Vice President for Information Technology Status and Activity Report for December 2021 Prepared by Timothy M. Chester, Vice President for Information Technology (VPIT) 1. Key Items for Faculty and Staff Meetings •
2022 UGA Network Maintenances planned: EITS will conduct planned network maintenances on March 5 and October 22, 2022. EITS conducts large network maintenances twice a year, during which campus Internet and campus information systems are inaccessible. The maintenance on Saturday, March 5 will begin at 6 a.m., and continue until noon on Sunday, March 6, 2022. Additional details regarding the October 22 maintenance will be shared in late spring 2022. These planned network maintenances are necessary to continue to support the network, allowing EITS to provide ample bandwidth and Internet capacity to the University in the future. In 2021, these planned maintenances enhanced the ability to increase network bandwidth to 10G connectivity, transitioned buildings to faster connectivity to the UGA data center and prepared for the transition to new firewalls. For questions, contact Chris Baines at cbaines@uga.edu.
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Ransomware Tabletop Exercise planned: Ransomware has become one of the top business risks facing any large, distributed organization. To proactively raise our awareness and improve our continuity planning, EITS will host a Ransomware Tabletop Exercise in early 2022. UGA has contracted with a leading cybersecurity firm to deliver operational and executive leadership tabletop exercises at UGA. For more information, contact Ben Myers at bmyers@uga.edu.
2. Services for Students •
Work under way to upgrade wireless equipment in University Housing: In November, EITS network technicians began installing new wireless access points throughout University Housing to improve wireless service in each building. The work is part of a $5 million project spanning five years to replace and upgrade equipment in 18 residence halls on the Athens campus. Technicians began with Mary Lyndon Hall and Lipscomb Hall, and plan to complete access point replacements in Mell Hall, Hill Hall, Church Hall, Russell Hall and Creswell Hall before the fall semester is over. Work will continue on other residence halls in the spring. For more information, contact Chris Fleming at cfleming@uga.edu.
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Newest Banner 9 upgrade complete: Congratulations to the Athena/Banner 9 team for successfully launching the newest upgrade to the Banner 9 system. This updated version of Athena benefits students, faculty, and advisors and provides updates to several modules including Personal Information, Student Registration, Student Account and Faculty and Advisor modules, as well as enhancements to the modules’ functionality. These updated modules are easier to navigate and are mobile friendly. There was great feedback from the faculty, staff and students who tested this updated version, specifically with the new Plan Ahead feature for registering for classes and a new feature for faculty enabling them to see student photos alongside the class roster. More features will be made available throughout 2022. Updates will be available at https://connectuga.uga.edu.
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More than $1M in campus wireless upgrades planned: EITS will soon begin work on more wireless upgrades in buildings across the Athens, Buckhead and Griffin campuses. These upgrades are part of EITS’s work to continuously improve wifi connectivity and
VPIT Status and Activity Report for December 2021
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