Getting your workflow up to speed at NYU can be challenging, especially with the University’s evolving systems and outdated interfaces. Since they’re never going to tell you how to get your Apple TV working or help you find course assignments faster, we figured we’d give you this handy introduction for getting your lives at NYU networked and organized.

Stop typing your NYUHome login information — God forbid someone gets ahold of your NYUHome password! Imagine what they could do (send flirty emails to Dakota Fanning?). Who knows? For your safety (but at your inconvenience), NYUHome prevents your browser from storing login details. To get around this, we recommend the browser extension LastPass.

Download the NYU Mobile app — NYU’s official mobile app for iOS comes with interactive campus maps, live bus and Safe Ride tracking, event listings, University news, a mini CareerNet search for finding internships and one impossible-to-miss-when-you’re-drunk button for calling Safe Ride.

Bookmark your classes — People still don’t realize you can bookmark Blackboard pages. Make a folder in your browser for each class and add the respective Blackboards. Pages like “Course Documents” and “Assignments” are displayed as frames within the page layout, so you’ll have to copy the link from the button sidebar or right-click inside the active page to find its direct URL. Bookmarks form both Chrome and Safari sync with their respective mobile apps, so you’ll have access to your shortcuts wherever you go. Life changed.

Connect everything you own to NYU’s WiFi — By now you should know how to connect your computer to NYU’s WiFi. But there are many devices that don’t support our WPA/2 Enterprise network (e.g. Apple TV, Kindle). If the device in question has an Ethernet port, try connecting it directly to the jack in your room. Otherwise you’ll have to violate NYU policy by setting up a router (or your laptop) as an access point to rebroadcast the signal. (Or you could just move off campus.)

Store your schoolwork in the cloud — For simple documents and assignments, skip Word and just create Docs within Google Drive. For the rest of your junk, make an “NYU Fall 2012″ folder in Dropbox so you can access everything from the semester all the time. You’ll inevitably forget to print an assignment but with your work readily accessible on any browser or mobile device, life can go on.

Get a better NYU email address — While netID-based email addresses certainly have a nice dehumanizing ring, why not select something more personal? Go to your NYU Home “Preferences” page and find “Personal address(es)”, select “Edit” and choose an appropriate address. Don’t be afraid to try your first name in isolation, especially if it is something unique like Watermelondrea.

Forward NYU emails — Forward your NYU email to your personal address, even if that means to another Gmail. Go to your account, follow these instructions and make sure to choose “delete New York University Mail’s copy.” If you have a personal Gmail, follow this guide so you can send messages from your NYU account using your personal Gmail. Make sure to configure multiple account sign-in so you can switch to your NYU Google account on the fly and use the University-wide address book.

Print remotely — Download ITS Print Service to send documents directly to ITS lab printers from your computer. Swipe your ID at an affiliated printer to release jobs.

(Image via)