This proposed draft is intended for the DECEMBER group of participants.

Beginning in December 2006, you will sign your online leave report with a personal digital certificate (PDC). The PDC initiative is important to the university since it will increase security and have the added benefit of more efficient and streamlined administrative processes. The upcoming step will allow IT personnel to digitally sign and approve their official leave reports, thus electronically replacing this paper intensive process. Eventually, digitally signed documents will become a university wide process and go beyond this first step of signing leave reports. Below are instructions for receiving your PDC.

1. Your PDC will be on a physical token, a USB device. Pick up your PDC according to this schedule http://www.pki.vt.edu/pdc/schedule.html. You must bring your Hokie passport and a government-issued photo ID. Be prepared to enter a secure password for your token and to sign the terms and conditions at http://www.pki.vt.edu/pdc/termsandcond.html.

2. Download the software you will need by logging into https://www.ita.vt.edu/Apps/WebObjects/NetSoftware, and selecting the appropriate "Aladdin eToken" software.

3. Follow the instructions at http://www.pki.vt.edu/pdc to install the software and to configure your browsers.

Few changes are needed to sign your leave report with your PDC. You may continue to enter your leave at any time during the month. By clicking "Sign", you will be prompted for your token password and the PID of the person who normally signs your leave report.

If you already have one of our Aladdin eTokens, please return it when you pick up your new eToken and PDC. The returned eTokens will be reformatted.

More information, including frequently asked questions, can be found at http://www.pki.vt.edu/pdc.

Thank you for being an early adopter of the Virginia Tech digitally signed leave reporting system. Please report any problems or feedback, positive or negative, to 4Help at 540-231-4357 or http://www.4help.vt.edu.

Erv

9 Comments

  1. Greg Kroll

    Sep 07, 2006

    See attachments tab for Mary Dunker's revision.  Her comments from the e-mail the revsion was sent in follow:Here is another cut. I basically rearranged some of the existing text and took out most of the occurances of "strong" in reference to authentication and encryption. I think the "strong" references in the 1st draft are beyond the scope of that the user needs to absorb at this time, because they have fairly technical definitions. In my opinion, if we want to describe the use of the eToken to provide stong authentication, I think the term "two-factor authentication" would be easier to remember, and belongs in the Aladdin eToken section. I'm still not convinced we need to include that in the e-mail, however.

    Thanks for the opportunity to add my $.02-worth.

    Mary

  2. Greg Kroll

    Sep 07, 2006

    See the attachments tab for Susan Brooker-Gross's revision.  Her comments from that e-mail follow:

    Do we need more than the attached, and move the rest of the information to the linked info? I'm losing track of what audience is what. Which note is this?

    Can we aggregate "software" into one step, even if it's just a page that then has two steps (the middleware and then the trust chain)? It's all software to me...

    I would really like to see some accountable signature on this. WHO is really sending it? Who is in charge of the project? A name of a person would go far in creating credibility and trust.

  3. Unknown User (rsprague)

    Sep 12, 2006

    Added attachment with my revisions.

  4. Mary Dunker

    Sep 12, 2006

    Erv said this e-mail should come from him.

  5. Mary Dunker

    Sep 12, 2006

    I like Susan's last submissiont. Is it brief and to the point. Ithink it contains a missing word or two, but

    the general message is conveyed well.  We could include the details on Mission, etc. at www.pki.vt.edu/pdc (suggested URL)

  6. Greg Kroll

    Oct 04, 2006

    I still thinks this needs a new introduction. I'm meeting with Jeb Friday morning to approve and after checking with Frank, send this official communique.

    Here's a suggested first paragraph, or to be added to the current first paragraph of this communique.

    The personal digital certificates project is poised to benefit Virginia Tech in the areas of security and process. IT employees|personnel can, for the first time, digitally sign and approve their official leave report, thus electronically replacing this paper intensive process.

  7. Greg Kroll

    Oct 05, 2006

    Here's another suggestion for a new opening paragraph.

    The personal digital certificates project is poised to benefit Virginia Tech through more efficient and streamlined administrative processes. This initiative directly supports the university strategic plan goal of "Quality and Service" by promoting an efficient administrative culture. IT employees|personnel can, for the first time, digitally sign and approve their official leave report, thus electronically replacing this paper intensive process.

    See http://www.president.vt.edu/strategicplan/orgdev.php#quality for reference.

  8. Frank Galligan

    Oct 06, 2006

    To be more accurate you may want to make the following changes for steps 2 and 3:

    2. Download the software you will need by logging into https://www.ita.vt.edu/Apps/WebObjects/NetSoftware, and selecting the appropriate "Aladdin eToken" software.
    3. Follow the instructions at http://www.pki.vt.edu/pdc to install the software and and to configure your browsers.

  9. Greg Kroll

    Nov 01, 2006

    Note the October & November e-mails are archived as attachments.

    The one displayed on this page is intended to be sent to NI&S (the December group) on or around December 1, or earlier if they receive their tokens earlier than that.

    There seems to be some confusion about the first sentence regarding which leave report we re talking about.

    Lee Anne suggested changing it to something like:
    "When you enter your November leave starting on December 10, you will now sign your leave report using your digital signature."

    Or perhaps (my suggestion):
    ""When you enter your November leave starting on December 10, you will sign your online leave report with a personal digital certificate (PDC)."
    My argument for the above is to keep the PDC theme in there.