Before leaving campus
To make things easiest for you, you need to first identify the file shares you need to access remotely. This is less critical if you are already using a University-owned computer because it should connect to the same file shares that you have available on the laptop when on campus.
Accessing file shares remotely
In order to access file shares from off-campus, you must be connected to VPN. This applies even if you are using a University-owned computer.
Once you know you can successfully VPN from off-campus, you can map your network shares to access them from your computer.