IT Support

The University provides faculty, staff, and students with a variety of computing resources and online services. To access most of these services, you need a UW NetID (an account name that identifies you as a member of the University of Wisconsin-Madison community) and password. MERIT manages the SoE-AD account, which authorizes access to SoE computers, printers and servers.

Data Jack Activation
As requested by users or identified during consultations, MERIT will activate data jacks in your space to provide wired network connections for your computers and other devices.

Data Restore
IT staff can help restore data that has been backed up to a School of Education server. If the file was stored on the server for at least 24 hours, contact us at helpdesk@education.wisc.edu with the file name, location, and date. Note that files on your local hard drive cannot be recovered.

Network Drive Access (SoE-AD Accounts)
We provision SoE-AD accounts to users in the school to log in to desktop Windows computers and to connect to our network drives.

Password Reset
We can assist you in resetting your SoE-AD password and advise you on the process for resetting campus-level passwords.

Secure Wireless Access (WiscVPN)
We will assist with installing, configuring, and connecting a campus VPN on your device.

We work closely with the Division of Information Technology (DoIT) to safeguard the School of Education’s computing resources and data. We provide services such as desktop configuration, authentication systems, antivirus software, firewalls and network monitoring. We support both Windows and Apple products.

IT staff provide several options for accessing and learning about compatible software resources.

Software Installation
We will install basic productivity and security software, and install or assist with installing special title requests.

Software License Consultation
We can discuss and advise on campus software and single-user software to ensure proper licensing. We can help you coordinate additional purchases following campus guidelines via the SoE Finance team.

Software Support
We will troubleshoot the functionality of your software to ensure that it runs correctly on your computer.

Software Updates
We utilize remote services and onsite support to ensure you have all the most appropriate software updates.

Our team of consultants evaluates computing needs and recommends computers, printers and other peripherals that help faculty and staff achieve their work goals. Our IT consultants also offer hardware installation, computer maintenance and assistance with warranty repairs.

Computer Installation
We will configure software on your newly purchased machine and install the computer.

Computer Memory Installation
Our team will recommend memory to purchase and install it in your campus computer at your request.

Computer Purchase Consultation
We will help assess your computing needs and recommend replacement computers as needed.

Computer Repair
Our team will work to repair your university-owned computer according to the guidelines in our hardware support policy.

Local Printer Installation
We will connect your local printer to your computer at you request.

Network Printer Installation
Our team will install networked printers on your computer at your request.

Peripheral Device Installation
We will install peripherals including speakers, scanners, etc. on your campus owned computer.

Peripheral Device Purchase Consultation
Our team will assess your computing needs and recommend peripherals for purchase.

MERIT consults with faculty and staff who want a website to ensure the campus offerings are a good fit. We also collaborate with the School’s Office of Communications and Advancement on hosting department and unit websites. Individual faculty and staff who want to quickly post a site can make an online request with their campus NetID to WiscWeb. WiscWeb provides a free WordPress website based on the UW theme and approved plugins. In addition to WiscWeb, departments can also request a site from DoIT Web Hosting. DoIT WebHosting offers free HTML-only (static) sites and a set of fee-based service levels for dynamic and database-driven web sites.

The SoE Development Team provides technical support and development services for research projects. We aim to help you find practical, sustainable solutions—whether building something new, improving what you already have, or identifying existing tools that meet your needs.

Services We Provide

We can assist with a variety of tasks, including:

• Developing new web applications
• Modifying or extending existing applications
• Designing, creating, and hosting databases
• Writing custom integrations between systems
• Cleaning and formatting data
• Building custom websites
• Creating interactive data visualizations
• Developing custom WordPress plugins

Learn More About Custom Application Development

Data Security and Integrity
We help project leaders and staff meet data security guidelines mandated by the Federal Information Security Act and required by most funding agencies. We accommodate projects requiring moderate- or high-security levels, as needed. 

Server Security
We provide security solutions compliant with the Federal Information Security Management Act for WCER and School of Education servers. 

Data Backup
We operate a highly redundant and robust backup solution to ensure data reliability and integrity. 

Data Security Training
Watch the video and then take the security quiz. You must answer all questions correctly to receive WCER network access.

We offer professional database design for funded projects and secure hosting for research data.

If your file was stored on the network (in a project drive or network folder) for at least 24 hours, we can retrieve it from the backup system. Email helpdesk@education.wisc.edu with the file name, location, and date. Note that files on your local hard drive are not backed up and cannot be recovered.

Do not open the email. If you know it is junk mail, delete it without opening it. Review information from DoIT for more on recognizing and reporting phishing emails.

If you have questions about specs or support for your equipment purchase, contact us at helpdesk@education.wisc.edu. Lead times for purchases may vary. We encourage you to plan ahead and place an order as soon as equipment needs are identified to ensure enough time. You will be notified when your order arrives. We can assist with delivery and setup.

To configure WCER PC desktops to a SoE AD Network Printer: 

1. Click “Start” (the Windows icon)
2. Click the gear icon 
3. Click “Devices” 
4. Click “Add a printer” at the top of the new window 
5. Click “Add a network, wireless or Bluetooth printer” 
6. Click “The printer that I want isn’t listed” 
7. Click “Select a shared printer by name” type the network path to the print server (Spruce) followed by the printer’s city-name. ie: \\Spruce\fairbanks 
8. A Windows printer installation popup window displays status such as “downloading driver” and “finishing installation” 
9. Window states “You’ve successfully added ‘printername’ on Spruce.” 
10. You may select or de-select the “Set as the default printer” box as needed. 
11. Click “Finish” 
12. Applications that were open prior to the installation of the new printer may need to be closed and re-launched to provide access to the new printer. 

To configure printing preferences (including adding your print code): 

1. Click “Start” (the Windows icon) 
2. Click the gear icon 
3. Click “Devices” 
4. Scroll to “Printers and Scanners” 
5. Find the printer you added (see above) 
6. Click “Manage” 
7. Click “Printing preferences” 
8. In the “Basic” tab, click the box that says “User Code Setting…” (upper right corner of the pop up window 
9. Enter your project’s 4-digit print code 
10. Click “OK” to close out the code setting dialogue box 
11. Click “OK” to close out the Printing preferences dialogue box 
12. Close out the “Devices” window 

To configure WCER Mac to a SoE AD Network Printer: 

1. Connect your Mac to a live Ethernet cable. 
2. Select ‘System Preferences’ (either from the Apple Menu or the System Preferences icon down in the dock). 
3. A new System Preferences window will open. Select the ‘Print and Scan’ button within that window. 
4. On the left side of the resulting window, click the plus sign (+) to add a new printer. 
5. A new window will open titled “Add Printer.” Within that window, select the tab called IP (an icon of a grey sphere). 
6. Make sure that the listing under the “protocol” field is LPD, “Line Printer Daemon.” Then, in the “Address” field, enter the name of our print server: “Spruce.” 
7. In the subsequent fields of “Queue” and “Name,” enter the name of your desired printer (e.g. “Geneva”) and select the ‘add’ button. 
8. If your printer has a duplex unit, check the box that says ‘duplex unit’ and select ‘ok.’ 
9. Your newly-installed printer should appear on the left side of the screen with a green dot next to it. 

If you are in the Educational Sciences or Teacher Ed building and have a wired connection (your Mac is connected via a cable to a network jack), follow these steps. 

For other situations, connect to the university’s VPN using GlobalProtect first. Instructions for installing and using GlobalProtect on a Mac can be found on the WCER KnowledgeBase. 

1. In the Finder, click the Go menu, then choose Connect to Server. 
2. In the field labeled Server Address, enter smb:// followed by the name of the server, then click Connect. For example, smb://maple.ad.education.wisc.edu/projects$  
3. Select “registered user” and enter your WCER username (same as your NetID) and WCER password (not your wisc.edu password). Click Connect. 
4. A finder window titled “projects$” will open. Double-click the project folder you wish to access. Your project membership permissions will determine access. 
5. To disconnect, drag the network drive icon to the trash icon in the Dock or click the eject icon next to the server’s name in the Finder sidebar. 

EXAMPLE: 

A WIDA staff member would use smb://maple.ad.education.wisc.edu/projects$ to connect to the WIDA project drive. Once connected, they would then open a folder named “WIDA.”