New Hire Tech Orientation
WELCOME NEW KENT STATE STARK FACULTY & STAFF
This page will help new employees understand the technology available for day-to-day activities. Please note the suggested activities may not be available until your start date. Check with your supervisor for that date.
At any time, if you have questions or problems we encourage you to contact the Stark Campus Helpdesk at 330-244-3490 or email helpdesk-stark@kent.edu.
Information on Office Equipment
KENT STATE COMMUNICATION SERVICES
BEFORE COMING TO CAMPUS
The items in this list will help prepare you to use campus technology. These first steps should be done prior to coming to campus and after you receive your welcome letter from Kent. If you have problems with these steps please call the Stark Campus Helpdesk at 330-244-3490.
FlashLine is the system that is used to manage employee, student and financial information for the University. If you are affiliated with Kent you will likely have a FlashLine account. Your username and password should come in your welcome letter. In order to synchronize your account through Kent systems we recommend changing the password before your technology orientation. Once your department has notified you that your accounts are ready please follow the directions on this link.
FlashLine connects employees and students to Kent resources. Use the link below to learn more about the tools available.
Kent provides all employees and student with an identification number for various reasons. The number is part of your welcome letter and more information can be found here.
Your online directory is a database of both your office and home contact information. You should review this information for accuracy. You can collect office information from your department head. This information will then be used in University and public communications. Please use the directions in this link to verify and update.
OFFICE COMPUTER
Use the items listed below to understand how to use your office computer and how to acquire your office computer. Be sure that you have reviewed the items listed above before continuing. You can also review the office computer standard configurations to help decide which computer works best for you. Your supervisor will notify Network Services of the selection prior to new hire start dates.
Each faculty and staff member is provided an office computer. Based on your job you will need to work with your department head to review the options available to you and go over any special requirements, such as specialty software or hardware.
Please see the link above for standard configurations.
Network Services will meet with you for orientation and configuration of your system in the Network Services department. After the orientation your desktop will be deployed. Your office may contain the monitor, keyboard and mouse prior to your orientation. Once selected your computer will be refreshed once every 4 years.
Network Services will handle the installation, no further action is required to setup your system, after the orientation.
Network Services issue new employee laptops after your technology orientation. Your office will be setup for you to plug in your laptop to a network connection attached to your phone. You should also read the following article before your orientation for an understanding of Network Services support procedure.
KENT STATE COMMUNICATION SERVICES
Kent State provides multiple ways to communicate with students, faculty and staff. Be sure to work with your supervisor to review the specific inner department requirements.
Kent State provides all employees with a Kent State email addresses. Your email address is your FlashLine Username (User ID) followed by @kent.edu at the end. Please do not utilize your Kent State email for personal use (social media, Amazon, Netflix, banking, etc.) as this email is owned by the university. Please do not attempt to gain access to your Kent email until notified by the Stark Campus that your account is ready for use. This will avoid problems with other Kent employees sending mail to the wrong email and allow for the email account to properly be created.
O365 is the latest version of Microsoft Outlook. Kent provides two means to connect to your email; in your office and on the go. Network Services recommends use of Microsoft Outlook when using designated office computers. Microsoft Outlook will be setup by a Network Services Staff member during the technology orientation. Click on the next series of links to get to know O365.
When you are not in your office you can connect to email two ways, Outlook Web Access (OWA) or a mobile device. Messages and folders are the same in both systems and will update to office computers once they are connected.
Students and part time employees will have access to the Gmail email system. They can still connect to it via the internet or mobile device. All employees and students have access to Google Docs. Please see additional content below for more details.
Jabber is the instant message program connecting employees through chat, phone calls, look up directory information and connect to your Outlook calendar. This program is installed on all office computers and can be installed on personal devices.
Kent provides several directories of contact information.
Phone Lookup: The Stark Campus has a utility located on all PC desktops called Phone Extension. This lookup program is just for Stark Campus employees. You can look up employees based on name, location, or extension. If you do not see this program on your desktop please contact the Stark Campus
Directory: From FlashLine the top right corner of the site has a directory button. For more information on the Kent directory review this link.
Jabber: Jabber is connected to all KSU employees and can allow you to look up email and phone information for other employees. To learn more about Jabber please try the resources at this site:
Global Address List: If you are a full time faculty or staff member you will have access to the global address list (GAL) this list is a list of all the employees that have O365 accounts. To access this you will need to be logged in to either desktop or online version of Outlook and select the address book icon in Outlooks. If you have concerns about information in the address book please review this article or contact the Stark helpdesk.
Kent provides several ways to communicate to different groupings of employees and alternative ways to manage your day to day information. Use the links in this section to review what options you have.
Kent uses a system to communicate with large groups of employees through our listserv.kent.edu program. You can see a complete list of the listervs available on this site.
If you need to be added to a listserv check with your department to see who manages this listserv.
You can request a listserv be created for your group and discuss listserv options with the Stark Helpdesk by emailing your request to helpdesk-stark@kent.edu
Kent uses Outlook groups, email accounts to connect department members through the Address Book. A shared resource can be a department calendar, department email account used for public and internal communication. You can look up Stark Departments by opening the Outlook Address Book and typing Stark.