myCOD Frequently Asked Questions

What is the myCOD student portal?

The myCOD student portal is a web based tool designed specifically for educational institutions to enhance communication between the educational institution and its students. The myCOD student portal provides personal productivity tools including an email account, calendar, task list, and personal file space for registered students. There are campus-wide communication tools including an announcement board, campus news, and a college calendar that facilitates communication with the entire campus community. In addition, the portal supports groupings or communities that allow communication among smaller sub-groups such as student clubs or classes. Class information is stored on the system, and updated nightly, so that faculty members can communicate easily with their students. Faculty can post messages and files, start an online discussion board, post a syllabus, post and collect assignments, and use an online grade book for their classes.

How does one access the myCOD student portal?

Click on the myCOD icon located on the College of DuPage home page (http://www.cod.edu) to access the myCOD student portal.

What is the relationship between the myCOD student portal and Blackboard?

Blackboard provides a more fully featured course management system than what is available through the myCOD student portal. Blackboard is the most suitable choice for managing course materials for online classes because it contains features for online testing. Students registered in online or hybrid classes will use the myCOD student portal for sending and receiving email.

How are students assigned an account on myCOD?

All students (aged 17 and older) will receive a myCOD account if they are registered for one or more classes.

How will students be informed of their account name and password for the system?

Once issued an account, students will receive a letter notifying them of their account name, temporary password, and login instructions.

What is the default account name and password?

The default account name will be of the form: lastname.firstname.xxxx where xxxx is four random numbers. Students will be sent this information via a letter when the account is created and for each term that they are registered. The student can also find their account name on the student registration system at https://weblink.cod.edu/login after signing in with the student id number and PIN. The initial password is the first two letters of the student's city plus the student's PIN. For example, if a student lived in Glen Ellyn, and his PIN was 1070 then: His password would be: gl1070 When students first sign on to myCOD, they will be prompted to change their password and to provide a password hint for password recovery. If students forget their password, they can click on the "What is my password" link on the portal and be walked through obtaining a new password.

What if students aren't able to reset their password following the prompts on the system?

If a student can't remember the answer to the password hint or set the password hint with an alternate email account and can't retrieve email from the alternate account, they must proceed to the registration page at https://weblink.cod.edu/login. After signing in using their student ID and PIN, they can follow the links to reset their email account password.

How can faculty get a listing of their students' email account names?

Email account names will be printed on the class list distributed to faculty. In addition, the class members may be found by opening the class (go to the Academics tab, select the Class sub-tab, then choose the class) and selecting "Edit Members" in the Faculty Tools menu.

How long are myCOD accounts kept?

Accounts of students who have not accessed the myCOD website for 6 months or longer AND who are not currently registered may automatically be deleted. When students re-register at the College, a new myCOD account will be created and they will receive a letter with the account information.

How much storage space will each student be allocated?

Each student has a limit of 10 MB of storage space for email messages and 5MB of personal file storage. Students will see a visual gauge indicating the amount of space available to them within the system.

When will students have access to their classes in the student portal?

Student class information will be loaded into the system starting two weeks before the official class start date. This information will be updated nightly.

How does a student get started with the myCOD student portal?

Faculty should direct students to www.cod.edu and to click on the myCOD icon. On the left hand side of the myCOD welcome page they will find help for: " First time user " Tutorials " FAQs Additional help and instructional videos are found by following the "Student Guide to myCOD" link within the Campus Bookmarks section on the right hand side of the Welcome page. When students are ready to log in, the login button is at the top of the myCOD welcome page, near the myCOD icon.

What if a student needs additional help with the myCOD student portal?

The myCOD student portal contains extensive online help as well as tutorials on how to use the features within the site. Additional help and instructional videos are found by following the "Student Guide to myCOD" link within the Campus Bookmarks section of the Welcome page.

If students are not able to find solutions to their questions online you may instruct students to contact the Student Help Desk:

• In person from any lab aide in the Academic Computing Center (SRC 3600)
• Via telephone at 630-942-2999
• Via email at studenthelp@dupage.edu

The student help desk is available during the following hours:

Monday - Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Friday 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Sunday 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Exceptions to the above hours occur when the computing lab is not open. See the lab schedule below. The student help desk will only be able to answer questions regarding use of myCOD and will not be able to assist students with questions about their personal computers or with homework assignments. They will be directed to either a local computer repair shop for assistance with their personal computer or to their instructor for assistance with their homework.

Top Fifteen Applications by Number of Times Accessed (April 2008)

1. Internet Explorer 6

2. Real Player

3. Microsoft Word 2003

4. Firefox

5. Internet Explorer 7

6. Adobe Acrobat Reader 7

7. Windows Media Player

8. Microsoft Word 2007

9. Notepad

10. C++

11. PowerPoint 2003

12. Excel 2003

13. Microsoft Paint

14. Microsoft Access 2003

15. Adobe Photoshop Elements

Top Fifteen Applications by Number of Times Accessed (Dec 2006)

1. Internet Explorer 610,068

2. Microsoft Word 19,318

3. Firefox 41,383

4. Microsoft PowerPoint 37,183

5. Microsoft Excel 30,529

6. Netscape Mozilla 11,689

7. Microsoft Outlook 10,980

8. AutoCad 10,914

9. Microsoft Access 10,285

10. Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 9,200

11. Minitab 14 8,310

12. Mathcad 2001i 5,988

13. Textpad 2,947

14. Pro/Engineer 2,804

15. Microsoft Publisher 2,463

Top Fifteen Applications by Number of Times Accessed (March 2005)

1. Internet Explorer 215,427

2. Microsoft Word 48,790

3. Adobe Reader 12,138

4. Java SDK 1.4.1 Web Start 10,773

5. Microsoft PowerPoint 8,432

6. Microsoft Excel 6,072

7. Microsoft Access 4,249

8. Netscape Mozilla 4,034

9. TextPad 1,516

10. Minitab 14 1268

11. Microsoft FrontPage 853

12. SPSS Manager Citrix 711

13. Dreamweaver 687

14. Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 678

15. Mathcad 2001i Application 516

Top Fifteen Applications by Number of Times Accessed (May 2004)

1. Internet Explorer 63,077

2. Microsoft Word 21,763

3. Microsoft Access 4,252

4. Microsoft Excel 4,154

5. Microsoft PowerPoint 4,008

6. Adobe Reader 3,880

7. Netscape 6 3,254

8. Minitab 14 1,639

9. TextPad 1,099

10. Illustrator Mac 945

11. Java SDK 1.4.1 563

12. Photoshop 559

13. Dreamweaver 474

14. Visual Basic 416

15. SPSS 378

* - covers only labs where metering software has been installed.

Group Study in the Academic Computing Center

In an effort to reduce noise in ACC open lab, vacant Academic Computing Center classrooms will be provided, when available, for group study. The room is only available to registered students who need to work on a group project that requires software available only in Academic Computing Center. See the lab supervisor for additional details.

Wireless laptops are available for use in the Library in conjunction with the Library's group study rooms.

Instructions for burning CD-ROMS on Macintosh Computers

Instructions for burning CD-ROMS using Roxio Toast on the Macintosh computers located in SRC 3624 and the ACC open lab have been posted.

Proposed Lab Closings* (subject to change)

All College of DuPage computing labs will be closed as indicated below. Regional Center labs may also be closed additional days prior to or following these closings. Call the Regional Centers for more information.

Friday, July 4: ACC and KLAB closed

Academic Lab Supervisors' Hours (Summer and break hours may differ)

Jeff Berger -- Jeff works Monday - Friday from 7:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Damin Keenan -- Damin works Monday - Friday 2:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Paul Johnson -- Paul works Saturday 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. and Sunday 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Student Workers

Available during all open hours.

Last Update: April 3, 2008