Service Disruption

Campus Power Outage

By November 16th 2020

UPDATE
Internet service was largely restored at about 10:30 a.m. on November 16, with some parts of campus still offline. LITS and its partners continue to check for damaged or disabled network gear from the weather.

If you continue to experience issues with Internet connectivity, please contact the InfoDesk at 814-332-3768.

College personnel have been in contact with our internet provider about a weather-related internet and power outage that has affected both of our internet connections overnight. Power crews completed work on one of those connections around roughly 5:15 a.m. this morning, allowing network engineers to begin work on internet restoration. We are optimistic that this issue could be resolved this morning, but until we have further details, we cannot be specific about the time.

On the morning of Monday, November 16, ALERTAllegheny issued this notification:

Campus internet connectivity unavailable due to power/weather issue.  Engineers are repairing.  Updates provided as known.

LITS is aware of the issue and working with our service providers to restore connectivity.

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Scheduled Network Outage

By October 29th 2020

On Sunday, November 1, LITS will conduct required maintenance on the campus network between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m.

This will result in a temporary loss of Internet across campus, and the unavailability of some online services provided by Allegheny College. The service disruption is expected to last less than one hour.

LITS appreciates the patience of our campus community while we conduct this necessary maintenance. In case of emergency, please contact Public Safety at (814) 332-3357.

Brief Internet Disruption

By October 21st 2020

LITS received a number of reports of Internet connectivity issues on the morning of October 21, 2020. The issue originated off campus, and appears to have been resolved. LITS will continue to monitor the situation in case of any recurrence.

Many thanks to those in our campus community who reached out to alert LITS to the issue. Please contact the InfoDesk if you are still experiencing any issues with connectivity on campus.

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Google Meet Recordings

By September 30th 2020

As we transition to permanently adopting enhanced Google Meet functionality, there is a slight possibility that Allegheny College accounts may temporarily lose the ability to record Meet sessions starting Thursday, October 1, until we can complete this transition. LITS is working diligently to minimize any potential disruption and will post updates as they become available.

In the event that Meet recording capability is disrupted, faculty are encouraged to reach out to the InfoDesk at infodesk@allegheny.edu to discuss possible workarounds until Meet recording capability can be fully restored.

Service Disruption

By September 27th 2020

Scheduled network maintenance on the morning of Sunday, September 27, encountered an issue causing it to take longer than expected. Some buildings experienced a loss of Internet connectivity and some services were unavailable.

LITS worked with our vendors to resolve the issue. The situation was resolved at approximately 11:30 a.m. Many thanks to those on campus who reached out to LITS about the situation.

Anyone experiencing a loss of Internet connection on the campus networks is encouraged to contact the InfoDesk via email at infodesk@allegheny.edu or by calling 814-332-3768.

Service Disruption: Google Drive

By September 15th 2020

LITS is aware of an issue with Google Drive for some users. Google reports that the affected users are able to access Google Drive, but are seeing error messages, high latency, and/or other unexpected behavior.

UPDATE from Google:

“The problem with Google Drive should be resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support. Please rest assured that system reliability is a top priority at Google, and we are making continuous improvements to make our systems better.”

LITS will monitor the situation and update this post if we learn more from Google.

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Zoom Service Disruption

By August 24th 2020

As of this morning Zoom has reported partial issues with its platform. You may experience issues trying to connect or join a meeting via a link.

If you have the desktop or mobile Zoom app installed already, it is recommended at this time that you join Zoom using the 10-digit meeting ID and accompanying password.

LITS is actively monitoring the situation and will post updates as we learn more. For updates on this service interruption, please visit https://status.zoom.us/ for the latest information.

Scheduled, Brief Maintenance for Specific Applications

By May 29th 2020

On Thursday, June 4th, at approximately 9:00 am, scheduled maintenance is scheduled for service on some of the college’s applications, particularly ones that authenticate with our Google Accounts.

During the maintenance, the following apps will be unavailable for approximately 5 minutes:

  • Adirondack
  • TMS
  • Slate
  • Zoom

 The outcome of this change will update the look of some of the apps within the Google App launcher. Upon completion of the maintenance, users may need to close and re-open their web browsers to regain access to the applications.

If you are unable to access any of the affected applications after the scheduled maintenance, please contact us at infodesk@allegheny.edu, and we will gladly assist you.

Tech Tip Tuesday: Google Meet Tiled View vs. Grid View extension

By May 26th 2020

Due to recent changes in Google Meet’s tiled view, some users who use the Google Meet Grid View extension in Chrome have reported that there are visual glitches in the layout when they attend a Google Meet session. Most commonly, the display in the Meet session will show the participants stacked vertically instead of tiled.

Disabling Grid View, or uninstalling the extension, will correct the visual glitches.

You can then choose Tiled view in Meet by clicking on the menu icon (the three dots in the lower righthand corner):

Choose Change layout, and then choose Tiled:

This will then show a view similar to the one that was provided by the Grid View extension.

Users who did not have the Google Meet Grid View extension installed already should not have to make any changes.

As always, feel free to contact the InfoDesk if you have any questions.