the eduroam webpage to get re-connected. This information also applies if you want to set up a new device.

New Wi-Fi equipment has been installed, and computers with older software may need their wireless driver software updating. If you’re unable to connect to any Wi-Fi at the University, contact the IT Support Centre.

  • Walk-up IT support

Face-to-face support is again available on the ground floor of the Kilburn building. The Kilburn support desk helps with all University supported IT services, for example:

  • IT account queries,
  • Connecting laptops, smartphones and tablets to email, eduroam Wi-Fi and Virtual Private Network (VPN)
  • Full support for University owned IT equipment.

Support for University services on personal equipment is on a best-endeavours basis.

The walk-up support desk is open Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 4.30pm. Appointments are not necessary, however they can be requested in some circumstances.

Please note the temporary ‘pop-up’ IT support desk in the Altrincham Street arches (Arch 29) on North Campus is now permanently closed.

  • Security updates

If your University computer has been switched off for a while, it will need to install a large number of essential security updates. Ensure you leave your computer on for several hours to allow it to download these updates. These updates will install when you next reboot your computer, so please ensure you allow time for the update to install the next time you turn it on.

  • Moving your desktop computer

If you have a desktop computer which is plugged into the wired (Ethernet) network, it may not work if you move it and plug it into a different network socket, especially (although not exclusively) if you move it to a different location. Moving desktop computers is not a simple request, and IT Services will need at least two weeks' notice to arrange this. If you are planning to move your desktop computers, please ensure that the person responsible for coordinating your team's return to campus is discussing this with the appropriate IT Service Relationship Manager.

  • Missing peripheral equipment

Any computer peripherals taken home because of the closure of buildings on campus in March 2020 should be brought back to the office. This includes keyboards, mice, monitors and laptop docks.

Colleagues responsible for coordinating their team’s return to campus should ensure that this equipment is redistributed within schools, divisions, directorates and departments where possible.

In any cases where there isn’t enough equipment, the colleagues responsible for coordinating their team’s return to campus should contact the appropriate IT Service Relationship Manager.

  • Returning equipment you no longer use

You may find that you no longer have a requirement for some computer equipment when you return. For example, you will no longer need a desktop computer if you now work from a laptop.

During the move into new ways of working, the services to provide new laptops and to collect unused equipment have been closely connected; as a result of this temporary arrangement, the current way to request disposal is by filling in the “Request IT funded/partially funded laptop” form (search for funded laptop) and selecting “Return IT equipment” from the Request Type menu. The creation of a new form specifically for equipment disposal is currently being created, and we’ll update this page when it’s available.