New Employee | Office of Information Technology | SIU

As a new employee you will be assigned three numbers that can be confusing: your Dawg Tag Number, network ID number, and AIS number. Your Dawg Tag number is a campus ID. Your Network ID is the credential that along with a password allows you access to technology systems across campus. Your AIS number is your employee ID.

Dawg Tag number

Every faculty and staff member is assigned a Dawg Tag number when hired by the University. It is your identification number within campus records. It is not, however, the same as your network ID number. Although your network ID includes your Dawg Tag number (preceded with SIU i.e. SIU85xxxxxxx) the network ID identifies you to technology system across campus. You will need your Dawg Tag number to claim your network ID during your first day of employment.

Use the Dawg Tag lookup page if you cannot remember your Dawg Tag number

Network ID

Your network ID is used to access technology resources on campus such as SalukiNet, SIUonline (D2L), Computer Learning Center computers, Morris Library computers, Wi-Fi (wireless networking), the Virtual Private Network (VPN) to log in from off campus, and more.

When you are hired, Southern Illinois University issues you a Dawg Tag Number i.e. 85XXXXXXX. You will use this number to “claim” your network ID which is slightly different. Your network ID is your Dawg Tag number with and SIU prefix: SIU85XXXXXXX.

If you need help claiming your network ID visit the Network ID Help page or contact SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 or by email at salukitech@siu.edu.

AIS Number

Your AIS number is your employee ID number. This is the number used to identify you in the University’s administrative systems such as human resources and payroll.

You will retain your Dawg Tag, network ID, and AIS number permanently. These numbers provided continued access to your SIU and employee information through Human Resources Self Service (HRSS), even after you leave SIU.

How to get an email address

Your email address is automatically assigned to you after your employee contract is processed. The email address is formatted this way: firstname.lastname@siu.edu. If this email address is already taken a number or middle initial may be added.

Where do I access my email?

You can access your email at office.siu.edu. Email is provided for staff via Windows Outlook.

How to get into your email if you are locked out

If you are unable to access your email, contact SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 or by email at salukitech@siu.edu. You can also submit a help ticket using the SalukiTech Portal. If you think your account has been compromised the safest option is to call SalukiTech.

If your work requires that you have access to a computer, your department will provide you with a one, or with access to a shared device, and get you set up to use it. If you need access to additional computers for yourself or for classes that you teach, look over the following information.

What if I need access to a computer?

The University has multiple computer labs located across the campus. Staff, faculty, and students may use computers in any of the computer labs across campus as lab hours and availability allows.

Hours vary, but the labs are open during regular business hours, and stay open well into the evening. Most labs offer computers with Windows operating systems, and offer all of the software included in the Windows Business Suite. Some labs offer computers with a Mac operating system. Locate a lab.

If a class requires specialized software, computer labs in that department are loaded with the software needed to do your work. Contact your LAN Administrator to locate labs that run a specific software or contact SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 or by email at salukitech@siu.edu. You can also contact the lab to determine if software is on the lab computers.

If you teach a class that requires specific software, and the software has been approved and purchased, you may request that a lab load legal copies of the software on the lab machines. Contact your department LAN Administrator or the lab manager to request that software be loaded on lab machines. Only legal copies of the software will be loaded on University machines. The software may be removed at the end of the semester, and will be removed if the license expires.

Can I reserve a computer lab?

Faculty and staff can reserve lab space that has computers available at each station for participant use. The Computer Learning Center (CLC) labs are available for student, faculty, and staff use individually or for classes. These labs are located across campus for maximum convenience. You can see a list of these labs on the CLC website.

There are also computer labs on campus that are managed by University colleges and departments. These labs may be more closely aligned with your needs, and may be closer to you and your students. Each college/department determines who can use labs under their management.

Requesting a lab for an entire semester should be done as far in advance as possible. This list of Computer Learning Center labs shows which labs are available, their locations, who to contact, and how to make requests. You may find these additional labs, which are located in and managed by departments, more convenient for you. Requests to have specific software installed should be made when reserving a lab. Software must be approved and legally licensed. Only lab staff may load software to lab machines. List of software available in CLC labs.

Lab availability for one-time use depends on regular classroom use during the semester. This list of Computer Learning Center labs shows which labs are available, their locations, who to contact, and how to make requests. You may find these additional labs, which are located in and managed by departments, more convenient for you. Requests to have specific software installed should be made when reserving a lab. Software must be approved and legally licensed. Only lab staff may load software to lab machines. List of software available in CLC labs.

Morris Library has a large number of well-equipped rooms that may be reserved for intermittent use. These rooms are managed by the library; availability depends on previous obligations. To learn more or to request a room, submit the Event Space Application found on Morris Library’s Public Space page. All library computers have Windows Professional Suite installed, as well as common browsers and internet access. Specific, legal software may be installed with prior authorization from the library. The library will work with you to install, test, and confirm application functionality and connectivity prior to the class or event. All extraneous software and participant work is removed immediately after the session. Look on the library spaces page to find the location of the labs.

How do I log in to a campus computer?

You can login to a campus computer using your network ID (SIU85xxxxxxx) and your password. If you have questions or cannot log in, contact SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 or by email at salukitech@siu.edu.

What if I need expensive/specific software installed in a lab?

If you teach a class that requires specific software in class or for student use, contact your department to see if the software you need is available. There are really two questions here: does your department own the software, and/or is the software available somewhere on campus? If your department does not have licenses for the software, contact the Office of Information Technology via SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 or salukitech@siu.edu, or enter your question in the SalukiTech Help Portal. OIT may know of existing campus licenses and/or can see if the software is available through one of our vendor contracts. If the University does not own the software, you will need to discuss any purchase of the software with your department.

Printing job-related documents

If you use a computer for your work at SIU, your department will set up your system to access a network printer. Your department will also let you know if there is a charge associated with work-related printing. For example, printing on a University printer might need to be charged to a grant account.

How can I access a printer?

Your department will provide you with information on how to print documents for University business.

How do I print a personal document on campus?

Universally accessible printers are maintained across campus by Campus Wide Printing Services (CWPS). These printers are set up to pay-as-you-print, and are primarily for student use. Faculty and staff may also pay to use these printers to print personal documents—up to 11 x 17, in black and white or color. To access a printer from a personal device you must download printing software to your machine, and have an SIU Faculty/Staff ID with Debit Dawg funds loaded on the card.

Should I buy a printer?

Individual printers are expensive to operate and difficult to service. The Office of Information Technology encourages all employees to use the networked printer assigned to their area. To get access to the networked printer in your area, contact your LAN Administrator. If you are concerned about privacy or access, your LAN Administrator can show you how to set a PIN code that allows you access to your document, when you are ready to pick it up, at any networked printer across campus. Ultimately, permission to procure a printer for your desktop resides with your department. You should not bring a personal printer to campus.

Accessing Wi-Fi on campus

SIU uses eduroam as its wireless service on campus. You should find the eduroam SSID (the network name) in your devices’ network set up list. Set up is easy—just enter your SIU network ID and password—you’re connected! One caveat: we recommend that you enter your credentials while on campus, and add siu.edu at the end of your network ID (SIU 85xxxxxxx.siu.edu). If you set up eduroam this way, you can access the eduroam network at thousands of institutions across the country and around the world without having to ask for network access.

Once you set up your devices to access SIU Wi-Fi/eduroam you are theoretically good to go from that point forward. You will need to reenter your credentials if you change your password or on those rare occasions when a device drops your log in information.

Can I use the SIU-Guest Wi-Fi network?

Although you can certainly access “SIU-Guest” Wi-Fi, you will need a password—a password which changes every semester. Using your own credentials is quicker and easier. SIU-Guest is typically reserved for guests of the University, and offers limited access to SIU resources. You can request the SIU-Guest password from SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155.

Accessing the network on campus

Access to the network is generally arranged by your LAN Administrator or through your department’s administrative staff. If you do not have a LAN Administrator, contact SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 or by email at salukitech@siu.edu. You can also submit a help ticket thru the SalukiTech Portal.

Remote access—working off campus

Faculty, staff, and students with specific needs can access the Campus Area Network while working remotely, but you must request access to SIU’s Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Remote access for vendors

VPN service is also available for vendors/consultants working with departments across campus. Requests for VPN service for vendors/consultants can be made through the department’s LAN Administrator or through SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 or by email at salukitech@siu.edu.

SIU has BigDawg, a high-performance computing cluster that is available to faculty and supervised students doing research. BigDawg has enormous computational ability, vast memory and storage capacity, and incredible speed. To access the supercomputer, you must complete a simple request form. Once approved, you need to attend a group or individual startup session to learn how to access BigDawg. For more information about BigDawg, contact Research Computing and Cyberinfrastructure at (618) 453-4297 or by email at research-computing@siu.edu.

BigDawg specifications

The BigDawg cyber “cluster” contains 800 CPUs cores and two high performance GPUs (with 2,880 more cores each), and has a theoretical maximum of more than 34 teraflops (one teraFlop is a million million) mathematical calculations per second.

It is your responsibility to back up your work

If you use BigDawg for important work—for example your research—you are required to take responsibility for this work and to make regular backups to the cloud or to an external hard drive.

The majority of student information can be located in and accessed through the SalukiNet portal. SalukiNet allows faculty and staff access to student information, if their job requires it and if they have the credentials to access it. The appropriate credentials are determined and set by your department. However, seeing the tasks and tools available to you is set in SalukiNet as a “Role.” If you are unfamiliar with SalukiNet, view this short video. If you need additional help, contact SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 or by email at salukitech@siu.edu.

The Human Resources Self Service system (HRSS) allows SIU employees to access online information like pay slips and W-2 forms, and provides the ability to change their employee information. Only employees with a valid network ID and password can access HRSS. Since this is employment information, the Office of Human Resources provides comprehensive information and directions for using HRSS, and can provide you with additional assistance.

Although the University has many security systems in place, you are a critical link to your own cyber security. Your knowledge about scams, phishing, and other internet security issues help keep your information safe from malicious hackers. Keeping yourself safe helps keep the campus community secure.

Learn how to stay safe online

The most critical component of online security is you. SIU has many security tools and mechanisms in place to keep University systems and information safe from a security breach. Despite our best efforts, we need every member of the campus community to learn how to stay safe online and help maintain a secure virtual environment.

Avoid scams

Scams and phishing are the most common security threats on campus. To help you avoid scams, the Security team posts a list of current scams. You can also follow our Security feed on Twitter @SIU and receive tweets when the Security team becomes aware of a new scam or security threat.

If you receive what you believe to be a scam email, notify the security team and forward the email to us. You can also send questions to the team, or get help if you think you have fallen for a scam. If you are worried that you have been scammed, you can call SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 for immediate help.

Do not use illegal software

Many people download unlicensed software to save money. You may think this does you no harm. What you may not realize is that you cannot get “patches” and “updates” for illegal software. These updates help keep your system secure as hackers develop new and more sophisticated scams. Using unlicensed software is illegal! You cannot load any unlicensed software to University equipment. Moreover, you are strongly advised by SIU Security to use licensed software on your personal devices. SIU offers faculty and staff access to FREE Microsoft Office tools. Other software may be available to you at a faculty/staff discount. Check out available software at the SIU OnTheHub website.

Security for University-owned devices

If you need help securing your information or your University-owned device, contact your LAN Administrator or call SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 for immediate help. Either can determine if you have sufficient and current anti-virus software and malware on your system, apply current patches and updates, or take remedial action if you have been infected or hacked. On a University-owned device, you should be protected, but breaches can happen. Your LAN Administrator or the SalukiTech team can provide you with peace of mind, and correct any security issues.

Should my University-owned device be encrypted?

If you are using a mobile, University-owned device it is important that you have encryption software working on the device. This helps ensure that if the device is lost or stolen that your information is protected. If you need help securing your information or your University-owned device, contact your LAN Administrator or call SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 for immediate help.

How do I report an outage?

Network outages should be reported to SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 or salukitech@siu.edu, or to your LAN Administrator. You can also submit a help ticket through the SalukiTech Portal.

Systems/server outages should be reported to SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 or salukitech@siu.edu, or to your LAN Administrator. You can also submit a help ticket through the SalukiTech Portal.

Wi-Fi outages should be reported to SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 or salukitech@siu.edu, or to your LAN Administrator. You can also submit a help ticket through the SalukiTech Portal.

Email issues should be reported to SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 or salukitech@siu.edu, or to your LAN Administrator. You can also submit a help ticket through the SalukiTech Portal. If you think your account has been compromised the safest option is to call.

How to access Microsoft Office tools on any device

All SIU faculty and staff members can access Microsoft Office tools from the cloud, on any device that allows you to access your Office 365 email in a browser. Once in your browser, click Office 365 (at the top left of the screen); you will see all of the FREE Microsoft Office tools that are available to you. Click on any tool to use it. What you need to remember is that these tools reside in the cloud and not on your device. If you do not have access to Wi-Fi, you will not have access to the tool—you will not be able to open or work on your file. However, so long as you have been saving your files to your machine, your file is saved to your machine, even if you cannot access the tool.

Purchasing software at a discount

As a faculty or staff member, you can purchase many software products at a dramatically reduced price through the SIU OnTheHub website. You will need your network ID and password to access the Academic Software Center and purchase products at the discounted rate.

Illegal/Unlicensed software is prohibited on University-equipment

Illegal/unlicensed software cannot be installed on University-owned equipment! Do not install any unlicensed software on a University-owned device! Additionally, OIT, LAN Administrators, lab associates, and service center employees are prohibited from installing illegal software for you—whether on a University-owned or personal device.

You must back up important information

Theoretically information stored on your desktop or laptop is saved. But…this does not mean that information is secure. What if your desktop computer stops working—the hard-drive simply dies? What about a fire or water damage? What if your laptop is lost, stolen, or damaged? What if you get a virus or your information is held for ransom? All of these things can happen! It is critical that any information that you deem to have value is backed up in a secure location on a daily or weekly basis. You need to ask you LAN Administrator if and when your University-owned device is backed up. If you use University-owned device for important personal work—for example a thesis or research—you need to take responsibility for this work and make regular backups to the cloud or to an external hard drive.

Store your work, and back it up

As a professional, you are expected to save the work that you do for the University. Although you may save your work to your University-owned desktop or laptop computer, it should also be backed up to a departmental server or to OneDrive—the University’s cloud storage provider. If this is an unfamiliar habit to you, or you do not know how to save information to your departmental server, ask your LAN Administrator or contact SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 or salukitech@siu.edu

Storing your work in the cloud—OneDrive

The University approved and supported cloud-storage location is OneDrive. This is where you are expected to store all University-affiliated work unless your department has secure server space and instructs you differently. You are provided 1 terabyte of space on OneDrive for storing files. Storing files on OneDrive provides all the space you will need, and provides redundancy in your work. It also gives you convenient access to files when you are off-campus as well as the ability to share files easily with others.

Other cloud storage providers are not authorized for storage of University work; and sensitive data absolutely may not be stored on other cloud platforms. Any use of cloud storage providers, other than OneDrive is at your own risk and we highly recommend you use multifactor authentication whenever possible. For more information on accessing and using OneDrive view our instructional material. You can also contact your LAN Administrator or SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 or salukitech@siu.edu.

What is “sensitive” information?

Sensitive information includes personal information and records—like social security numbers, student numbers, driver’s license numbers, passwords, PIN numbers, IDs, grades, health information, financial information, the University’s business records and information, and more. All University employees are require to protect and maintain the integrity of sensitive information as a matter of University policy as well as State and Federal Laws. The Office of Information Technology has compiled a document on the Safe Handling of Sensitive Information Standard to help you understand more about handling sensitive information and your responsibilities. If you need help with handling or managing sensitive information it is very important that you work with your LAN Administrator to learn how to protect sensitive information or contact SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 or salukitech@siu.edu.

How to share sensitive information

You must use care and discretion when sharing sensitive information. If you deal with sensitive information, scrutinize all information before you share it. Then think about who you are sharing the information with—should they have access to it; who might inadvertently see it along the way—who’s in the CC: line or who might have access to it at the receiving end; and is the way you are sharing the information secure?

SIU uses MOVEit to share sensitive information using encrypted file transfer. MOVEit allows faculty, staff, and students the ability to send files electronically or to upload/download files to mobile storage devices. Anyone with valid SIU network credentials can use MOVEit. Faculty and staff have 10GB of storage space for sensitive files. You can set up move it yourself, but if you need help your ask LAN Administrator or contact SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 or salukitech@siu.edu. Instructions for MOVEit.

What if our department needs more server space?

The Office of Information Technology offers the option to secure server space in the Wham Data Center. Departmental servers may be moved to the data center if they meet minimum technical specifications. If not, OIT provides a space allotment/server upgrade credit based on departmental FTEs. Contact SalukiTech at (618) 453-5155 or salukitech@siu.edu for more information on securing server space in the Wham Data Center.

The Human Resources Self Service system (HRSS) allows SIU employees to access online information like pay slips and W-2 forms, and provides the ability to change employee information. Only employees with a valid network ID and HRSS password can access HRSS. Since this is employment information, the Office of Human Resources provides comprehensive information and directions for using HRSS, and can provide you with additional assistance. 

To sign up for SIU emergency alerts for faculty and staff you can use these instructions. To assist a student in signing up you can view these instructions. For general information about SIU emergency situations visit the SIU emergency notification. 

People Finder is SIU’s online directory. People Finder can be used to get contact information for faculty, staff, students, and retirees. You can also find general contact information for campus departments, offices, and units with this tool. 

Use the A to Z index to see a list of all departments on campus, and to link to the home page for that department. 

HireTouch streamlines the University’s hiring process. When the University plans to hire new faculty or staff, positions are defined, created, and posted using HireTouch. Potential employees then enter applications through this fully automated system. During the hiring process, people and areas involved in the hiring process use HireTouch to monitor and approve the candidates’ progress through the system. If you need to post a job, ask your department for access to HireTouch. 

Enterprise-wide systems are used across the University to provide faculty with the ability to assist students in various ways. Your department will arrange access to these systems for you, if appropriate.