ALERT: Utility/Power Failure on Campus – UPDATE

June 11, 2025 - 11:28 AM

UPDATE: Utility/Power Failure on Campus

Meadville Water Authority is just completing the the main water line repair on the north side of campus and and the water line should be pressurized shortly.

CAUTION FROM THE WATER AUTHORITY: A loss of positive water pressure is a signal of the existence of conditions that could allow contamination to enter the distribution system through back-flow by back‑pressure or back‑siphonage. As a result, there is an increased chance that the water may contain disease-causing organisms.

DO NOT DRINK THE WATER WITHOUT BOILING IT FIRST. Bring all water to a rolling boil, let it boil for one minute, and let it cool before using; or use bottled water. You should use boiled or bottled water for drinking, making ice, washing dishes, brushing teeth, and food preparation until further notice. Inadequately treated water may contain disease-causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, viruses, and parasites, which can cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, diarrhea, and associated headaches. These symptoms, however, are not caused only by organisms in drinking water, but also by other factors. If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you may want to seek medical advice. Guardians of infants and young children and people at increased risk, such as pregnant women, some of the elderly, and people with severely compromised immune systems, should seek advice from their health care advisors about drinking this water. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1 (800) 426‑4791.

The Water Authority will inform local residents when the water is safe to drink. An updated message Emergency Message will be sent from Public Safety.

Students, faculty and staff should monitor e-mail, the college web site, social and local media for updated information and further updates.
Contact Campus Safety in the event of an emergency: 814-332-3357.

More information on Emergency website

News and Updates

Tech Tip Tuesday: Account Security Reminders

By February 22nd 2022

As students return for Spring semester, LITS reminds everyone to practice safe computing on campus and off. Here are some tips on how to keep your computer and your Allegheny Account safe:

If you’d like to learn more, Popular Science provides a guide to better online security in 2022. You can also check whether your phone number or email address has been included in any known data breaches at the website Have I Been Pwned?

If you have questions about the security of your computer or your Allegheny account, we encourage you to reach out to the InfoDesk.

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Tech Tip Tuesday: New Gmail Layout

By February 15th 2022

Google will soon be rolling out an updated layout for Gmail, becoming more integrated with other Google services such as Chat, Spaces, and Meet.

Some users will begin to see the option to use the new layout, starting in mid-February of 2022. Over time, Google will roll out the option to more and more users.

For a limited time, users will be able to continue with or change back to the old layout, but Google plans to make the new layout the standard experience for everyone by summer 2022.

Learn more about the new Gmail layout:

Please reach out to the InfoDesk with any questions.

Scheduled Maintenance: Print Server

By February 14th 2022

On Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at 5:00 pm, the PaperCut print server will undergo maintenance lasting roughly 30 minutes. During this time, individuals will not be able to print to the Toshiba copiers or networked desktop printers.

If you encounter printing problems after February 16, please open a Web Help Desk ticket.

If you have questions, please reach out to the InfoDesk.

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Tech Tip Tuesday: See Devices That Have Used Your Google Account

By February 8th 2022

What devices have you used for logging into your Allegheny College Google account? Many people use only their work desktop, and maybe their phone. Others may use multiple devices in a number of different locations.

By visiting google.com/devices, you can see computers, smartphones, tablets, and other devices that are using or have recently used your Google account. We recommend checking this every now and then to ensure that no one else has access to your Google account.

See the original Google Account Help article for more information, including how to:

  • Manage devices currently accessing or have previously accessed your account.
  • Sign out of devices you no longer use
  • Secure your account if you see an unfamiliar device

If you see a device you don’t recognize, LITS recommends that you change your Allegheny account password.

Learn more about Google accounts.

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Tech Tip Tuesday: Focus Time in Google Calendar

By February 1st 2022

Do you need more time to focus on a specific task? You might already be practicing a time management technique known as focus time — planning blocks of uninterrupted time to focus without distractions. Google Calendar has added the option to schedule focus time and build it right into your daily calendar.

To schedule focus time, simply create a new event. Along with the established types of event, such as “Task” or “Appointment slots”, you’ll see the option now for “Focus Time”.

Screenshot of the event creation dialog box in Gmail, with "Focus Time" highlighted

If you set the visibility of the event to “Private”, others who can view your calendar will only see that block of time as “Busy”.

Screenshot of the event visibility dialog from Google Calendar, with "Private" selected

Learn more about using Google Calendar.

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Scheduled Maintenance – Phone System

By February 1st 2022

On Thursday, February 3, from 8:00 p.m to 2:00 a.m., Windstream will conduct scheduled maintenance on the main campus phone system.  No outage is expected, but there is a possibility that the phone system may be down intermittently throughout the 90-minute maintenance window.

If there is an outage, incoming calls will not be received and outgoing calls will not complete a connection. In case of emergency, Public Safety can be reached during the phone outage at 814-332-2314 instead of their usual number.

Please note that you must use a non-Allegheny College phone, such as a cell phone, to reach this number during any outage. Campus phones will not be able to complete any outgoing calls during the outage.

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Scheduled Maintenance – Phone System

By January 25th 2022

On Thursday, January 27th from 3:00 a.m to 4:30 a.m Windstream will conduct scheduled maintenance on the main campus phone system.  No outage is expected, but there is a possibility that the phone system may be down intermittently throughout the 90-minute maintenance window.

If there is an outage, incoming calls will not be received and outgoing calls will not complete a connection. In case of emergency, Public Safety can be reached during the phone outage at 814-332-2314 instead of their usual number.

Please note that you must use a non-Allegheny College phone, such as a cell phone, to reach this number during any outage. Campus phones will not be able to complete any outgoing calls during the outage.

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Tech Tip Tuesday: Searching AggreGator

By January 25th 2022

Are you familiar with AggreGator?Green silhouette Illustration of an alligator

As the name suggests, AggreGator searches through the aggregated library content available to Allegheny College from a single search box. Books, ebooks, journal articles, digital collections, video, newspaper articles, and more from almost all of the library’s databases can be found through AggreGator.

If you’re already familiar, you will be interested to know that the AggreGator search interface has recently been updated with new enhancements.

For both experienced and new users, LITS librarians have created a new AggreGator guide where you can learn the ins and outs.

Also, check out our playlist of videos on searching AggreGator!

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Scheduled Maintenance: Multiple Systems

By January 20th 2022

Starting at 6 p.m. Friday, January 21, 2022, LITS will conduct scheduled maintenance on several campus systems. Users may experience brief disruptions during the maintenance, including access to printing, WebAdvisor, and Self Service.

Users who continue to experience disruptions in these or any other LITS services after Friday are encouraged to open a Web Help Desk ticket or contact the InfoDesk.

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Tech Tip Tuesday: Improved Search in Google Chat

By January 18th 2022

From the Google Workspace Updates blog:

You can now search Google Chat content faster by quickly editing down your search results using interactive filters on mobile. These filters help you find artifacts like files and links more easily.

You can try searching for a keyword that you remember from a message or use a filter to look at all the files within a specific chat. Additionally, we have also refreshed our visual interface to provide a more balanced view of search results and results will now also include the content of the messages, making it even easier to find the exact content you’re looking for.
Screenshot showing different "chips" in the Google Chat search interface
Filter using different search chips in Chat
Screenshot of various steps in the search results when searching for "Dogfood" in Google chat
Filters will be visible below chat search bar
 
Screenshot showing different filters applied to search results in Google Chat
 Use the ‘Said in’ filter to narrow down to the conversations that matter.
Learn more about Google Chat.
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