Vice President for Information Technology Status and Activity Report for November 2022 Prepared by Timothy M. Chester, Vice President for Information Technology (VPIT) 1. Key Items for Faculty and Staff Meetings •
State of Technology address set for November 16: Dr. Timothy M. Chester’s annual State of Technology address will be held via Zoom on Wednesday, November 16, 2022, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. All University students, faculty and staff are welcome to join. You can register for this event at: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcsceiopzMpEtQ758nGLIpngYucQpFpFwN5. For more information, contact Lynn Wilson at llatimer@uga.edu.
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EITS Office of Information Security helps facilitate crisis communications exercise on cyberattacks: In September, EITS participated in UGA Marketing and Communications’ annual crisis communications tabletop exercise. During the training, public relations professionals, and other key communicators in UGA departments responded to a simulated crisis situation and discussed how they might effectively communicate essential information to campus and external audiences. This year, the Office of Information Security assisted in designing and facilitating a simulated crisis scenario in which campus was hit by a multi-faceted cyberattack, involving phishing emails, ransomware threats and multiple outages of key campus services. Those participating in the exercise discussed how they might respond, as well as alternative ways of communicating if key services were inaccessible. Practicing a crisis response for such a scenario is important, as public higher education remains a top target for cyber-attackers who attempt to disrupt our operations and steal our intellectual property by subverting our processes, people, and technology. Students, faculty, and staff should remain vigilant about potential threats. Remember to back up critical systems and data; stop and think before opening email attachments or clicking on links; always have strong passwords and use multifactor authentication; and report suspicious events immediately. For more security tools and tips, visit infosec.uga.edu.
2. Services for Students •
DegreeWorks upgrade coming soon: On December 10, DegreeWorks will be upgraded to version 5.07. No major changes are expected with this upgrade; it is being made to prepare for future improvements, including a mobile-friendly responsive dashboard. During the upgrade, DegreeWorks will be unavailable. For more information, contact Shannon Marable at shannon.marable@uga.edu.
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Work continues on more than $1M in campus wireless upgrades: Work is under way on more wireless upgrades in buildings across the Athens, Buckhead, and Griffin campuses. These upgrades are part of EITS’s work to continuously improve Wi-Fi connectivity and coverage to support teaching, learning and student life. The $1.2 million project, funded by Student Technology Fees, includes wireless refreshments and redesigns in many buildings. Work has most recently been completed for the Grady Journalism Greenspace, the Coverdell Center, and R.C. Wilson Pharmacy. Technicians are also working on more improvements to other buildings and wireless spaces across campus, including the Life Sciences Building and the C127 Auditorium. Work for phase two is expected to be completed by July 2023. For more information, contact David Stewart at stewart@uga.edu.
VPIT Status and Activity Report for November 2022
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