Working Remotely

You and your supervisor may have arranged a plan for you to work from home. MCLA Information Technology is here to support you as you work remotely.

Here are some resources that you can use to make your work easier.

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Cloud Resources

Many of MCLA’s IT resources are publicly available on the Internet and are hosted by the service directly.  We consolidate most of these tools into the campus Portal found at: https://portal.mcla.edu

Some of the services you will find there are: Office 365 (email, calendars, OneDrive etc..), Canvas, Banner, Dynamic Forms, TimesheetX, Handshake, SchoolDude.

VPN

MCLA’s VPN (virtual private network) is software that “tunnels” your computer’s network traffic securely over the Internet, connecting you directly to the campus.  This is another way to connect to the local resources available on the campus, local drives, etc… Read more

Local storage

MCLA provides file storage to departments and individuals through what is known on campus as drive S: (groupshare) and drive H: (homeshare).  By using MyLab or VPN, you can access these resources from off campus.

Voicemail

By default, MCLA’s voicemail system will send your voicemail to email.  If you have this feature enabled, you can access Office365’s Outlook mail to listen to your voicemails.  Read more here about changing voicemail settings.

Getting Help

You are not alone when you work remotely, MCLA’s HelpDesk is available to provide support during business hours and our on call staff will respond to emergency outages 7 days a week.  Write helpdesk@mcla.edu, call (413) 662-5276 or click “Get Help” on the Portal page to contact us.

Passwords

Whether working remotely or on campus, MCLA secures its systems by use of a centralized username and password.  These credentials are the same for almost all of our systems.  If you are having difficulty with your username and password, visit this page for support.

Security

Working remotely presents many of the same security hazards as any online work but it can be more difficult to determine the authenticity of communications when you are remote. Read more about staying safe when remote working here 

MyLab

MyLab allows you to access virtual computer that resides in our datacenter.  This desktop works in exactly the same way an MCLA Thin Client would on the campus, providing direct access to applications and local resources such as your departmental shared drives and home drive.  Read more

Timesheets

If you need to submit your time through the State’s HRCMS, you can visit https://mass.gov/masshr or locate the link in the Portal

Skype

Built in to Office365 is Skype a powerful communications tool that lets you chat, voice call, and create online meetings with video, screen sharing and nearly unlimited attendees.  If you need to have a face to face with your team, Skype is the tool.  Read more

OneDrive

As part of the MCLA community, you have the ability to store 1000GB of files in Microsoft’s cloud storage product, OneDrive.  Any file in OneDrive can be shared with your team, just you, or the world. Read more

FindTime

When working remotely, finding time to meet or schedule groups of people becomes even more complex.  Let the FindTime polling tool help you organize your group's next meeting. read more