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UHD Teaching and Working Online and Remotely

In the event of a campus closure due to weather, illness, or other emergency, the University of Houston-Downtown offers several alternative methods for continuing instruction and support services remotely. Any closure will be officially announced through the University's website and via campus emergency alerts.

Click a topic below to view more information:

Sign Up For Campus Emergency Alerts

Communication, Collaboration, & File Sharing

Remote Access

Get Support

Additional Resources

  • Cengage: For US colleges experiencing unplanned, mid-semester impacts due to COVID-19, Cengage is offering students a 7 day trial access to all our digital platforms and 14,000 ebooks through Cengage Unlimited.
  • Wiley has made WileyPLUS, Knewton Alta and zyBooks available through the Spring 2020 term. Also, the company has made more than 5,000 COVID-19-related articles freely available on a Wiley Online Library site.
  • Using Your Smart Phone as a Webcam: When using Zoom or recording lecture videos from home, you may need to use a web camera. If you are using an older computer that doesn't have one built in you may think you need to buy one. But why spend money for a separate webcam when you can easily use your smart phone's camera as a webcam?
  • LinkedIn Learning Curated Resources: LinkedIn Learning is a free resources for UHD Faculty, Staff, and Students. LinkedIn Learning offers engaging, top-quality courses taught by recognized industry experts with thousands of courses and 255,000+ video tutorials that can be accessed across desktop and mobile devices. Note: You will need to login with your UHD username and password to access these resources.

Sign Up For Emergency Alerts

To ensure you are set up to receive Campus Emergency Alerts, please follow the steps below in myUHD:

Faculty and staff are also encouraged to ensure all contact information is up to date with their departments.

Communication, Collaboration, & File Sharing

Office 365 Email  outlook icon

In the event of closure faculty and staff will need to communicate with students and each other. It is a good idea to become familiar with Office 365 email as most official communication will be via email.

Office 365 OneDrive   onedrive icon

OneDrive is a cloud-based file hosting service similar to Google Drive and Dropbox. All current UHD faculty, staff and students have 1TB of space available in OneDrive. In the event of closure you may want to store large files, such as videos or recorded lectures, in OneDrive and share them with students via email or Blackboard.

Blackboard   blackboard icon

UHD's learning management system, Blackboard, is typically used for online course delivery. In the event of closure Blackboard would be ideal for posting content, communicating with students, and assessing and grading student work.

Microsoft Teams   microsoft teams icon

Ideal for working with people in your department, Microsoft Teams is a hub for collaboration. Use Teams to communicate, file share, video conference, collaborate on documents and so much more.

Zoom   zoom icon

Hold virtual meetings or even record video lectures using Zoom. Zoom allows for video and audio conferencing while screen sharing on computers, mobile devices, and tablets. Record your video session using Zoom Cloud and share your video with students or coworkers.

Departmental Network Share Drives  sharefile icon

By signing in to Network Share, you will be able to access your department's network share drive from any computer that has access to the internet.

Veritas Desktop and Laptop Option (DLO) Web Access

Access the data backed up by Veritas Desktop and Laptop Option (DLO) Agent by using the new Veritas DLO Web Access.

Remote Access

Work from Home IT Security Guidelines

Finding Your Computer Name   computer icon

If you are wanting to utilize VPN or connecting to your work computer off-campus, you will need to know the name of your workstation.

Windows 7 Windows 10
  1. Click Start > Control Panel > System
  2. Write down your full computer name
  1. Click Start > Settings > System > About
  2. Click System Info
  3. Write down your full device name

Installing VPN Client  global protect icon

VPN allows faculty and staff to access on-campus resources, including your desktop computer, from an off-campus computer. The VPN client will need to be installed on your home computer.

Note: You do not need to use VPN to access PeopleSoft, Blackboard, or Zoom. You will only use VPN to access your work computer via Remote Desktop. All other services are available without the use of VPN.

Using Remote Desktop   remote desktop connection icon

Accessing Library Resources Off-Campus   library icon

Some library resources require faculty, staff, and students to login when attempting to view them from off-campus. If you are having trouble viewing videos or accessing journals, Contact a Librarian in a virtual chat session. If you are specifically needing assistance with films on demand from off-campus, visit How to Access Films on Demand From Home to troubleshoot.

Signing Documents from Home

Adobe Sign allows users to sign documents and/or have documents signed by others quickly from anywhere using a web browser or mobile device.

Getting Support

IT Service Desk

Phone: 713-221-8031
Email: itservicedesk@uhd.edu
Hours: Open Daily 7 a.m.–Midnight

Blackboard Support

Phone: 713-221-2786
Email: bb@uhd.edu
Hours: Monday–Friday, 7:30 a.m.–6 p.m.

IT Training

Need training or assistance? Register for remote training sessions on the following topics:

For additional information on other IT services, visit Information Technology's home page.