Faculty Computing

The Department of Information Technology provides many resources to support faculty in their teaching, research, and collaboration. We have produced this quick-start guide to assist with common questions.

Overview and Consultation

If you are a new faculty member or a faculty member in need of an assessment/computing tune-up, the IT Department is pleased to arrange a meeting at your convenience to go through our service offerings, assess your systems, and answer any questions.

Please email helpdesk@hsph.harvard.edu and someone will be in touch with you to discuss your computing needs.

Classroom Technology

All classrooms at the school are equipped with a variety of fully-supported capabilities:

• In-room computers
• PowerPoint projection
• Slide advancers with laser pointers
• Live audience polling

In addition, some have advanced capabilities such as:

• Smart Podiums
• Video conferencing
• Lecture capture
• Wireless microphones

Mobile Computing

The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health encourages mobile computing with Harvard-owned or personal devices. Wi-Fi coverage extends through all school buildings, and school web sites are designed with the mobile user in mind. The IT Department offers support for both iOS and Android portable devices such as smartphones and tablets.

To get started with a mobile phone purchase, please contact your Department Administrator.  Our systems support both Apple and Android devices.

Academic Computing

A variety of tools and services are available for faculty to facilitate teaching and learning.  These include:

• my.harvard – the online student information system
• Canvas – the online platform for course websites
• Poll Everywhere – our audience polling solution
• Zoom video and web conferencing – hold office hours or an entire class meeting online

Computer Hardware

Use of computer hardware can be classified into 2 support categories: Harvard-issued and personal.

Harvard-issued Equipment

To purchase new Harvard computers and related hardware, please contact your Department Administrator. Other general hardware questions should go to helpdesk@hsph.harvard.edu.

Personal Equipment

If you would like assistance with your personal computer, the Helpdesk provides the following services:

• Connection to Harvard Secure Wi-Fi
• Connection to network printing
• Installation of software (see below)

Computer Software

The school provides the following software to faculty at no charge on all Harvard-owned computers:

• Windows 10
• Microsoft Office 2016
• Adobe Acrobat Pro DC
• Crowdstrike anti-virus and malware protection
• Zoom
• Hard drive encryption
• Network printing

In addition, the school provides the following software free of charge to faculty upon request for installation on Harvard-owned computers only:

• Adobe Creative Cloud
• EndNote
• SAS

Network and Cloud Computing

As a faculty member at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, you have access to various network/cloud locations to store your Harvard data.  These include:

• OneDrive – your personal storage space included with Microsoft Office365; 1 Terabyte of data storage.
• S: drive – your department’s shared storage location.  Quotas vary by department with 500GB standard.
• P: drive – your personal storage space on HSPH-managed servers; 100GB of data storage.

Research Computing

The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has a partnership with FAS Research Computing that allows faculty to establish accounts on Cannon, FAS’s high performance research computing facility.

Security

HSPH IT offers a complete suite of security guidance for our community. To start, we focus on consultation as a service, which includes:

• Data Use Agreement reviews
• IRB Data Security Reviews
• Harvard Information Security Policy clarification
• Recommendations and best practices
• Training (group or individual)

Faculty Web Sites

Faculty receive a dedicated academic profile page automatically generated from various data sources, including Peoplesoft, Harvard Catalyst, and the Harvard Chan School news site. Academic profiles offer an excellent vehicle for highlighting your work.

Faculty may also request websites for their laboratories. See web publishing guidelines for more information.