The Curative Analysis team in IT is tasked with finding the causes of significant IT issues that affect campus. In this news update, we draw your attention to some of the problems being investigated or issues handled recently.
Registration Issues: Some students received session timeouts and other errors while trying to register for classes. Working with the UNC System Office, IT staff determined that other processes running at the time were blocking the flow for registration. The processes were terminated, and the flow of registration was restored. Additional research was conducted to determine the appropriate limit for database connections during peak registration times and adding additional resources.
Android Mobility Print: Some clients are unable to submit jobs to MobilityPrint from mobile devices. They do not receive the email confirmation. They are also unable to release jobs at printer. This issue occurs only with some Google devices and newer versions of Android. IT is currently working with Ricoh to determine the cause.
Aruba Wireless Access Points: A known issue with some of the Aruba wireless access points on campus have recently resulted in an unexpected loss of connectivity for some clients. Aruba released a new firmware update to resolve the issue, and the new update was applied by Networking staff to prevent further interruption in connectivity.
Verify Social Security Number: Verify Social Security Number (SSN) in the myWCU search menu was returning an error message: “Sorry, something went wrong. Please contact the WCU IT Help Desk to report this error.” Microsoft made unannounced change to PowerApps web service requests, causing additional headers to be added. WCU’s web application firewall (WAF) began blocking these modified requests. A change was made to WAF to accept the new header.
Course Substitution: Users received error when attempting Course Substitution within myWCU. Error: Whoops, something went wrong! This issue was caused by the additional load on Advising Day. IT staff resolved the problem be restarting the service and additional research will be conducted to determine further actions to prevent the issue from recurring.
VPN Pulse Secure: Some users receive an error message when trying to install Pulse Secure via vpn.wcu.edu or when connecting to vpn.wcu.edu/finance connection via the Pulse Secure client. IT is currently working to migrate campus from the Pulse Secure client to the new Global Protect client for VPN. Users who are experiencing the issue may contact the IT Help Desk to install the new Global Protect client. Once all groups have been migrated to Global Protect, we will end access to our current Secure Pulse VPN.
Belk 253 Power: The power outlet for the instructor cart in Belk 253 is dead. Facilities has been called, but until it is repaired, the instructor station is being powered from a different outlet in the room using an extension cord. The AV equipment in the room is operational until the power problem is resolved.
Student Print Jobs: Some student print jobs were printing at incorrect printers. Occasionally when a faculty or staff member printed to the generic queue and went to release the job, student prints would print out instead of their documents and were charged to the faculty/staff member’s budget code. IT staff worked with Ricoh to determine the cause and corrected the issue for any future print jobs.
November 2019 Problem Tickets: (Total 5)
Blackboard: 3
Polycom Conference Phones: 1
COB Specialized VMs: 1
The Division of IT is committed to adopting a proactive, process-oriented approach to prevent problems before they arise. We will continue to keep you informed on our progress.
Contact the IT Help Desk
Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Closed weekends and university holidays
Call: 227-7487 or 866-928-7487 (toll free)
E-mail: ithelp@wcu.edu
Log in: http://help.wcu.edu
Visit the Technology Commons
On the ground floor of Hunter Library
For walk-up technology assistance for faculty, staff, and students
See our hours at tc.wcu.edu