Welcome to Beloit!
Luckily, you can enjoy 21st-century technology alongside Beloit’s ancient Indigenous Mounds and historic 19th-century buildings. Here’s some important information on how to get plugged in on campus.
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Assistance from LITS
If at any point in your campus adventure you run into a technology roadblock, reach out to Library & Information Technology Services (LITS), for help. Support requests can be submitted through our ZenDesk ticketing system (preferred), by email, or phone. The primary service point for LITS is located at the InfoDesk, right inside the front doors on the main level of Morse Library.
Need after hours help? Check out our ever-expanding self-service technology help articles on the LITS Knowledge Base or report a problem on at the LITS Support Center.
Email LITS Support: support@beloit.edu
Call LITS Support: 608-363-HELP (4357)
Accounts and Passwords
LITS Beloit College IT system passwords serve several purposes, such as preventing unauthorized access to sensitive information and helping faculty, staff, and students prove their identity to campus computer systems. LITS uses a central account/password directory to authenticate sign-on to most of our systems. Use your Beloit College account to access: The Portal, campus computers, BCNet wireless network, G Suite apps (Gmail, Calendar, Drive), Office 365, Belcat (Library catalog), Moodle, Studio Abroad, network file shares, campus directories, and an ever-expanding list of additional campus digital resources.
For more information on passwords at Beloit College, including information on guidelines and best practices, enrolling in Password Manager, changing your password, resetting a forgotten password, and more, please visit:
Password Manager (setup, change, or reset password)
What Type of Computer Should I Bring?
Many students choose to bring their own desktop, laptop, or tablet computer. LITS maintains an article detailing our hardware standards for faculty and staff campus computer purchases - this may be a good place to start when considering what type of computer you may want to bring to campus.
LITS also recommends reaching out to your advisor or professors in your chosen major/minor to see if they have any recommendations. Some fields of study utilize specialized software that may necessitate more robust hardware requirements than that of a standard computer.
Before making any purchases, be sure to check out the information below on technology purchasing discounts!
Personal Technology Purchasing Discounts
Ultimately, the decision about which computer to purchase is a personal preference. LITS maintains an article detailing several vendors that offer technology purchasing discounts to current students, faculty and staff, including discounts from Apple, Dell, and Microsoft. LITS also offers some software at no cost for currently enrolled students, more information on free campus software is detailed in the section below.
Campus (FREE) Software
Beloit provides some necessary communication, collaboration, productivity, and security software to current students at no cost. Abbreviated information on some software is available below - for more details on campus software, please visit LITS Service Catalog - Software & Applications.
Antivirus
LITS requires that any computers connecting to the campus network have antivirus software with up-to-date virus definitions installed. You are welcome to use any antivirus software that you prefer. LITS offers Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) to any currently enrolled students for use on Apple or Windows-based computers. Installation instructions and file download links can be found at the link below. You will be required to provide your current Beloit College account credentials before proceeding to the download page.
G Suite
Beloit College uses the Google G Suite for Education platform for email, calendaring, productivity, and collaboration. To access campus G Suite applications, navigate to mail.beloit.edu and use your Beloit account credentials to login. Gmail will be displayed by default, but other G Suite applications can be accessed from the app launcher in the upper right corner. For more information on G Suite applications:
Microsoft Office & Office 365
Beloit College has a site license for Microsoft Office and Office 365. The Office Suite is installed on all college-owned computers on campus, including those in campus computer labs and public spaces. Office 365 is a cloud-based version of the Office suite that is available for students to utilize on their personal computer. Students may access their Office 365 account using their Beloit account credentials to unlock the full features of the Office.com site.
Apporto Virtual DesktopBeloit College utilizes the Apporto Virtual Desktop service to enable 24/7 access to licensed software traditionally only available in campus computer labs. Apporto is a cloud-based application that is accessible via any device with a web browser. For more information on the Apporto service:
Internet Access on Campus
The Beloit College campus offers wired and wireless networking in all campus buildings. There is also significant outdoor wireless coverage accessible outside of Pearsons Hall and on the residential quad. The wireless network for students, faculty and staff is called BCNet. Parents, friends and other visitors are able to utilize our guest wireless network by connecting to BCGuest.
For help connecting to our wireless networks, see:
Each residence hall room has a wired network port; to connect this way, you’ll need an Ethernet cable, either 14’ long (most rooms) or 25’ (some special cases). If needed, you may obtain a cable from LITS. Wired network ports can be easily identified by the color-coded orange or blue connection port and the Dxxx label. White or almond colored wall ports are for landline phone connections and have a Vxxx label. Devices that will be connected to the campus wired network must be registered once per academic year.
Since our BCNet and BCGuest wireless network is available in all academic and residential buildings, LITS does not allow personal wireless routers on campus. Please review the Personal Wireless Router policy for more details.
Campus Computer Labs
The Beloit College campus has several computer labs and public computer areas available to current students, faculty, and staff for general-use or for specific academic disciplines. Many labs have specialized, discipline-specific software for student coursework. For more details on campus computer labs, including available hardware and software, please visit the Computer Labs article on the LITS Knowledge Base.
In addition to traditional campus computer lab spaces, Beloit College also utilizes the Apporto Virtual Desktop service to enable 24/7 access to licensed software traditionally only available in campus computer labs. Apporto is a cloud-based application that is accessible via any device with a web browser. For more information on the Apporto service:
Learning Management System
Moodle is the online learning management system (LMS) used by Beloit College and supported by LITS. Many courses use Moodle to post course content such as syllabi, course readings, class forums, assessments, grading, creating online activities for students, and much more. In addition to classroom courses, Moodle has self-paced training courses and is used for some non-academic content such as administrative content, work-study training, internal resource hosting, and club/organization sites.
Campus Printing
Beloit College has print and copy locations available for students in many campus buildings and computer labs, as well as a cloud-based printing solution which allows students to upload a document to a campus printer from their personal laptop or mobile device.
In an effort to encourage sustainability and reduce wasteful printing, Beloit College has implemented a print management program for students, faculty, and staff. As part of this program, students receive a printing page allocation each semester. Students can log in to the Papercut user dashboard using their Beloit College account credentials to monitor their printing balance. Document print job release is managed at the printer and is secured via a unique Printing PIN number.
Loaner Equipment
Beloit College classes are not all about rote learning - instructors push their students to engage in many hands-on, interactive learning projects - many of those projects end up involving technology at some point. When you have one of those opportunities, don't submit a lackluster phone recording for a project - stop by the InfoDesk and borrow an HD camcorder or high-quality audio recorder to take your project to the next level!
LITS offers short-term loaner equipment to members of the Beloit College community. The LITS loaner pool also has: HD projectors (movie night!), Chromebooks, sound systems for lectures (and maybe...parties?), high-quality audio and video recorders, presentation remotes, tripods, conference phones, a plethora of a/v cables and adapters, and more. Visit the InfoDesk on the main level of Morse Library to see the full selection. Remember to bring your Beloit College ID card to checkout equipment.
