There are several share drives that are available to faculty and staff based on departmental need. Folder structures are generally organized by department at the highest level, then divided into subfolders which become incrementally more specific to subsets of that department. This methodology should always be used for the sake of simplicity of navigation, as well as making specific permissions possible.
If you believe that you do not have the correct folder access, please file a service request, and the Education Technology Office will assess your situation and modify permissions as needed.
Folder permissions should be set correctly when an employee begins work, based on the information given to the Education Technology Office by the employee’s supervisor. Needs can change, however, so please file a service request as soon as you’re aware of a required change in access. Include in your request the NetID of the person(s) who need different access, what that access will be used for, and the contact information for the person(s) who manage that information.
All drives will be mapped automatically when an employee logs in to a computer with their NetID and password (Windows PC only).
To create a shortcut to a folder that you frequently use on one of the share drives, open File Explorer and navigate to view the folder, but do not navigate inside of it. Right-click on the folder which you would like to create a desktop shortcut to, move your mouse down to the “Send To” option within the drop-down menu, then choose “Desktop (create shortcut).” This will create a shortcut of the selected folder on your desktop.
Home Drive: Every faculty and staff member in the College of Education has access to a 10 GB “Home Drive,” which is stored on a server. This can be used for storage of any personal files that a user may like to save, but which otherwise may not have an appropriate server location. These drives are private but not confidential.
Share Drives: The College of Education operates several shared network drives for use by the faculty, staff, and student employees. These should be used for the majority of data storage, especially anything which may be shared between several people. The drive location(s) which are used will vary by department. Permission for folder access is granted based on an employee’s position and needs. If you believe that you do not have the correct folder access, please file a service request, and the Education Technology Office will assess your situation and modify permissions as needed.
Local Storage: Files related to an employee’s work for the College of Education should never be stored on their desktop or laptop computer. All work-related data should be stored on one of the server locations, as appropriate.
Sensitive Data: Files and folders which may contain sensitive or confidential information must be stored in accordance with federal and state laws, as well as university policy. Sensitive data is the exception to the policy about local storage, and usually the policies mandate a secure local device be used for storage. It is the responsibility of the faculty or staff member in possession of the device which contains sensitive or confidential data to ensure that the given standards are met. The Administration of Michigan State University has defined confidential data by the guidelines given here: Link
Grant-based data: MSU’s Contract and Grant Administration has this guide about NSF Data Management Planning: Link
If you cannot find a file, it may have been mistakenly moved to another folder. When you still cannot find a file, please file a service request. Files saved to the servers are backed up daily and saved for 45 days.
If there is a failure on your computer that causes data to be lost, contact the Education IT Support staff immediately. Recovery is sometimes possible, though the likelihood of it depends on the circumstances.