First, congratulations from OSCR on attending the University of Arizona! We're glad to have you and hope we can help your career here at UA by demystifying technology and empowering you to make use of the extensive and impressive array of computing equipment and services availabe to UA students.

One of the first questions most students have is "Do I need to bring a computer to campus?" No! If you don't have a computer to bring to campus, don't worry. There are hundreds of open-access machines available to type papers, print documents, do research, whatever you might need. UA tries very hard to make computers available to students wherever possible. If you are not planning on bringing a computer to campus, OSCR recommends you invest in some form of portable storage for moving your data around between machines. The easiest device for this purpose is a USB keychain drive. They vary in size from relatively small (32 megs) to gargantuan (4 gigs). Having a flash drive of 128 megs or more is recommended, as this will allow you to store a large number of documents and provide ample storage space for temporary file transfers between machines. You can find several quality brands in the UA Bookstore on campus, or from any major electronics retailer like Circuit City or Best Buy.

Some students do find benefit in owning their own machines on campus, and we're there for them too! Owning a laptop or desktop of your own has the advantage of allowing you to control what is on your machine in terms of software, as well as giving you the ability to work in the comfort of your own home, or anywhere you please, in the case of a laptop. More and more students are using laptops to take notes and give presentations for classes, as well as do more mundane tasks like check e-mail or browse the internet from all over campus.

With these benefits come certain responsibilities, however. The University has a detailed and specific network use policy that outlines the only legitimate and supportable uses for our network. The UA does not condone nor will it support you in the use of instant messengers, music downloading software, or online games. Be sure to read the full network use policy before you decide to bring your computer to campus. While outlining the uses for our network bandwidth, it also outlines the requirements for connecting to our network. These include, but are not limited to: choosing strong passwords for computers and computing accounts, keeping personal account information and passwords private, installing and maintaining an antivirus solution on your computer, and keeping your computer current with operating system security patches. Failure to do any of these things constitutes a serious security risk for you and the University, and could result in your computer being blocked from internet access or even in your eviction from the residence halls. OSCR has prepared a helpful Security Guide that you are encouraged to follow to keep your computer secure on campus.

Before attending the UA, it is advisable to create your UA computing accounts, as well as register your computer for the campus network, if you choose to bring one. Creating your computing accounts is as easy as going to: http://netid.arizona.edu/ and clicking "Create UA NetID" from the left-hand menu. Follow the steps and once you have created your NetID, you will be prompted to create your e-mail account. Please note that until you have completed orientation, you will not be able to create an e-mail account.

Hopefully this guide can make your introduction to UA computing easier, and if you have any further questions or concerns, contact OSCR Technical Support at 621-TECH (621-8324).

(Revised May 2007)

Welcome to the University of Arizona! If you are bringing a computer to use on campus there are some important steps you should take before accessing the network. By following the steps described in this packet you can ensure your computer is protected against a variety of potential problems including viruses and malicious spyware programs. The directions within will guide you through finding and registering your hardware (MAC) address, using the campus wireless network (UA WiFi), enabling automatic software updates, and installing and configuring antivirus software.

As an affiliate of the University of Arizona you are entitled to free antivirus software called Sophos. If you already have an up-to-date antivirus software subscription you are not required to use Sophos and can skip this step; however, please ensure that the software is updating frequently. Out of date antivirus software will not protect your computer. If your computer is unprotected and infected with a virus it will be blocked from the UA network.

If you have any problems or questions please call 626-TECH and an OSCR consultant will be happy to guide you through the process.

Bringing your computer to campus?
A complete guide to setting up your computer for use at the University of Arizona.  (Adobe PDF: 3.8 Mb)

(Revised April 2007)

Most UA students are not required to own a computer. Ample computing resources are available in many convenient campus locations. Consult the web links below for details on campus labs and UA technology services, or contact the Office of Student Computing Resources (OSCR) at oscr@email.arizona.edu or 621-OSCR (621-6727).

The information provided in the following document is current as of the date noted above. It represents the recommendations of the technical staff of OSCR.

Computer Recommendations 2007 (Adobe PDF: 56k)