What if I suddenly can't get in?

The WebCT server hosts a very large number of subjects and students across the university, and depends on the network of cables and switches that crosses the Uni and the world. From time to time some part will simply fall over, and your electronic messages will not reach their destination.

You may see a message telling you that there is a planned server outage, or you may simply not be able to access the site. If this happens just as you are planning to post, you will find this extremely frustrating, particularly if it happens on a weekend when there's no one for you to call.

What to do:

a) try not to panic. Take note of the time of any scheduled outage, but don't expect service to be immediately resumed as promised. Many server problems turn out to be more complicated than is first hoped.

b) if the outage occurs during working hours, call your local university IT support (02 4221 3775, or details on your subject handout) for an update

c) don't waste too much time (and money) repeatedly trying to connect. Server outage is a known problem with any linked learning environment, and your tutors will be sympathetic. They will probably be trying to do the same thing as you.

d) if you are worried about missing a posting deadline, send an email message using your normal email to your tutor, copied to the subject co-ordinator. If you can't access email either, leave a voice mail message for the subject co-ordinator which can be passed on to your tutor.

These are common problems, and we are all sympathetic to the difficulties they cause.