This is your one stop reference guide to university technology information for employees. This guide includes the basics you need to prepare you and your computer to work at VIU, connect your devices, and more.
Can't find what you're looking for? The IT Service Desk can assist you while ensuring social distancing!
Support hours: Monday-Friday 8am - 4:30pm (Pacific)
Phone: 1.250.740.6300 (Local 6300)
Email: ithelp@viu.ca
Note: If you have an urgent request such as not being able to access your computer account, please give us a call at 1.250.740.6300
Your employee computer account is created through an automated system and is based on the information that has been provided to the HR department. The basic form takes up to the first 8 characters of your surname followed by your first initial. In some cases additional initials or a numeric value may be required to differentiate between usernames. Your username is not case sensitive, so Joe Name's username can be entered as namej or NameJ.
New employees will receive their username, email address, employee ID number, and default password from their manager. If you have not received your employee number, please contact your manager to obtain this before contacting IT.
Make sure to pick up your employee ID card. This card will be used as a library card, building access card, printing card, and gym access card. For more information, see: VIU ID for Employees
You will need to change your password before you can log in. Visit reset.viu.ca
Where can I find help with this?
All employees at VIU who have a computer account also receive a VIU email account. This email account can be accessed on-campus by using Microsoft Outlook or off campus by using VIU Webmail.
Where can I find help with this?
Anyone's computer can get a virus before you use your personal computer on campus. Take some initial steps to protect your computer, your data, and your identity.
- Visit our Computer Security page for more information on keeping your computer up to date, installing antivirus software, protecting your password, and backing up your files: Computer Security for On and Off Campus
Looking for recommendations on new technology?
Will you be teaching remotely?
- Check out Technology for Remote Teaching
Get Microsoft Office for Free
- Microsoft offers Microsoft Office 365 Apps for Windows and Mac to VIU employees for free.
Professional Development
Microsoft has an excellent series of free Digital Literacy courses available.
CUPE members can take advantage of Training & Development Funding.
- Computer Training Courses (VIU Professional Development and Training)
- Covers both an introduction to computers and to Microsoft Office.
As a new VIU employee, it is important that you understand how to use the university technology safely and appropriately. Please read the below Use of Information Technology policy before using campus technology including computers and campus wireless access.
The VIU-Secure wireless network is available nearly anywhere on campus, and you can log in using your employee computer account username and password.
Where can I find help with this?
Desktop and My Documents
Files saved to your computer's desktop or documents folder may not be accessible on other computers, and may not be backed up. It is always best to save your documents to your U drive or a share drive. (See below for details)
U Drive
All VIU employee have 10 GB of free private storage that's accessible from anywhere. The U drive is the safest place to save documents as it is backed up regularly. To access your U drive on a VIU computer: Click on the folder icon in the Windows taskbar. In the left margin, select "Computer" or "This PC". The U drive should be listed here.
Where can I find help with this?
Shared Network Drives
Share drives are spaces set up on the server whose intent is to provide an easy method for sharing files. In this way files can be shared by a department, by a small group of users, between an instructor and their students, or between students.
When you map a drive, you associate a drive letter with a path. It enables you to instantly jump to this shared location without having to go through a series of time-consuming steps.
Where can I find help with this?
How Do I Map to a Shared Network Drive?
OneDrive
OneDrive allows you to access, share, and collaborate on your files from anywhere. Employees get 5 TB of space in their VIU OneDrive.
Where can I find help with this?
Generic mailboxes allow multiple people (a team, people on a project, or a whole department) to share a mailbox (for example, ithelp@viu.ca which is a generic mailbox for the IT team). You may have access to some of these as part of your role at VIU.
Where can I find help with this?
Printing at VIU is easy:
- Pick up your employee ID card. Please note that due to the current public health situation the process for picking up employee ID cards has temporarily changed. Please contact the Library Service Desk at library@viu.ca for details on picking up your employee ID card.
- Print your document. Choose "findme" from the list of printers.
- Tap your employee ID card your nearest Ricoh printer's card reader. You may have to enter your VIU username and password the first time you print.
Where can I find help with this?
Instructors may be expected to use many different types of technology for teaching. It is important to familiarize yourself with the classroom technology, and take some time to test out the technology. Where possible, it is always better to test things ahead of classes or meetings to make sure the technology is working as expected. This includes projectors, video conferencing equipment, computers, etc.
If anything is not working as expected, please contact the IT Service Desk for assistance (see Step 12: Know where to go for technology support).
Where can I find out more?
Where can I find out more?
For employees working off campus, there are some resources available:
VIU Email
You can access your VIU email from anywhere.
How Do I Access My VIU Email?
Generic Mailboxes
You can access your generic mailboxes from home using Outlook or Webmail.
How Do I Use Microsoft Outlook?
VIU VPN
VPN allows you to establish a secure connection to the VIU network to access your U drive and share drives.
How Do I Create a VPN Connection to the VIU Network?
Network Shares
You can map to share drives you have access to.
How Do I Map to a Shared Network Drive?
U Drive
You can access your U drive from home.
What is a U Drive?
Remote Desktop
Remote Desktop allows you access your VIU desktop from home.
How Do I Create a Remote Desktop Connection from Home?
Microsoft Office 365 Apps
You can download Microsoft Office 365 Apps on your home computer for free.
How Do I Get Microsoft Office 365 Apps for Free?
OneDrive
OneDrive allows you to access, share, and collaborate on your files from anywhere. Employees get 5 TB of space in their VIU OneDrive.
How Do I Use OneDrive?
VIUOnline Rooms (Zoom)
Some meetings at VIU are hosted remotely on Zoom. Zoom is provided and supported by our friends at the Centre for Innovation and Excellence in Learning. Find out more about Zoom and how to create an account by following the link below.
How Do I Use Zoom?
For more information, visit: the Working Off Campus section on the Get an Answer and Find a Service pages.
For the latest information on working remotely, returning to work, and getting technology help during the pandemic, please check out the IT Support Overview for Working Remotely and Returning to Campus. This page is updated regularly as our situation continues to evolve.
The VIU IT Service Desk is your front-line resource for help and technical support with VIU technology. We can also provide advice and guidance for using your technology with VIU systems. We are available by phone or email Monday to Friday 8 am to 4:30 pm Pacific.
- Email ithelp@viu.ca
- Phone 1-250-740-6300 (Local 6300)
The IT Service Desk Client Portal provides access to the Service Management system used by the IT Department to track and respond to requests for assistance from the VIU community.
All requests for VIU IT service or assistance result in the creation of a "ticket" with a unique ticket number. The ticket is used to track all work performed on the request and to ensure proper resolution. During semesters, IT can receive over 100 requests a day from emails, phone calls, or visits from students, faculty, and staff.
Using the IT Service Desk Client Portal allows clients to:
- Create tickets and later add additional information to open tickets
- Check on the status of your active tickets and review previously closed tickets
Here is our instructional page on Using the IT Service Desk Client Portal
You can find the IT Service Desk Client Portal on the right-hand side of all Technology @ VIU webpages,
There are many services used at VIU that are managed and supported by various departments, such as Human Resources, Print Services, CIEL, etc. Here are links to help pages for some of these services: