at Cornell University

Information technology

At Cornell, computers and the Internet are part of daily life. Cornell Information Technologies (CIT), the central information technology organization, offers many different services to make using technology easier for newcomers.

General information

To obtain general information about computing at Cornell, visit the CIT Web site or contact the CIT Contact Center (HelpDesk), 119 Computing and Communications Center (CCC) on the Ag Quad. The CIT Contact Center is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. You may call the CIT Contact Center at 607.255.8990, send e-mail to helpdesk@cornell.edu.

Cornell does not require you to bring a computer to campus. Bringing a computer to Cornell is a personal choice that you should discuss with your parents/guardians. However, students generally find it more convenient to bring a computer to campus if possible than to rely solely on Cornell's computer labs. If you decide to bring a computer, you'll have access to Cornell's online services and popular Internet software. Cornell services include CUinfo (the campus-wide online information service), Cornell University Library's online catalog, Symantec (Norton) Antivirus, and Symantec Client Firewall.

Computer Labs

The CIT public computer labs are heavily used by students who do not own computers, as well as by students who do have them but need to check e-mail or work on academic assignments while they are on central campus. These public computing labs generally function on a first-come, first-served basis. There are four general computer labs to which all Summer College students will have access. Two of these labs are on North Campus near your living quarters. The labs have a variety of software, Windows and Macintosh computers, and networked laser printers (see Net-Print below). Generally, each lab has between 20 and 25 computers.

You will not have access to computer labs after Summer College's nightly check-in.

For up-to-date information about locations and hours of operation of all the public-access computing labs at Cornell, visit CIT's Public Computing Labs site.

Computing labs in the Hotel School support Windows PCs only. (Unfortunately, they do not support Macs.)

uPortal

Students at Cornell use uPortal.Cornell to connect to standard internet services such as e-mail and specific Cornell offerings such as Cornell University Library's online catalog and CUinfo, the campus-wide online information system.

Requirements

All it takes to get started is:

A contemporary desktop or laptop computer (please see CIT's Personal Computer Recommendations page for minimum system requirements),
A connection to the Cornell campus network, and
A Network ID (NetID) and activation code.

Your NetID

A Cornell Network ID (NetID) consists of your initials followed by one or more numbers (e.g. abc123). Summer College students will receive their NetID and an activation code in a letter sent via U.S. mail. We ask that you activate your NetID upon receipt of the letter, or at least before you arrive at Cornell.

You will need your NetID to access a number of services, including to:

gain easier access to your transcript,
obtain your grades through Just the Facts,
access library services and Blackboard,
use Cornell's network services, including e-mail,
set up mail forwarding,
complete online summer evaluations, and more.

In addition, you are advised to take the "Travelers of the Electronic Highway" (TEH) online tutorial. The TEH online tutorial is an introduction to Cornell's computing environment. The tutorial can be taken anytime—either on campus at any of Cornell's computer labs or off campus via any computer connected to the Internet. All students are advised to complete the tutorial, subsequent quiz, and survey. In the TEH tutorial, you'll be asked to set security questions to be used in case you ever need to reset your NetID password. We strongly encourage you to do so.

If you need assistance, contact the CIT Helpdesk.

For information about policies covering the use of Cornell NetIDs and e-mail, visit "Responsible use of NetIDs".