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Welcome to Lowell Observatory
Our relatively small, collegial organization has traditionally inspired the staff with a team spirit that is characterized by respect for each other. Everyone pitches in to make the Observatory the best that it can be. We welcome new staff into the Lowell family. This Field Guide is intended to help new staff settle in at Lowell. We hope you find this Field Guide helpful. This guide is maintained by IT & HR, so feel free to reach out with any questions.
NOTE: HCPS = Hendricks Center Science Planetary and SB = Slipher Building
Useful Links
Technical Services
General Information
Various information on technical services and facilities is present in this Confluence website; Confluence is divided into "spaces," and IT maintains a "IT Knowledge Base" Confluence Space. Please familiarize yourself with some of the guides and information available in this space, such as information on VPN, Printers, and more.
Accounts and Passwords
We used User accounts are mostly managed via Microsoft Active Directory (AD). This is a centralized database of staff information and their accounts. Your AD account is used to log into:
- Almost all Windows PCs at Lowell
- Gmail / Google
- RingCentral (via Google login)
- Microsoft
- Slack (via Google login)
- Confluence (this website)
Your AD password is synced to these other services, and potentially more that are not listed. You will not be able to reset your password for any of these services on their website; you must reset your password at password.lowell.edu, which will then get synced to the other services.
In the future, you may see references to your "AD Account" or your "Single Sign-On (SSO) credentials". These terms refer to this username and password.
to create your Lowell account (email). To learn more, visit our Accounts and Passwords page.
Emergency alerts notification
In case of an emergency, Management will notified notify staff through email and text messages (optional). In order to receive text messages, you'll need to go to the Emergency Form and , sign up and IT will place that into the Emergency Group.
Software and Services Used at Lowell
Slack
A Slack is a chat tool we used use to communicate & and collaborate with among staff and others. To learn more, visit our Slack page.
Lowell Vehicle Checkout
This is a Google sheet that staff can access to from a web browser. Be familiar with the Vehicle Usage Policy before checking out a vehicle. There is also a kiosk setup in the HCPS mail room with login credentials placed on the monitor; this is where the vehicles keys are located. Link to 2021 - Lowell Vehicle Checkout.
Lowell Wiki
Here you'll find Departmental information and others. You'll need to be on the Lowell network in order to access it. Be sure to bookmark it.
Food AKA Free Table
There is a long standing tradition of leaving free food / items you would like to get rid of/share on the counter in the HCPS lobby.
Office Supplies
RingCentral
RingCentral our VOIP communication tool. It is used to provide work phone numbers to staff, may be used via PC or mobile app, and be connected to physical IP phones for your office. It's important that you read through the RingCentral page to understand the usage.
Wifi
Our business wifi network is mars-hill-net. You will need to use this for most purposes. We ask that you avoid connecting personal devices to the business network unless needed for work purposes. See IT for the passphrase.
Our guest wifi network is Guest Wifi. On Guest Wifi you cannot reach various network locations that are limited to our business network. For that purpose, you must use mars-hill-net. Guest Wifi can be useful for testing if your VPN is working for remote access, however.
Lowell Email Groups
There are some email distribution groups that are used for different purposes. You may request to be added to these groups, or email the listed email address to reach members of that group.
Groups for Help
These are groups you can email to to get specific help.
| Group Email | Purpose |
|---|---|
Technology related issues or questions; more info about getting IT support on IT Knowledge Base Home | |
HR related issues, questions, or generals | |
Facilities maintenance related issues, ie. if something physical is broken | |
Lowell vehicle related issues |
Groups for Fun
| Warning | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
- Jeff Hall, Executive Director |
These are groups (optional) used to partake in fun activities. If you want to be on the group, please email it@lowell.edu.
| Group Email | Purpose |
|---|---|
Non-work related place to post about things (please keep it PG13) | |
Where staff gathers to play Switch videogames, usually on Friday (now changed to TUESDAY) as the name imply; Todd Gonzales (astrotodd@lowell.edu) coordinate the event | |
Where staff partake in hikes around Mars Hill. Dyer Lytle (dlytle@lowell.edu) coordinate the event | |
Mountain bike group rides. Todd Gonzales (tgonzales@lowell.edu) coordinate the event | |
Usually active during the summer and sometimes into fall season; Dave Schleicher (dgs@lowell.edu) coordinate the event |
Scam Emails - Phishing and Spam
Please review our page on Phishing for guidance on recognizing illegitmate emails and reporting them to IT. Vigilance is a responsibility of every staff member at Lowell Observatory.Random office supplies are kept in the HCPS mail room / printers.