Information Technology Services - Computing, Networking and Storage
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Getting Started for Faculty and Staff

As a new faculty or staff member at USC, you will want to use email, Internet, and print and digital library services as soon as possible. USC Information Technology Services (ITS) provides access to these essential resources and help when you need it.

This web page will introduce you to just a few of the tools and services available to you from ITS. To learn more, call the Customer Support Center at 213-740-5555 or visit www.usc.edu/its.

Connected@USC
Faculty and staff at USC receive access to the following information services, among others:

  • Email
  • Internet connection
  • High-speed wireless network
  • High-speed public computers
  • Popular software for download
  • Extensive digital research resources
  • Online instructional tools (Blackboard)
  • Hands-on software skills workshops
  • Computing and library research help

Activating Your Account
Before using your account for the first time, you must activate it at http://www.usc.edu/firstlogin. This site verifies your identity, allows you to select a secure password and provides information about accessing your account including your username and email address. For more information about your username and password please see our Frequently Asked Questions

Your Username
ITS assigns all users a unique "username" based on a derivation of their real name. A username identifies a user on computer systems. This is also the name by which other users will identify you via email. If your email address were ttrojan@usc.edu, your username would be ttrojan. Note that your username will always be in lowercase letters.

Choosing Your Password
When you activate your account, you will be required to choose a password. This password, in conjunction with your username, allows you to access your account. To ensure privacy, whenever you type a password, the characters will not be displayed on the screen.

All passwords must conform to the following rules:

  • They must be 7 or 8 characters in length. Do not choose a password that has more than 8 characters.
  • Passwords must be a mixture of uppercase, lowercase, and special characters (e.g., # * & %). The system will not allow passwords that are all lowercase or uppercase.
  • The password should not be a word found in any dictionary or language.

Periodic Password Changes
To protect your computing account and the university computer system from break-ins, you should change your password every six months. On many USC computing systems, this is mandatory, and you will be notified via email that you need to change your password at the end of the six-month period.

To change your password, you need to visit the change-password page at www.usc.edu/its/password.

Available Software
SANDS (Storage Application and Networked Data Services) is a collection of services available for purchase from ITS bringing greater reliability to data storage, file sharing and application deployment across the USC network. The SANDS environment makes it possible for single users or small workgroups to gain all the advantages of using a file server (such as access to a large software library, significant storage space, and automatic backups) without incurring the high cost of purchasing and maintaining server-rated equipment. More information about this fee-based service is availabe online on the SANDS pricing page.

Email
You can use your USC account to send, receive and store email. To find out the types of email clients USC supports and instructions on using them, call 213-740-5555 or visit www.usc.edu/email.

USC Email Retention Policy
Current policy is to automatically and permanently delete all email older than one year from ITS servers. For instructions on how to archive your email, please visit www.usc.edu/its/email/help/localfolders.html. If you would like to speak to an ITS staff member about moving and managing your email, please call 213-740-5555 or e-mail consult@usc.edu.

Software
ITS offers a wide range of software available for free download, for purchase, and for use in USC public computing centers. To learn more, call 213-740-5555 or visit http://software.usc.edu.

Computing Centers
ITS provides access to nearly 1,000 networked machines on campus, all of which feature high-speed Internet connections and many software applications. All services are free, except for printing. You will find machines in the following computing centers:

  • Leavey Library's Information Commons (Lower Level and Second Floor)
  • Waite Phillips Hall of Education (WPH B34)
  • King Olympic Hall (KOH 206)
  • Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL 125)

For updated hours and locations, call 213-740-5555 or visit www.usc.edu/pcc.

In addition, many academic units run their own computer labs. Check with academic departments for details.



Last updated: Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 12:20PM PDT