Vice Chancellor for Information Technology

Status and Activity Report for November 2023

Prepared by Timothy M. Chester, Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and CIO

1. Key Items and Announcements

• University System of Georgia (USG) Unified-ERP Preliminary Assessment Proceeding.

System requirements development for the Human Resources, Financial, and Student
modules is progressing well. The team has distributed surveys to more than 740
potential participants and received 467 responses. We are reviewing the data and
finalizing workshop participants with a focus on cross-USG representation. Considering
the campus calendar, we have scheduled 39 workshops from mid-November through
February.

• Information Security Operational Controls Update Continues. USG Cybersecurity and

ITS continue collaborating on initiatives to reduce risk in the wake of the MOVEit
postmortem. In October, ITS made further progress in assessing and, where possible,
restricting direct Internet access for software applications, including DegreeWorks
instances hosted by Ellucian in their cloud. Additional firewall procedures have been
implemented to enhance management oversight of applications requesting public
Internet access by default. Planning is underway for other long-term projects, such as the
rollout of a managed firewall service for PeachNet customers and the DUO-verified push
method for all USG/ITS-hosted applications (DUO-verified push scheduled for
completion by March 31, 2024).

• Planned Managed File Transfer (MFT) Policy Proposed as Part of Post-MOVEit

Improvements. ITS and USG Cybersecurity have proposed a Managed File Transfer
(MFT) policy to reduce the data stored on USG systems. The policy will restrict access to
files based on the principle of least privilege, encrypt all files at rest, implement a default
retention policy of 45 days, monitor logs to identify suspicious activity, and conduct
biannual awareness training to educate employees about the new policy. The proposed
policy is currently under review by USG legal.

2. Support for Strategic Initiatives

• Assessment of Banner Shared Technology Platform (STP) Underway. ITS leaders are
collaborating with Ellucian to assess their Banner STP platform for potential use by the
9 USG state college schools. If deemed feasible, the platform would consolidate Banner
functions for 9 schools into a single instance. The ongoing preliminary analysis aims to
catalog business processes and data integrations and develop a projected timeline,
resource allocation, and financial plan to support a transition. Detailed workshops are
being conducted with the nine schools to gather necessary information. Additional
research has also found that several smaller state higher education systems, including
those in Colorado and Pennsylvania, are planning or successfully implementing Banner
STP. If proposed as a viable solution for the identified USG schools, this approach could
lead to adopting more standardized business processes and administrative systems while
advancing data reporting.

• Tools/process Updates Planned for Improved Enrollment Management Tracking.

Building upon the USG Dashboarding project, the current phase is dedicated to

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 enhancing enrollment management tracking. The primary challenge in improving
admissions tracking has been obtaining near-time access to data from 26 separate
instances of Banner. To address this issue, the team has identified Microsoft's Dataverse,
a software product that enables more automated data collection. ITS is currently
collaborating with the Office of Strategic Implementation (OSI) on a proposal to acquire
the necessary licenses, implementation training, and support for the Dataverse software.

3. Services for USG Schools and the USO

• Time Clock Plus Now Live across 20 USG Schools. The transition to the new Time Clock
Plus solution was completed successfully on October 15th. As a replacement to the
previous dormaka product, the new solution has already demonstrated improved service
and issue resolution. Phase 2 efforts now underway will focus on implementing minor
functional enhancements and further automating integrations with OneUSG Connect.

• Transition of DegreeWorks to Ellucian’s Cloud Continues. USG, Ellucian and the Banner
Managed Services schools continue work to move the academic advising and degree
audit software DegreeWorks to the vendor’s hosting environment. Cohort 1 was
completed on September 25thwith Cohort 2 schools, including Albany State University,
Columbus State University, Georgia Gwinnett College, and Middle Georgia State
University scheduled to begin go-live activities on Thursday, November 9th, and
conclude on Monday, November 13th.

• Endpoint Management Support for the Georgia Film Academy (GFA). ITS and USG
Cybersecurity are working to address outstanding items from the previous year's USG
endpoint audit. In October, the team focused on assisting the GFA with bringing their
computers and workstations into compliance with the USG endpoint baseline standard.
This involves ensuring all devices have up-to-date antivirus software, operating systems
(OS), and configuration management tools. The GFA is also working to renew expired
vendor support coverage for OS and antivirus products.

4. Other Items of Interest

• Status of Phase 1 of MOVEit Data Loss Notifications. Experian, the company contracted
to provide notification, call center, and credit monitoring support for affected
individuals, sent the first batch of notification letters to approximately 70,000 USG
employees. In October, out of the 70,000 notified employees, 462 contacted Experian for
assistance, and 3,054 requested the complimentary one-year Experian credit monitoring
service.

• Phase 2 of MOVEit Data Loss Investigation of Files Continues. USG Cybersecurity, in

collaboration with the University of Georgia Office of Information Security continue
evaluating the type of data lost in the second batch of MOVEit files. This investigation
has been time-consuming due to the need to review 1.2 million files. Approximately
20,000 remaining files require analysis, and this work is targeted for completion by the
end of November. Results from this work will identify a second group of people requiring
notifications.

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