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Training

Cabling Techs Trained

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Some of the tough jobs are those which nobody notices unless you make a mistake. Such a job is the work NACS does behind the scenes to make sure the cabling projects which bring voice and data to your office run smoothly.

NACS sponsored two days of free training on fiber and copper cable termination, fire-stopping, and bonding and grounding at UCI on December 17 and 18.

  • Corning Cabling Systems staff discussed and provided hands-on training on fiber optic cabling;
  • 3M Fire Protection Products staff spoke about fire-stopping;
  • PCC Products, Inc., staff discussed and provided hands-on training on copper termination and Nordx products;
  • Harger staff spoke about and demonstrated bonding and grounding.

Attendees included electricians from UCI’s Facilities Management department who are now equipped to do a better job in future cabling projects.

Technical Training

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NACS offers a range of computer-related training, including system administration, instructional technology, productivity tools, and research-related software. Some are on-going and other classes are offered whenever opportunity arises and resources become available. Some classes are free, while others include a modest fee. All are offered in an attempt to fill technical training needs of staff and faculty.

Many people have asked, “What’s the difference between the classes NACS offers and the classes given through LEAP?” For one thing, the majority of NACS’s classes are half-days and do not require homework. LEAP’s 5 and 10 week sessions typically give people the opportunity to dig a little deeper into a subject and experiment more with an application. The NACS end-user classes are chosen and designed to complement what LEAP offers. NACS has been offering half-day classes this summer in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Microsoft Project. Classes are held in the Engineering Gateway Building using PCs. Classes are $79 and a recharge number is required to register.

NACS also conducts free monthly CorporateTime classes using the Mobile Laptop Training Lab in conjunction with the UCI wireless network. For researchers, seminars in academic software such as ArcGIS and Matlab are offered.

To view course outlines and register, see http://www.nacs.uci.edu/training. If you have a suggestion for computer training needed in your department, please e-mail nacs@uci.edu.

Computer Lab To Go

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There are many times when it would be convenient to conduct a small workshop or seminar in a computer-equipped facility, but such rooms are few at UCI, and most are configured for larger numbers of participants.

Recognizing this, NACS acquired and implemented a “Mobile Computing Lab” (MCL). The MCL consists of 16 laptop computers equipped with wired and wireless networking capability. Now workshops and seminars which would benefit from computers require only an available room.

The NACS Mobile Computing Lab comprises 16 IBM Thinkpad a22m laptop computers, with 256MB memory, 20GB disks, CD, DVD, and floppy disk drives, 15″ screens, and 850MHz Pentium III CPUs. Also included are wireless ethernet (802.11b) PC cards, a 100 megabit/second hub, and a high-resolution LCD projector, all of which can be readily transported to any building and any room on the main campus.

With as little as a week’s notice, if the laptops are not already booked, a Windows 2000 or Windows XP configuration will be copied onto the systems, along with the majority of popular academic and productivity applications. With more time, any application needed can be licensed and installed as well.

The MCL has been successfully used many times, for uses ranging from Microsoft Office or CorporateTime training, to EEE seminars, through Windows XP system administration training. If you have a room, NACS can help you make it into a computer lab.

Microsoft Office Classes

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Network and Academic Computing Services is once again offering the popular summer half-day classes for Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint, starting August 10th. These short classes are an effective way to build skills with minimal impact on your budget or your schedule.

This is the ideal time for staff training, in preparation for the coming school year. Moreover, parking is easier to find in summer months for those whose departments are particularly distant.

Each class is just $79 and will be conducted in the Engineering Gateway Building. To view course outlines, or to enroll with your recharge number, please visit http://signup.nacs.uci.edu/

Windows 2000 Training

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UCI is one of 50 US colleges and universities who have been awarded a training grant by Microsoft Research and University Relations. This grant will cover a three-course program of focused training in the administration of Windows 2000 in a university environment.

The donated training is targeted to IT professionals working in schools and departments that are in the process of, or very near migrating to Microsoft’s new operating system.

Over spring break, NACS hosted Phase 1 “Planning and Installing Windows 2000 in a University Environment” for 15 System Analysts, Technical Services Managers and NT Support Specialists from a variety of departments and schools, including the College of Medicine, Biological Sciences, the UCI Libraries, The Henry Samueli School of Engineering, Social Ecology, and University Extension.

The second class will focus on integrating Windows 2000 with UCI network services (e.g., DNS) and the final class will focus on Windows 2000 security. These two courses will be conducted during Spring quarter.