Information Technology
Frequently Asked Questions
For Students
How do I log into CCA Computers?
Labs and classroom computers use this login.
How do I access my student E-mail
All community-college students in Colorado are given an E-mail account.
How do I log into My Ed or Blackboard Vista?
My Community Education and Blackboard Vista use this login.
How do I fix my pop-up blockers so they work with Blackboard Vista?
Blackboard Vista requires that your pop-up blockers be disabled or set to allow Vista to produce pop up windows..
Do this if your get system errors in Blackboard Vista or get stuck in a loop trying to log on.
How to I clear my browser's cache?
or
Do this if your instructor ever asks you to clear your browser's cache, or if you can't get rid of the Blackboard Vista maintenance notice once Vista is back up.
For Faculty
How do I log into CCA computers?
Labs and classroom computers use this login.
How do I access my CCA E-mail from home?
How to use Outlook Web Access.
How can I create a Personal Folder to get mail off the mail server?
If you have a lot of large files and email you want to keep, you can move them from the E-mail server to your H: drive. (Only applicable to people using Outlook at one of the campuses)
What if my students have trouble logging into CCA computers?
What you have to do before you send helpdesk an E-mail.
How do I log into Blackboard Vista or Banner?
Banner (A.K.A. My Community Education) and Blackboard Vista use this login.
How can I get my Syllabus or other documents online so students can read them easily?
Students can most easily read HTML files. This will show you how to make them from Word documents.
How do I reinstall Java in Vista?
Do this if your get system errors in Blackboard Vista or get stuck in a loop trying to log on.
How do I copy my own Vista online course?
You can copy your own vista courses at the start of the semester to save time. Here's how.
Student FAQ
Students log into computers using their SID (S########) as their username and a password created from their date of birth, starting with the month spelled out, first letter capitalized, then the two digit date, then the four digit year, so a student with SID S11111111 born on January 5th of 2003 would use:
Username: S11111111
Password: January052003
Domain: CCAINST
The domain should default to CCAINST. If it does not, you may have to select CCAINST from the domain dropdown. If you do not know your S#, please visit Enrollment Services. If you have forgotten your password ask your instructor to contact the CCA Helpdesk, or visit Enrollment Services.
Yes! Students at any of the community colleges in Colorado receive
a free E-mail account. Details on how to access your account are here:
http://www.ccaurora.edu/students/email/
Students log into the registration system, called My Community Education, and the online component of courses, called Blackboard Vista, using their S# and 6 character PIN. Your PIN never expires and it defaults to your birthday in mmddyy format.
You may want to change your password (using My Community Ed) from this default to protect your account. If you forget your PIN, go the My Community Education system using the link on the front page and select the "Lost my password" link. If that does not work, contract Enrollment Services.
There are two kinds of pop-up blockers, those that are installed as an add-on to your browser, and those that are part of your browser itself. These guides are setup for Internet Explorer 6. You may be able to use them on other browsers (such as IE7) but the images and directions will not match up perfectly, if they do at all. To disable your extra pop-up blockers, such as the Google toolbar, use the Fixing your toolbars guide. For information on how to allow Blackboard Vista on the builtin pop-up blocker, use the Fixing your IE 6 popup blocker guide.
Vista requires Sun Microsystems' Java Runtime Environment to
function. Most computers have this, but occasionally it becomes dysfunctional, causing Vista to behave
strangely. These directions will show you how to uninstall and
reinstall Java on your computer (requires
Adobe Acrobat Reader) This
will fix most Java problems.
- How do I clear my browser's cache?
or - Ever since Blackboard Vista went down for maintenance, I've see the out of service notice even though people say it is up. How do I get the login screen back?
Browser's keep a copy of what you've recently downloaded to speed up later access. In rare cases, this confuses Vista, or some other program. The first thing you can try is to hold down CTRL on your keyboard, and press F5 (CTRL-F5). This forces your browser to refresh the screen. If that doesn't work, these directions will show you how to clear your browser's cache (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).
Instructor FAQ
Instructors log into computers using the same username and password used to access their CCA E-mail, preceded by cca\. Your username will typically be Firstname.Lastname, as listed in Banner but the password could be anything. An instructor with a username of Jess.Smith and a password of Micr0ph0ne would log in to a computer as follows:
Username: cca\Jess.Smith
Password: Micr0ph0ne
Be sure to include the CCA\ (C C A backslash) before the username. "CCA/", "CCA:", and "CCA:\\" will not work. If you don't know your username or have forgotten your password, contact your administrative assistant. They will confirm your identity, and pass on the request to our helpdesk.
Go to Faculty and Staff Resources and click on the E-mail Access via the Web link. Enter your username and password, as described above. For more details, download and read the CCA WebMail Instructions, also available from the faculty and staff resources page.
Sometimes stuff who generate great quantities of mail (especially with attachments) are asked to periodically clean out their mail boxes. An alternative to deleting the mail is to move it to a Personal Folder, which takes it off the mail server. Follow these directions to create a personal folder in Outlook. We highly recommend that you save the folder on your home (H:) drive, so that it is backed up regularly and secured to your password. Also, federal laws (FERPA) require you to keep private student information on a secured server. E-mail with protected student information should remain on the mail server or be put in a personal folder on your H: drive, never your local hard drive.
Note that mail moved to a personal folder will no longer be available via Outlook Web Access.
The IT helpdesk can reset passwords, and is available 8 am - 7 pm on Monday through Thursday, and 8 am - 5 pm on Friday. Your student CANNOT have his or her own password reset. You must verify your student's identity with some form of ID, then you E-mail or call the helpdesk, and let them know the accounts to reset. See the IT Directory for the helpdesk phone number and address.
Faculty log into the student information system, called both Banner and My Community Education, and the online component of courses, called Blackboard Vista, using their S# and 6 character PIN. Your PIN never expires and it defaults to your birthday in mmddyy format.
You may want to change it (using My Community Ed) from this default to protect your account. If you forget your PIN, go the My Community Education system using the link on the front page and select the "Lost my password" link. If that does not work, contract Enrollment Services.
As of Fall 2007, all CCA courses are supposed to have their syllabus and grade book online. Online or hybrid courses will typically have other documents available online as well. It's tempting to upload Word Doc files, but students often have trouble downloading and reading files in that format. These directions show how you can turn most word documents into an HTML file students can easily open in their web browsers.
Blackboard Vista currently supports both Java 1.5.x ("Java 5") and 1.6.x ("Java 6"). However, if you are having trouble logging in or are getting with system errors in Vista, it may help to reinstall your Java. These directions will show you how to uninstall and reinstall Java on your computer (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
Around a month after registration starts for a semester, give or take, you will see black online shells appear in your Vista course list for the courses you are schedule to teach. If you have taught the class before, you can import a previous semester's content so you don't have to rebuild your course from scratch. These directions will show you how to copy your own vista courses (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader). This only works on empty shells. If you want to copy over existing content, use the dupe request form.
updated 1/27/07