Have you tried Ruckus yet? Nearly 10,000
UM students have downloaded more than 5.8 million tracks since the
service was first adopted in summer 2007!
The Ruckus Network offers undergraduate and graduate students free,
legal, and virus-free access to more than 3 million music tracks on
up to two unique laptop or desktop computers. For a nominal fee, you
can also access more than 4,000 movies, television shows, and music
videos. Other benefits of the service include the ability to download
albums in less than a minute, to get new music every week, and to
check out exclusive artist and music label spotlights, interviews,
and photos.
Last year, OIT also facilitated the arrival of iTunes U (www.umd.edu/iTunesU)
on campus, giving faculty members and students easy access to educational
content such as podcasts and providing iPod users and members of the
Macintosh community with additional sources of legal audio and video
content. OIT and University Relations have been working together to
provide access to both public information and private academic content
through iTunes U. The site is currently under reconstruction and will
be released as two sites to give the university community and the
general public easier access to appropriate information.
For more information about the university's legal digital media service
offerings, please visit www.oit.umd.edu/musicservice.  |
E-mail, Testudo, ELMS (powered by Blackboard),
resources you use on a daily basis, each requiring you go to a different
Web site and log in using the same set of credentials. Wouldn’t
it be nicer to visit one site, log in one time, and have access to
all these applications and more? Well, you can with the university’s
MyUM portal!
Simply point your browser to www.my.umd.edu, log in using your Directory
ID and password, and voilà — e-mail on the landing page,
local weather, a news reader you can point to your favorite feeds,
a whole tab filled with Testudo applications along with all of your
ELMS courses, another filled with resources that enhance life after
classes.
Sounds good? How about adding a personal calendar that contains your
class schedules? Manage your time, your academics, and your personal
life all in one place, with one login. Take some time to visit the
site and check out the resources available. Something’s not
there? Use the suggestion box to communicate with the portal staff.
It’s your portal — help us make it all you want it to
be.  |

Check Out the Results of Course Evaluations
Campus-Wide! By Renee Baird Snyder
CourseEvalUM, the university’s online course evaluation system
initiated last fall after University Senate approval of a Student
Government Association proposal, has additional features this year
for students who want to see how one course compares to another. The
results of the evaluations from fall 2007 and spring 2008 are posted
through the CourseEvalUM Reporting link at Testudo.
By mid-fall, summer 2008 results will also be available. New students
and any returning students who completed all of their CourseEvalUM
evaluations for spring can see all posted results. (Hint for new students:
Be sure to complete yours in the fall if you want to keep this access.)
Students can use the new search features to search for any courses
taught by a certain instructor, to search any course by prefix (for
instance, “Math140” or even “Math1” to get
all 100-level math courses listed to help you decide what to take),
or to search by term to see results for courses taught fall, spring,
or summer.
Results display responses to the items available for student review,
a comparison of the responses for a given course with others at the
same level in the same college (e.g., Dr. Smith’s Math 140 compared
to all 100-level courses in CMPS), and also the percentage breakdown
of grades students earned in the course.
In the spring, three colleges — the A. James Clark School of
Engineering, the Robert H. Smith School of Business, and the College
of Behavioral and Social Sciences — added college-specific evaluation
items to the university-level standard ones. This summer, the College of Education
also added college-specific items. For fall semester evaluations,
even more colleges will add customized items, helping them address
issues specific to their courses and programs. |
High-Tech
Products at
Low Student Prices! |
 |
OIT and the university have negotiated several
technology discount programs that students can benefit from:
ACT Program: Buy a new laptop or desktop
computer from Apple or Dell and get discounted pricing as well
as extended warranty service and on-campus repair. www.act.umd.edu
Terrapin Technology Store: See some of the
ACT models in action and buy any of them at the store. The Tech
Store is conveniently located in the Stamp Student Union. Also
available are Apple accessories like iPods and iTunes gift cards.
www.oit.umd.edu/techstore
Software Licensing: Visit the Software Licensing
Web site to see all of the software programs (like Adobe Photoshop,
Microsoft Word, and more) that are available to Maryland students
at low prices. You can even pick most of them up at the Tech
Store! www.oit.umd.edu/SLIC
Maryland Cellular Discount Program: Get cellular
service and equipment from Sprint/Nextel and AT&T at reduced
prices. www.cellular.umd.edu
Shop through these discount programs, and save some cash to
pay for Spring Break!
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Check out the results, and be sure to
complete your own evaluations this fall. Spread the word to your friends
and classmates! The more students that participate, the greater the
number of courses and instructors that can be displayed in the online
reports. At least two years of results will be live for you to view
to help you decide what courses and instructors you want to choose.
You can find more information, including periodic updates and FAQs,
at the CourseEvalUM info Web site: https://www.irpa.umd.edu/Assessment/
CourseEval/stdt_faq.shtml.
(No access to results? You must have missed completing one
or more of your spring 2008 evaluations. Be sure to complete all of
your fall 2008 evaluations so you can see all of the results in the
spring!) |