EITS Status and Activity Report for February 2014 Prepared by Timothy M.

Chester, Vice President for Information Technology (VPIT) 1. Announcements for Faculty and Staff Meetings Microsoft to End Support of Windows XP & Office 2003. University departments should be advised and plan accordingly for Microsofts move to end its support of Windows XP and Office 2003, effective April 8, 2014. After that time, Microsoft will not provide any new fixes to those operating systems, thus making any computer using Windows XP and Office 2003 vulnerable to security risks. Without Microsoft technical support or security patches, University computers using those operating systems will be exposed to potential security threats. University departments are encouraged to review their inventory of Windows-based operating systems and plan for updating their computers to a newer operating system. For more information, please visit Microsofts information page at http://tinyurl.com/mnn29f6 or contact Shawn Ellis at spellis@uga.edu by email. eLC Offers More Features for Instructors, Students. The transition of eLearning Commons (eLC) from Desire2Learn continues to go smoothly, especially as more faculty begin to use additional resources within eLC. Some new features of eLC include the ability for students to receive email notifications of new activities in their courses, such as when grades are posted or an assignment is due. A team of staff from the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), EITS, and many colleges and schools, meets regularly to share ideas for improving eLC. Meanwhile, Desire2Learn is expected to complete the import of fall 2013 courses to eLC in February. The CTL has instructional resources about eLC for faculty and students available at http://ctl.uga.edu/elc. For more information about eLC, please contact Sherry Clouser at sac@uga.edu by email.

2. Support for Student Technology Services UGA Mobile App Popular Resource at Start of Semester. The student-designed UGA Mobile App has been downloaded more than 18,500 times since it was launched in April 2013. At the start of the spring semester, the mobile app was averaging about 80 downloads a day. The UGA Mobile App is a one-stop tool for tracking buses on campus, getting daily meal offerings in the dining halls, finding buildings on campus, viewing recreational sports schedules, and more. EITS worked closely with the Student Government Association (SGA) to design and develop the iOS app. In future updates, the mobile app will contain integrations with the new Banner student information system, such as viewing course schedules and grades. For more information about the UGA Mobile App, please point a browser to http://mobileapps.uga.edu or contact David Crouch at dave.crouch@uga.edu by email.

3. Support for Academic and Administrative Computing Training Committee Established for ConnectUGA Project. The ConnectUGA project is making progress toward go-live dates for financial aid and student course registration. Staff are working hard behind the scenes to meet deadlines during this critical crunch period, including converting data for several hundred thousand records. Teams have also been established to develop training, including a ConnectUGA Training Committee comprised of members of functional units that are key to the project. The committees goal is to determine who needs training and what type of delivery is needed for particular
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EITS Status and Activity Report for February 2014

groups. Online tutorials are being developed and will be available on the ConnectUGA website. Training has already begun with targeted groups as certain components of the system are completed, such as training for sectioning officers to load course sections for fall semester 2014. For more information about the ConnectUGA project, please point a browser to http://connectuga.uga.edu or contact connect@uga.edu by email. Planning for Next Phase of ArchPass Deployment Underway. The EITS Office of Information Security is working with the Universitys Administrative Systems Advisory Committee (ASAC) to develop a plan for deploying the ArchPass to additional University information systems. The ArchPass is a method of two-factor authentication for specified information systems with sensitive or restricted data, such as Social Security numbers or credit card numbers. The first deployment of the ArchPass to more than 1,700 users at the University last year was one of the largest implementations of two-factor authentication in higher education in the U.S. For the next phase, the ASAC is reviewing which systems should require ArchPass security before making a recommendation to the Office of Information Security. The next ArchPass deployment is expected to begin this spring semester. For more information about the ArchPass, please point a browser to http://archpass.uga.edu or contact Brian Rivers at brivers@uga.edu by email.

4. Support for Research Procurement Process Underway for New GACRC Cluster. The Georgia Advanced Computing Resource Center (GACRC) is working with the University Procurement Office to purchase a new cluster, which will expand the computational and storage services of the GACRC. The new cluster is expected to be available during the fall semester. The GACRC advisory committee recently recommended the configuration of the new cluster to include a minimum of 6,112 computational cores, a new Tier-1 storage with 140 terabytes of scratch space, and a new Tier-3 storage with an additional one petabyte of archive space. Once implemented, the new cluster will offer additional computational resources for researchers. For more information about the GACRC, please point a browser to http://gacrc.uga.edu or contact Guy Cormier at gcormier@uga.edu by email.

5. Core Campus Infrastructure Additional Fiber Line Installed to Health Sciences Campus. Installation of an alternative fiber optic connection to ensure connectivity to the Health Sciences Campus is underway and expected to be completed in early February. The fiber optic cable will provide additional connectivity and Internet connection redundancy from the main campus to the HSC, as well as enabling the provision of University Cablevision service to the HSC. For more information about the additional fiber line at the HSC, please contact Jeff Teasley at jteasley@uga.edu. Enhanced Commodity Internet Connectivity During Peak Usage. EITS recently reconfigured how commodity Internet traffic is routed to the University in an effort to improve connectivity during high-demand times. The new configuration optimizes higher bandwidth available by more evenly distributing traffic across the various Internet service providers. The previous primary path for commodity Internet traffic was a 1GB connection. The new configuration takes advantage of the Universitys full 10GB connection to Atlanta. For more information about the Internet pathway changes, please contact Brian Rivers at brivers@uga.edu by email.

EITS Status and Activity Report for February 2014

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MyWeb/MyDrive to be Decommissioned in June 2014. EITS has notified students, faculty, and staff who have used MyWeb/MyDrive about the end of this service, effective June 30, 2014. MyDrive is a file storage system that includes MyWeb, which offers personal webpages. The Vice President for Information Technology announced in September 2013 that campus-wide licenses for specific Novell products, including those that support MyWeb/MyDrive, would not be purchased for FY15. As an alternative to MyDrive, SkyDrive is a free file storage option available to all students, faculty, and staff. EITS will work with individuals and departments who need alternatives to MyWeb. There are several third-party products available. For more information about the decommissioning of MyWeb/MyDrive, please point a browser to http://tinyurl.com/mngjnzj or contact Wes Johnson at wes06@uga.edu by email.

6. Did You Know? Timothy M. Chester, Vice President for Information Technology, recently spoke on the Provost CIO Relationship for the American Council on Education (ACE) at their Institute for New Chief Academic Officers (CAOs) in Tucson, Arizona. The Institute for New CAOs enables higher education leaders in the first three years of service as a CAO to engage with and learn from seasoned colleagues and national experts, to forge connections with fellow new CAOs, and to benefit from ACEs thought leadership and expertise. The Institute is a 12-month program that includes three in-person meetings. EITS is offering two training opportunities at UGAs Training and Development center for people who want to learn more about computer security. The EITS Office of Information Security (InfoSec) will conduct a computer security basics class on February 13 for those wondering if theyre safe online while using a work or personal computer. The class is recommended for beginning to intermediate computer users who want to improve their computer security skills and knowledge. In addition, a class about the tools, services, and support InfoSec can offer UGA departments will be conducted on March 20. InfoSec can help University departments with security assessments, training, incident response, mitigation, and compliance. Registration for both classes is available at www.hr.uga.edu/training.

University of Georgia students, faculty, and staff, as well as interested others, may subscribe to this monthly report by sending an email to listserv@listserv.uga.edu with the phrase subscribe vpit-news as the body of the message.

EITS Status and Activity Report for February 2014

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