General Questions 

Q. Who do I call to get a Staff Google account, Q account?
Employees must first be approved by Human Resources. Once they are approved, HR notifies ETIS and then accounts are created for the employee. You can contact ETIS at 818-241-3111, x1577 for any questions.

Q. Who do I call when I have computer problems, technology requirements, or just general technology questions?
Submit a service request to our Help Desk Work Order System by browsing to helpdesk.gusd.net.

All technology-related questions and problems can be reported to the Educational Technology Help Desk by calling (818) 241-3111, x1577 or x1581.

West Cluster School contacts:
Kevin Corrigan 
 
East Cluster Schools contacts:
Peter Richter 
 
The North Cluster Schools' contacts:
XJ Marchan

Networking, E-Mail and Internet Questions

Q:  How do I report a website that I feel should be blocked or unblocked?
Submit a service request to our Help Desk Work Order System by browsing to helpdesk.gusd.net.  Select the Network > Content Filter request type.

Websites can also be submitted directly to your Site Cluster Contact (see above) via email or by calling 818-241-3111 x1577 or x1581.

Q:  What is SPAM and viruses and how does the district combat them? 
The district makes extensive use of email to conduct its day to day business. There are more than 2,000 email accounts currently in use by teachers, staff and administrators and the district processes in excess of 52,000 electronic mail messages per day. Numerous automated systems monitor and filter the district's email services. In fact, over one-third of all e-mail is filtered due to content, viruses, and SPAM. The filtering services in use are state of the art; however, the Internet and email are constantly evolving and new threats are discovered on a daily basis. Users of the district email system need to be aware and vigilant of these potential threats and how to cope with and report them.  

SPAM

SPAM is generally defined as unsolicited and unwanted e-mail. Just like junk mail sent to your home, SPAM sent to your e-mail address contains advertisements. Unlike junk mail however, SPAM is incredibly cheap to send. Thousands of SPAM messages can be sent from anywhere in the world for a few pennies. Unfortunately, most of the SPAM that you see comes from outside the United States. While there are federal laws concerning SPAM there is no international law or enforcement.

What can you do? Try these simple steps first:

1. Delete the message. There are limited resources that the District can allocate to preventing SPAM. If you receive an unsolicited message - delete it. If a SPAM message that you receive is offensive, threatening or obscene, forward it to your Cluster Contacts for review.
   
   
2. Unsubscribe to the e-mail. Most SPAM e-mails contain a link that can be used to unsubscribe to their messages. Take a moment to follow the steps listed in the message to prevent future messages. If a SPAM e-mail does not have an unsubscribe link, or the link does not work, forward it to your Cluster Contacts.
   
   
3. Your district email account is provided to conduct business related to District operations. Do not provide you District email account to anyone, any web site or any entity not related to District business. So, if you receive an email from a commercial web site, you will know if it is SPAM or not.
   
   
4. If you would like more information, the Federal Trade Commission has excellent resources regarding SPAM.

Viruses

Viruses are rampant on the Internet and e-mail is the most popular way of spreading viruses. District-based anti-virus software is updated dozens of times per day but still, on occasion, viruses get through. Once your computer has a virus it is possible to spread it to other computers at your site. The result is lost productivity on your part man-hours for ETIS to scan and repair the damage.

Viruses can be prevented in several simple ways.

1. Do not open e-mail from a person that you do not know or any e-mail that you are not expecting if it contains an attachment.
   
   
2. If an e-mail is suspicious, contact the sender to see if they sent you an e-mail. Many viruses "impersonate" the sender. Just because an e-mail has John Doe as the sender does not mean that John Doe sent you the message or that their system has a virus.
   
   
3. If you opened an e-mail and feel that it may have contained a virus or believe that your system may be infected, contact ETIS immediately (818) 241-3111, x1577 or x1581.

Internet Filtering

The Federal Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires the District to take active measures to filter inappropriate Internet content. While this system is very comprehensive, it is not perfect. Some inappropriate sites do get through and some legitimate sites are blocked. The first step to take to block or unblock any website is to contact your Cluster Contacts or submit a service request.

Email Addressing

In Gmail, when you send an email to another Gmail user (any GUSD teacher, staff, or administrator), you need only type the person's names in the TO: field. It is not necessary to know or type their email address. As you type the person's name in the TO: field, Gmail will attempt to find the closest match to a user in the address book.