Target Audience

Computing Survival Skills certification program was designed for and is available to staff members who need to be familiar with the University of Virginia's computing environment in order to provide effective computing support to their departments.

The specific target audience is the Local Support Associates (LSAs). LSAs include any staff member identified by an LSP and supervisor as providing some type of computer support. The Departmental Computing Support Program provides on-going training to improve the LSA's computing skills and knowledge.

Note for participants from Health Sciences Center:
While CSS classes were originally designed for participants from the Academic areas of the University, participants from the Medical areas are also welcome to attend. However, if you work in a Medical area, please be aware that some topics will be covered that are not pertinent to your computing environment and some aspects of your computing environment will not be addressed. The instructors are very knowledgeable and will address your individual questions as they relate to the material.

Instructional Units

This 24-hour, six-week program is designed to meet the immediate computing needs of U.Va. staff members by providing skills and knowledge that will help them in their daily jobs.

The content is evaluated and revised frequently to address the changing needs of staff. Each unit is a building block of skills and knowledge. The instructional units are ordered in the most logical sequence so that information from one unit helps participants learn the next workshop content more easily.

Completing all six units provides users with the skills and knowledge necessary to provide basic departmental computing support. The six units are:

• Unit 1: The U.Va. Computing Environment
• Unit 2: Electronic Communication
• Unit 3: Windows
• Unit 4: Networking
• Unit 5: Wireless Networking & Home Directory Service
• Unit 6: Security

Workshop Content

The workshop format includes lecture, demonstration, hands-on activities, and questions and answer sessions. All six workshops are complete units of instruction with objectives, documentation, terminology, and review questions that provide a structure for an effective learning environment.

Unit 1: The U.Va. Computing Environment provides participants with an overview of how information technology has affected employees' roles and the computing policies and procedures developed to support their changing roles. The instructors introduce U.Va.'s department of Information Technology and Communication (ITC), including resources such as ITCWeb, the Help Desk, Software Central, and technology training providers. Details about different computing accounts, log-in IDs and passwords are also covered.

Unit 2: Electronic Communications provides an overview of electronic mail programs supported at U.Va., email protocols, and methods for dealing with related email problems/issues: abuse, spam, viruses, attachments, mass mailings, etc. Participants also learn the ins and outs of creating and maintaining U.Va. mailing lists.

Units 3: Windows gives students time to get involved in hands-on lab activities. Topics covered include troubleshooting problems to determine if they are hardware or software related, navigating in the Windows environment, and the advantages and pitfalls of current operating systems.

Unit 4: Networking continues with many hands-on lab activities. Topics covered the UVa networking environment, network registration, certificates, and troubleshooting.

Unit 5: Wireless Networking & Home Directory Service will also be offered in the hands-on classroom. Networking discussion will continue with topics related to the UVa wireless environment including guest accounts and security. Home Directory Service, a file server storage space available to all University employees and students, is introduced with a hands-on lab session in addition to a presentation. The HDS space is available for backups as well as serving personal web pages.

Unit 6: Security has grown from a small discussion topic to an entire unit in CSS. Students will understand why security is important to users and how they can identify the major sources of security vulnerabilities. Practical security precautions and the U.Va. security awareness program are discussed.

Workshop Materials

Participants receive many resources while attending the Computer Survival Skills training. The customized reference manual complements the classroom instruction. It contains objectives, documentation, terminology definitions, and review questions for each unit. An online version of the manual is available by clicking the "Reference" links that appear through out the CSS website: www.itc.virginia.edu/dcs/css/.

In additon to the manual, participants receive the following materials:

• How Computers Work by Ron White (Que Press)