Working Remotely - A Guide for St. Edward's Employees

Staff and faculty may need to work remotely at times for any number of reasons. St. Edward's provides tools to help make working remotely effective.

Minimum Technology Requirements For Remote Work

These are the minimum technology requirements for working remotely:
  • Access to a desktop or laptop computer with an up-to-date operating system.
    • Note: Windows 11 24H2 or macOS 14 Sonoma (or newer) is recommended.
  • 8 GB RAM or more
  • A reliable internet connection with speeds of at least 10 Mbps.
    • Note: You can test your internet speed on fast.com.
  • Webcam
  • Microphone
Here is a full list of minimum technology requirements specific to teaching, taking courses and working remotely. If you have questions regarding the telecommuting policy, please refer to the Employee Handbook.
 

Chat Tools

Google Chat

If you need to have a quick conversation with someone when working remotely, you can use Google Chat. Google Chat is available from within Gmail and allows you to start individual or group chats with all faculty or staff members, and students.

From the left-hand side of your inbox, click the plus sign (+)next to your name and search for whomever you'd like to chat with.
Remote Employee Tip: Make yourself available. Updating your status on these chat tools lets your co-workers know when you're available. This transparency builds employee autonomy while keeping the whole team engaged.

Meetings and Videoconferencing Tools

Zoom

Zoom is another option for videoconferencing, and it has more options for those who need to conduct a meeting or class session including the option to record the session. All staff, faculty, and students have a Zoom Pro account. Visit myhilltop.stedwards.edu and search for Zoom and just log in with your St. Edward's credentials.
 
Remote Employee Tip: Turn off your audio (mute yourself) unless you are speaking, but turn on your camera during video calls to make the experience more personal and personable. It's helpful to maintain visible communication even when remote.

We have more helpful tips in our guide to videoconferencing best practices.

Google Meet

When you want to video chat or have a video conference call with someone, Google Meet is a robust, free resource. With Meet, you can also share files, chat and share your screen while on a call.

Remote Employee Tip: Include a Google Meet link, when scheduling your meetings in Google Calendar. Even though you may have a meeting location, not all employees invited to the meeting can attend in person.

Cloud Storage and Collaboration Tools

Google Drive

Google Drive is the preferred cloud storage tool at St. Edward's. Using your St. Edwards Google account, you can collaborate with colleagues or students via Google Docs, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Forms, and the rest of the Google Workspace tools.

Box

Box is also available at St. Edward's with unlimited storage. You can create collaborative Box Notes, Word docs, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, and more.
 
Remote Employee Tip: Sharing files in a cloud storage tool allows remote employees to access and contribute to documents from wherever and whenever they're working.

Cybersecurity Tips for Safe Remote Work

  • Avoid public Wi-Fi: If possible, avoid using open wireless networks that aren't secured with a password.
  • Avoid sending sensitive data by email: Sensitive data includes personally identifiable information like Social Security numbers, credit card, banking information or sensitive medical details. If a vendor sends a procurement form that requires a credit card number, fill out the form and upload it to a more secure source like Box or Google Drive. You can send a link to the document from either of those storage services. Alternatively, in the credit card field, write Call for details.
  • Avoid storing St. Edward's data on personal machines: For university-owned data use university-provided cloud storage (i.e., Google Drive or Box). Do not use third-party services like Dropbox or personal Google accounts for university business. Additionally, use your St. Edward's account when connecting to remote Google Meet or Zoom meetings.
  • Be cautious of email scams and phishing attempts: Always check the sender's full email address. University business shouldn't be handled with personal email accounts. Avoid suspicious attachments from unknown senders. Hover over links to see the link preview to make sure they are legitimate link addresses. If you're unsure whether an email is legitimate, please report it to support@stedwards.edu.
  • Make sure your operating system is up-to-date: Follow the instructions for Mac or Windows machines to update your OS to the latest version.
  • Protect personal systems with anti-malware tools:For non-university-owned machines, consider one of the many antivirus options available for Mac or Windows.
    • University machines are protected with Sophos, and do not need additional security software.
  • Keep your web browsers up-to-date: Different browsers will handle updates in different ways, including our preferred browsers: Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.
  • Install a good adblocker: We recommend uBlock Origin. As a general rule, be cautious when installing any sort of browser extension or add-on.
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