My Ramapo Quick Reference User Guide
Calendars: Courses and Groups: General: My Ramapo (Luminis) is a single login portal that gives users access to secured information on the Ramapo intranet, Web for Faculty, Web for Students , e-mail, calendars (which you can sync with a PDA), groups and basic course tools. My Ramapo is a communication tool that allows users in the Ramapo community to receive and send customized information according to their role, i.e. student, faculty, employee. Content relevant to the users specific role (student, faculty, etc.) can be customized. With My Ramapo, faculty and students can see their class schedules. Faculty can easily send e-mail to all members of each class, as well as use other course tools including uploading files, chat room, message board and class calendar. Users can also access the Ramapo Master Address book, create or import a personal address book, send and receive announcements. This is an intranet and is only available to the Ramapo community. Currently the system is available to students, faculty and employees. It may be available to other populations in the future. A Ramapo e-mail account is required for access to this system. How do I access the My Ramapo portal? URL: http://my.ramapo.edu Simply input your Ramapo username and password to get into the portal. Links to My Ramapo are also available from Ramapo Web site www.ramapo.edu and the Ramapo Intranet: http://guide.ramapo.edu What is my user name and password? Your user name and password are the same as your Ramapo e-mail account. If you are new to Ramapo, you need to activate your e-mail account. This can be done online by following the link on the my.Ramapo.edu login page for “how do I get a user name and password?.” This account activation utility activates your Ramapo Email Account and provides you with a USER ID or UID and password. Your UID can be used to access email as well as My Ramapo (Luminis) and your personal web space on phobos. Enter your Ramapo ID and data of birth to activate your account and receive your UID. If your account already exists your UID will be provided for you. [ return to top ] What if I already activated my user name and password but I can’t remember them? If your account already exists your User ID will be provided for you by the Account Activation utility. See “What is my user name and password” above for more information. If you have forgotten your password, visit the link for Password changes on the login page. You need to know your Ramapo user ID to change your password. Passwords cannot be a dictionary word, must contain numbers and letters, and must have at least six characters. Follow the link from the My Ramapo login page. Passwords cannot be a dictionary word, must contain numbers and letters, and must have at least six characters. If you use a pop-up blocker, you will need to disable it to enter your email password the first time or if you reset your password. I used to be able to access My Ramapo, but I can’t anymore. What’s wrong? If you don’t access your account for 365 days it will expire. Keep your account active by using it. Contact the help desk to reactivate your account. [ return to top ] Can I access My Ramapo from home or from my residence hall? Yes, you can access My Ramapo from any computer with a web browser and internet connection. What if I need help learning how to use My Ramapo? The system is fairly simple to learn and there are many resources for additional help. Once you login there is help icon available on the top right of your screen. There is also a Quick Reference User Guide and Course and Group Leader Administration Guide (pdf) available from the login page or from the links on the Resources channel on the My Ramapo tab. Workshops are offered periodically for employees through the Instructional Design Center. You can also contact the TEC or anyone on Team Luminis for help. What if I am having a technical problem with My Ramapo? Contact the appropriate help desk for student, faculty or employees and they will log and track your problem, and help resolve it. Keep your account active by using it. If you don’t access your account for 365 days it will expire. Contact the help desk to reactivate your account. How do I contact the Help Desk?
Yes, you should always logout for security reasons so others don’t have access to your personal information. The system will automatically time you out after 60 minutes of inactivity. Why do I sometimes get timed out of My Ramapo? There is a 60-minute timeout for security. It takes effect if you are idle for 60 minutes and will automatically log you out of the system. As long as you click on something within 60 minutes, you won’t get logged out. Web for Students and Web for Faculty have a 30 minute timeout for security. [ return to top ] Pop-up blockers can cause problems with My Ramapo. If you use a pop-up blocker, you will need to disable it to enter your email password the first time, or if you reset your password. If your browser will not let you enter the My Ramapo site at all because it has a pop-up blocker, go to the browser preferences and make http://my.ramapo.edu an allowed site. Windows:
Macintosh:
What if I use assistive technology to access my computer and have trouble using My Ramapo? Contact the Office of Specialized Services at 201-684-7514 for assistance. There are adjustments you can make to the My Ramapo layout and other techniques to use for better access. [ return to top ] Calendars: Why do I have so many calendars? Luminis creates a personal calendar for all users, a calendar for each class you teach or attend, and a calendar for each group to which you belong. Class calendars remain in the system as long as the semester is still available in the system. This can become a lot of calendars over time. You can create a calendar set to view multiple calendars together. (see next question). You can also delete old course calendars once you no longer need them. Is there a way I can merge multiple calendars? Yes.The Calendar allows you to look at and even combine one or all of your calendars to check for overlap and conflicts. The calendar also enables you to collect several calendars into a grouping called a “calendar set.” You can think of a calendar set as a composite of multiple calendars. Each calendar set can have a separate name, different privacy settings, and different option settings. Once you open the calendar, click on the “Calendar Sets” tab, click on “new set” icon, name your set and add the calendars. Using the “Quick Add” pull down menu is the easiest way to add your calendars to a set. How do I sync my PDA with calendars on My Ramapo? Calendars can be synced with PDAs using PC platform by downloading software at http://its.ramapo.edu/downloads/ Call the help desk if you need assistance. Details on supported devices, hardware, & software requirements are available online: http://phobos.ramapo.edu/portal/pda.html [ return to top ] Courses and Groups: My Ramapo course homepages are simple course homepages with basic course tools for academic use. (These course homepages do not replace the more sophisticated tools of WebCT.) Course homepages are found under the My Courses Tab in the my courses Channel. They can be viewed by semester. Once you click on the course title link, it will bring you to your course homepage and you are ready to input your course content. Course homepages are automatically created in My Ramapo/Luminis for you. All students are automatically added as members of the class as they register or removed as they drop courses. The course consolidator tool is available which can be used by faculty to manage courses that repeat or with multiple sections. Groups are a community of online groups for people to join with common interests. Groups are accessed by clicking on the groups icon in the top right side of your screen. There can be public and restricted groups. Groups are usually "joined" by individuals who become members. Group members can be added individually by the group leader, if needed. New groups must be requested by submitting the online form and need to be activated by the group administrator. The person who creates the group is the group leader. Management of the group homepage can be shared by more than one person if the group leader sets up permissions accordingly. What’s the difference between course homepages and group homepages? Not much, in fact they look almost identical and share the same application features. Course homepages are designed for course use and are found under the My Courses Tab in the my courses Channel. Course homepages are automatically created in My Ramapo for you and students are automatically populated for you when they register. Group homepages are generally for non-classroom use. Groups are accessed by clicking on the groups icon in the top right side of your screen. Groups members need to join or be added by group leaders. [ return to top ] What if I am co-teaching a class, but my co-instructor does not appear on my course homepage? Once your course modification form is submitted and processed, co-teachers will automatically appear as an instructor on the course homepage and they will have access to the course roster and class homepage. If you have difficulty contact Cindy Brennan, the Registrar at brennanc@ramapo.edu Can I add teaching assistants, such as a peer facilitator, to help manage my course homepage? Yes, you can add teaching assistants as long as they have a Ramapo e-mail account. If you go to your class homepage, and click on the link near the bottom on the left called "members", then you will click on "add member" and you can search the system for their name (last name, first name) and then add your assistant. The system prompts you to send a message telling him/her that they have been added. The reason peer facilitators don't automatically appear in your class is because they are not "students registered to take the class". How do students get access to course homepages? Course homepages are found under the My Courses Tab in the my courses Channel. They can be viewed by semester. Once you click on the course title link, it will bring you to your course homepage. Students are automatically added and dropped from the course homepage in the "member" listing as they add or drop your course during the registration process, until the end of the official add/drop period. Students dropping or withdrawing after that time will continue to appear. However, you can manually delete them by going to the course homepage under “Configuration Tools” (not course tools) on the left and select “members”. Check the name and click on the delete button. Can students submit content to my course page? Does student content need to be approved? All content for files, links, news and photos submitted to My Ramapo/Luminis course homepages by students, needs to be activated by the faculty/course leader. This allows the faculty member to approve this content before it goes live on their page. Faculty have a set of tools on the left column of the course page to manage content. They are under the heading "content tools" and each one begins with the word "manage". To activate News, Photos, or Links: Go to "manage news," "manage links " or "manage photos." Student submissions show up under the "submitted" section. Check the item and select "activate" for it to appear on the course page, or if you do not want it to appear, select "delete." All items that are activated will now appear on the "active" section for each course tool. The item will now be available to everyone who is a member of the course. To activate files: Go to "manage files" in this case and you should see the "New File requests" indicated in red. Click on the link to "activate" or "delete" the files. Once you activate the file it will be available to everyone who is a member of the course. Submissions to the message board do not need activation. [ return to top ] How do I use the e-mail students in my course function in My Ramapo? 1. login to http://my.ramapo.edu 2. click on the "My Courses" tab, then click on (see illustration below) 3. select the term/semester in the "course schedule" pull down menu 4. to link to your course homepage, click on the course title 5. click on "e-mail" under the "course tools" menu on the left side (see illustration below)
6. Use "select all" to e-mail the entire class, or select individuals to e-mail by marking the check box next to their names. Then click the "Send E-mail" button to open a compose e-mail window to write and send your e-mail. "Select all" sends messages BCC. Remember to include yourself in the recipients list to have a record of the message sent . If you select "All Members" you will automatically be included in the recipient list. More information on course homepages [ return to top ]
Students automatically become My Ramapo course members upon registration and are removed when they drop a course. Occasionally, your course list may not match your Web for Faculty list. If this is the case, contact Heather at ext. 7320 in the Registrar's Office to have it synchronized. Students who drop a course after the 50% refund period will remain on your My Ramapo course roster because of required records for Financial Aid. In this case the professor may manually remove students after the 50% refund period by accessing your course homepage, go to configuration tools, click on members, check the students name and click delete.
How will I know when my group has been activated? All group requests go through a request queue. Faculty groups are automatically approved. Student groups are approved for officially recognized clubs and organizations. You will receive notification when your group has been activated. Please be aware that if you create a “restricted” group, you will need to activate all members into the group. This means you need to check the “members” link under the Configuration tools regularly. Public group membership is automatic and this does not apply. How do people become members in a group? Members can join groups themselves or group leaders can choose to add the members in. To join a group, simply select the group from the group index and click on join. If the group leader adds them in, this can only be done one member at a time. So depending on the number of members, this could be time consuming for the group leader. This right to manage the members can be given to other members of the group to help manage. Are there any limitations to files I upload to course or group homepages?
Can I access WebCT through My Ramapo? Yes, but you will need to login to WebCT. In the future you will not need this additional login. There are links to WebCT from within My Ramapo. What is the Course Consolidator feature? The course consolidator enables the instructor to preserve materials he or she would like to make available to each course's homepage by creating a consolidated course that automatically feeds everything on it's homepage to each course that is added as a member of that consolidated course. More information on the course consolidator. [ return to top ] |
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