Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

The primary method to request support—whether it is a computer question, a change to phone service, a new IT purchase, or exploring the need for a new business application—is to submit a ticket at https://ssit.scl.cornell.edu. This will enable SSIT to ensure the proper attention, prioritization and escalation is applied to each ticket. Also all tickets are tracked to ensure the timeliness and quality of the service provided.

In the event of an emergency, or to submit an urgent problem after hours, please also contact the SSIT Help Desk by phone at 607-255-1034 after you have submitted a ticket. Cornell Health staff should continue to utilize the Cornell Health number for urgent requests and after hours/on-call support.

The standard hours of operation of SSIT are Monday–Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm with limited coverage for urgent support until 8:00 pm. There is on call support for critical systems after hours, weekends and holidays to resolve emergency issues. If you have different hours of support, your area management will let you know.

An emergency is defined as “the occurrence of an unanticipated and sudden situation that is life threatening, catastrophic in nature, or involves pressing necessity for immediate repairs, reconstruction, or maintenance in order to permit the safe continuation of a necessary use or function, or to protect the property or the life, health, or safety of any person.”

During regular business hours, we will strive to resolve all issues as soon as possible. However, during peak times, we may need to prioritize requests by the following criteria.

  • Urgent – any unscheduled outage with wide ranging business impact requiring immediate resolution; problems that would affect the productivity of multiple people. (i.e., services unavailable due to server being down)
  • High – problem affects a single customer who cannot perform their job. (i.e., computer will not power up; customer unable to log onto computer; hard drive failure.)
  • Normal – problem affects single customer limiting ability to perform job (i.e., customer is unable to print to a particular printer, but can print elsewhere.)

Urgent and high priority issues should be submitted via the SSIT Ticket Interface and a call should be placed (255-1034) to ensure that we start working on the issue as soon as possible. A team will work on the problem until solved. Loaner equipment or a work around will be provided where applicable and if available.

  • For urgent problems that occur after hours and cannot be fixed remotely, staff will be on campus within an hour to address the issues.

Normal priority issues should be submitted via the SSIT Ticket Interface. Desktop support staff will be in touch to schedule a time to resolve the issue.

We will provide IT support for special events, but the department must submit a ticket with all relevant information at least 10 business days prior to the event. Special events are defined as anything outside of normal business hours, practice and location. Some examples include Commencement weekend, semester start-up, Slope Day, etc.

To request a network or phone change (add, remove or move), please submit a ticket at least 10 business days prior to when you need the change in place, per CIT's recommendation.

If you receive a stipend or have a department-owned smartphone or other mobile handheld device*, we will help you set up connectivity to the University's central services. If you need assistance with your personal, non-University mobile device you may seek assistance by contacting the IT Service Desk at CIT (itservicedesk@cornell.edu or 255-5500).

*Mobile handheld devices should be in compliance with standard recommendations set by CIT for what is supported. Currently that includes iOS or Android mobile devices.

Supported AV equipment includes portable and built-in computer projectors, speakerphones and smart boards. We will ensure that portable and built-in equipment have basic use instructions available. If individuals schedule time prior to their presentation, we can provide orientation to the equipment.

Support is provided for university-owned equipment located on the Ithaca campus. For division-owned computer equipment off-campus, staff will attempt to resolve minor issues by phone and/or remote access. The user will bring the computer to campus to address more substantial problems. Desktop support staff will not go to non-Cornell-owned locations to provide support.

We do not support student or personally owned computing devices and software. SSIT will direct users to documentation to gain access to university resources (e.g. file servers, printers) from these devices when SAS and University policies allow.

All requests for hardware and software acquisitions must be approved by SSIT and follow official University procedures for purchasing. We will consult with you to help determine the best solution for your needs and maintain records of license compliance for software. Hardware includes computers and approved peripherals (i.e. scanners, printers, fax machines, card readers, copiers, POS terminals, etc.). When you submit your request, be sure to include the business justification for why the item is required. We will facilitate the purchase once it has been approved.

To ensure timely provisioning of new staff and deprovisioning departing staff, it is imperative that departments notify SSIT of personnel changes as soon as you are aware of them.

SSIT will provide the initial set up and orientation for new personnel as well as recommendations for training options where required.

Specific services for new staff:

  • Introduce SSIT services, CIT services and communicate contact channels.
  • Determine if there are any unique needs.
  • Set up email client (discuss preferred options and configure).
  • Set up appropriate backup solution.
  • Review University and local policies related to IT and data security. To include University policies 4.12: Data Stewardship and Custodianship and 5.10: Information Security, as well as the SAS Data Security Policy.
  • Discuss travel and work-from-home arrangements and provide solutions such as Virtual Private Networking (VPN) and related procedures, if applicable.
  • Brief security awareness training (in-depth training will depend on the type of data staff will be working with and that training would be provided by the functional area).

When implementing any technology project—enterprise business software, website, web form, student built application, multi-media equipment, etc.—the involvement of SSIT as a project partner is imperative to ensure that the solution can be integrated into the Cornell technical environment and can be maintained once implemented.