For Staff
Technology resources to support your work
First Things First
- 1Contact Your Local
Technical Support
-
Begin by becoming familiar with the technical support available within your own department. Often, departments have specific preferences or can offer resources not mentioned in this site.
- Some departments maintain their own computer systems and Web servers
- Departments that handle sensitive or personal information are likely to have strong preferences on what email system you use.
- 2Manage Your UW NetID Services
-
Your
UW NetID is your
personal identification giving you access to UW
networking and computing services. If you are working
at the UW and have not already received your UW NetID,
you can create your
own.- Use the Manage Your UW NetID Services site to forward your email, turn on a vacation message, check on how much disk space you are using, add new services and much more.
- Need another account for work purposes or a separate project? You can request a shared UW NetID account.
- If you have a visitor from outside the UW, you can sponsor an account for the person that will give them access to many UW services.
- 3Connect to UW Networks
-
You can connect to UW networks in several ways from on and off campus. Most offices have networking installed.
Wireless
(Wi-Fi) is available in most buildings on
campus. Do not
set up your own wireless hub; campus Wi-Fi is
centrally managed and do-it-yourself setups are
likely to cause conflicts.
- 4Choose, Set Up, and Use Your
Email
-
Your default UW email address consists of your UW NetID followed by "@u.washington.edu" (your_uwnetid@u.washington.edu). You now also have the option of using the shorter"@uw.edu", but some configuration of your email program may be necessary (see Using the uw.edu Address).
UW Outlook
Live is a free email service available
for current UW students, faculty, staff, alumni, and
former students. It provides ad-free
email and calendaring with 10 GB of storage and
continued use of your @u.washington.edu or @uw.edu
email address. To activate a UW Outlook Live
account, you must sign up for a UW Windows Live
ID.
UW Google
Email is a free email service available
for current UW students, faculty, staff, alumni, and
former students. It provides ad-free
email and calendaring with over 7 GB of storage
and continued use of your @u.washington.edu or
@uw.edu email address. To activate a UW Google
Email account, you must sign up for UW Google Apps
services.
UW Email is an
email service available to you as part of the
Technology Recharge fee. You can access and work
with UW Email from any networked computer available
to you.- UW Exchange is an email, calendaring, and task management system using Microsoft Exchange and Outlook that many departments provide for their faculty instead of UW Email. Talk to your local technical support for further information.
- If you prefer to receive your email on some email service provider other than UW Email or UW Exchange be sure to set your email forwarding by going to the Manage Your UW NetID Services site. Doing so ensures that email sent to your default my_uwnetid@u.washington.edu email address will reach you.
More Technology Resources to Support You in Your Work
- Computers and software
-
You should check with your department or project computer support staff before acquiring hardware. They may have specific recommendations on what to buy, how to buy it, or where to buy it. The UW Purchasing Web site has detailed information on the proper purchasing process.
- To take full advantage of the many services available to you at the UW, your computer should be fast and have plenty of memory and disk space.
- The UWare Software Guide provides information about software available free or at a discount.
- The University Bookstore Tech Center offers significant discounts on software and hardware for staff.
- The Tools for Safe and Secure Computing page provides all the virus protection, terminal session, and file transfer software you need to securely connect to and use UW computing and networking services.
To prevent attacks on
your computer, Protect your password, work
with your computer support staff to keep your
software up-to-date, and use virus protection
software.- Because of the danger an infected computer poses to other UW computers, all computers connecting to UW networks, whether by modem, DSL or cable, wireless, or campus network, should be well managed. Infected computers may be blocked from using UW networks.
- Computing workshops
-
Free computing workshops at UW Seattle can get you quickly started on using your computer and its software for word processing, graphics, videos, Web publishing, and much more.
- Emergency preparedness
-
The UW Emergency Management site contains extensive information about planning for and responding to emergencies.
- Sign up for UW Alerts and receive alerts on your cellphone or by email.
- The Academic Continuity Toolkit tells you how to prepare for disruptions, conduct classes during a large-scale disruption, and use available services to organize your course materials and communicate with your students.
- Information about you
-
The UW maintains an online directory for its students, faculty, and staff.
- You can update your own directory information by entering MyUW and going to the Quick Links box and clicking on Employee Self-Service (ESS).
- m.UW (Mobile UW)
-
m.UW is an application for your iPhone or iPod Touch that connects you to UW resources when you are on the go.
- Most other smartphones can access the same information by pointing their Web browser at the mobile version of the m.UW site.
- MyUW
-
MyUW is your
personal Web page, giving you convenient access to the
UW information you use most in a way that you can
personalize to meet your own needs.- In MyUW you will find tools and resources such as Employee Self-Services to manage your personal and employment information (located in the the Quick Links box on your MyFrontPage), access to your UW Email, and much more.
- Phone, voice, and conferencing
-
Voice and data services are available to meet your communications needs. Fees may apply and are detailed on the pages linked to below.
- Telephone, cell phone, and paging services
- UW VoIP for telecommuters
- Smartphones
- Voice mail and interactive voice response
- Conferencing and video conferencing studios
- UW-IT Service Catalog
-
The UW Information Technology (UW-IT) Service Catalog lists top technology services of interest to staff and their department, college, or school such as managed desktop services and call center solutions. Some have fees for specialized services, but many are available at no additional charge.
- The UW-IT Service Catalog also has top services for administration and technologists that are of particular interest to staff who handle those issues.
- Web publishing
-
First check with your department about Web publishing resources, including Web servers, templates, and training.
- UW Catalyst Web Tools give you a powerful set of Web-based communication and collaboration applications you can use in your work. You do not have to know any HTML to use them!
- Central Web servers are available for many different purposes, including setting up your own Web sites, blogs, wikis, content management systems, and streaming media.
