Skip to content

Business Continuity refers to the continuation of essential business and administrative functions at Clark University in the event of unexpected or extended campus closures. This guide will outline tools to support your department’s business needs in the event of a closure.

The best time to plan for an emergency is before it happens. A great place to start is by reviewing the tools below and integrating them into your regular work processes. This will allow an easier transition should a continuity event occur.

Should an event occur, monitor your Clark email and other communication streams for official communication about campus closures. Ensure that your ClarkALERTS information is up to date by visiting ClarkYou. Additionally, talk to your department about business continuity expectations during the event.

Banner Administrative Applications and other administrative systems can be accessed at http://adminapps.clarku.edu from Clark-managed computers only, and is available either off- or on-campus.

If you have a Clark-issued laptop or other device when working off-campus, you can connect  to VPN and access Banner directly.

If you are using a personally-owned device when working off campus, you should connect to an on-campus device via Remote Desktop, and from there, access Banner.

While the ClarkYou portal is a tool that you probably use regularly, it will be useful during an unexpected campus closure. Through the portal you will have access to many of the online tools you may need.

File shares are a common method used by departments to share content. File shares are fully accessible when using the VPN (see details below).

If you just need to download a file to work on it or move it to OneDrive, you can read your file shares via a web browser by going to https://webfs.clarku.edu. There you will login with your Clark Account credentials and can browse and read the file shares you have access to. You cannot modify or create files this way, but it can provide quick access to your information.

If you have a Clark-issued laptop, we recommend that you use that for remote work.

The campus maintains a small number of loaner laptops. In times of high demand, laptop loans will be limited and managed to maintain critical University functions.

If you need to request the temporary loan of a laptop, please discuss your need with your department head and request that they email the Help Desk who will coordinate approvals with the appropriate committee.

Staff and faculty can install Microsoft Office 365 applications on a personal device while employed at the University. This includes Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Skype for Business, OneNote, Outlook, and Publisher.

OneDrive is Clark’s cloud storage solution that provides 1TB of space to create, save, share and collaborate on files from any browser and any device. This service will be particularly useful during a continuity event in order to collaborate with team members on documents, share your current projects with your colleagues, and save your work in an easy-to-access location.

Please remember that using OneDrive to store confidential information is prohibited. Some examples of confidential information are Social Security Numbers, financial account numbers, or Protected Health Information. Click here for full details about confidential information and the University’s Data Security policies.

Outlook, on your desktop or online, will give you access to your email, voicemail, calendar and shared mailboxes from off-campus.

To access Outlook, use the link in ClarkYou, or click here to access it directly.

Automatic Responses

If you are going be off campus, or if there is a campus closure, we recommend setting an automatic response to notify senders about the situation. Click here for instructions on how to do so from Outlook Online.

Shared Mailboxes

If you need to check a departmental or shared mailbox that you have permission to access, you can do so by visiting https://outlook.office.com/mail/[SHARED MAILBOX]@clarku.edu.

For example, if you need to visit the info@clarku.edu shared mailbox, you can navigate to https://outlook.office.com/mail/info@clarku.edu and log in with your Clark Account username and password.

Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) allows you to access your campus computer from another device. Once connected, you will have access to all of your usual applications and resources. In order to use Remote Desktop Connection you will need to be connected via the VPN, know your computer name, and ensure that your power settings are correct. Due to the setup required, planning ahead to use this option will be important.

While working off-campus during a continuity event, continued communication with your team will be important. Skype for Business allows you to text chat and video conference.

Teams is a Microsoft app that brings together many of the aspects of OneDrive, Skype for Business and OneNote to allow teams to work together from a distance. It includes the ability to communicate, collaborate and share and you can work in multiple teams easily and effectively.

Clark’s phone system does not support the ability to forward calls to off-campus numbers.

In the event where someone might not be available to answer the phone, callers should be instructed to leave a message. This voicemail will be delivered to your email, and you can return the call. Please see the section on this page on Voicemail for instructions on how to change greetings.

In 2020, as the University responds to COVID-19, we suggest the following greeting:

Sorry we missed your call. Clark is following CDC and State guidelines so normal procedures are being adjusted. Calls are being actively monitored, so please leave a message and we will respond as soon as possible.

If you have an Auto Attendant (for example, “press 1 for…”) please email helpdesk@clarku.edu with your requested changes.

Clark’s voicemail system allows you to check voicemail from home through Outlook. You can also make modifications to your voicemail settings and outgoing message.

Click here to make changes to your voicemail settings.

If you have a recorded personalized greeting, that greeting will supercede the greetings you enter at the above website. We suggest you remove your personalized greeting and use the link above to manage your greetings.  To remove your personal greeting, you will need to use Skype for Business (installed on Clark computers).  Click here for detailed instructions.

VPN is a tool that allows you to access Clark University’s network from off campus. This will allow you to securely access those computing resources which are restricted to on-campus access only. VPN does require installation and setup, so if you expect to need VPN during a continuity event, planning ahead will be important.

If you have a Clark-issued laptop, we recommend that you use the integrated webcam and microphone for remote meetings.

If you’re using a desktop, you can request a web-camera or headset (with microphone) by emailing the Help Desk who will coordinate approvals with the appropriate committee.

ITS also holds a stock of other technology for short and long-term loans where appropriate, including video cameras, personal amplification microphones, document cameras and drawing tablets. Please email the Help Desk for more information.

Zoom is a tool that allows audio and video conferencing and remote meetings. A host can invite up to 300 people to attend a virtual session, and can share their video, audio, and screen. Participants are not required to have a Zoom account and can join with video, with audio (via their computer, device or phone) and participate in text chatting, breakout rooms and polling.

All Clark community members have access to a fully-licensed Zoom account (previously called a Pro account). Click here to learn more about Zoom at Clark

Contact Information

ITS Help Desk

Call or Email
Spring 2024 Hours
  • Monday-Thursday: 8am – 12am
    Friday: 8am – 5pm
    Saturday: 12pm – 5pm
    Sunday: 12pm – 12am