EITS Status and Activity Report for August 2013 Prepared by Timothy M.

Chester, Vice President for Information Technology (VPIT) 1. Announcements for Faculty and Staff Meetings Updated UGA Portal, MY.UGA.EDU, Now Available. Overnight, on July 25, 2013, the portal team completed a major upgrade of the UGA student portal, located at http://my.uga.edu. It is now rebranded with a look and feel more consistent with UGA style guidelines, featuring a new single sign-on technology across all the portal applications including OASIS, UGAMail, eLearning Commons, and other University functions. Over the coming years, students, faculty, and staff can expect new applications and services to be made available through this common Web gateway. For more information on MyUGA, please contact David Crouch at dave@uga.edu by email. Computing & Technology Orientation Web site Now Available. EITS has produced a new technology orientation Web site, aimed at new students, faculty, and staff at UGA and geared towards quickly ramping up their use of key technology services. Available at http://newtocampus.uga.edu, the Web site includes information on setting up UGAEmail, how to access the campus portal (my.uga.edu), using student computing resources including computer labs and cloud printing, how to access the University wireless network services (PAWS-SECURE), and much, much, more. In addition to these online resources, student, faculty, and staff are encouraged to contact the EITS Helpdesk at helpdesk@uga.edu with questions or requests for support with UGA technology services.

2. Support for Student Technology Services Upgrades to Miller Learning Center Spaces and Technology Resources. The Miller Learning Center (MLC) has received extensive technology and space renovations over the summer months, and stands ready to support UGA students upon their arrival in the coming weeks. New resources include 300+ new workstations in the computing lab areas, new workstations in each of the classrooms, and new collaborative spaces that are designed to facilitate teamwork and group projects. Supported by student technology fee dollars, these upgrades are the result of a collaborative effort between EITS, UGA Libraries, and the Center for Teaching and Learning. For more information on services available through the MLC, point a browser to http://mlc.uga.edu on the Web. vLab Student Computing Cloud Available August 21st, 2013. As a result of new investments in student computing lab technology, the software and services typically available through EITS student computing labs will also be available to students on an anytime, anywhere basis through a new cloud service called vLab. Available through a Web browser at http://vlab.uga.edu, this service will allow students to access computer lab services from any device and from any place on the Internet. Using this service, students can access specialized software from their own devices without having to physically travel to an EITS computing lab. For more information on vLab, contact Shawn Ellis at spellis@uga.edu by email.

3. Support for Academic and Administrative Computing Completion of Automated Security Self-Evaluation Tools (ASSETs) by August 9th, 2013. The EITS Office of Information Security (InfoSec) is working with campus Units to complete this years Automated Security Self Evaluation Tools (ASSETs) report.
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EITS Status and Activity Report for August 2013

Previously, Unit heads were requested to identify individuals to serve as their liaisons, who are responsible for completing the ASSETs survey each year. Timely completion of the ASSETs survey ensures all Units and the University that information systems containing sensitive and critical information systems are properly identified and monitored. Additionally, departmental liaisons play a key role in assisting in computer security incidents, participating in security training, and increasing overall general computer security awareness. For more information on the ASSETs program, please contact Information Security at assets@uga.edu by email. Banner Admissions MOCK III Testing Completed. The teams working on the ConnectUGA project recently completed a third round of mock testing to support UGAs admissions processes using Banner. This latest test involved cradle-to-grave processing for admissions, from application uploading to checklist processing, to decision-making for undergraduate, graduate, and professional school admissions. This third round of tests was completed successfully, though there remain opportunities for learning new things and opportunities for refinement of these processes using Banner. Other crucial work continues, including conversion of historical records on UGA students and graduates and loading them into Banner a process that is expected to take several months. For more information on the ConnectUGA project, please point a browser to http://connectuga.uga.edu on the Web. University License for WebEx Conferencing Services Available August 1. EITS will enter into a campus-wide site license for WebEx conferencing services. The service will be available on a cost-recovery basis. Host licenses, for individuals scheduling or convening meetings, will be available to Units at a cost of $315/year. For more information and to purchase host licenses, contact Sohayl Moshtael at sohayl@uga.edu by email.

4. Support for Research GPU Based Computing Services for Research Fully Utilized. Faculty researchers have responded very favorably to the availability of specialized graphic processors (GPUs) for performing advanced computational and visualization work. Available resources, which are now typically being utilized at rates of 100%, include the installation of 9 Tesla M2070 (448 cores/card) cards and 32 Tesla K20x (2688 cores/card) cards. Available software that takes advantage of these resources includes Matlab, Amber, OpenCV, and BiSS. Other tools available for faculty programing the GPUs include the NVIDIA CUDA toolkit, OpenCL libraries, and the PGI compilers. For more information on how to take advantage of these resources, contact Guy Cormier at gcormier@uga.edu by email. Cloud Computing Grant from Penguin Computing. The GACRC recently received a research grant of 100,000 core hours from Penguin Computing for its Penguin Computing on Demand, HPC as a Service platform. Tailored to meet the needs of academic research in regards to both platform and usage models, the service provides compelling features to support supercomputing efforts including low latency networks, high memory nodes, and support from experienced administrators steeped in academic research. To take advantage of this grant offering, or to discuss these and other services at the GACRC, individuals are encouraged to contact Dr. Guy Cormier by email at gcormier@uga.edu.

5. Core Campus Infrastructure Griffin Campus Network Upgrade Joined Fully to UGA Network. The Griffin extended campus recently received a network bandwidth upgrade from 70mb to 1gb (1000mb),
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EITS Status and Activity Report for August 2013

which will improve Internet speed and reliability and provide enhanced capabilities for both distance and online learning initiatives. Additionally, this upgrade consists of a direct connection to the UGA campus network, which allows students, faculty, and staff to access UGA technology services as if they were physically located on the Athens campuses. While this service is currently live, Griffin IT staff are currently working to reassign new IP addresses to all computers and devices so that all users can take advantage of these new capabilities. For more information on this expanded network service, please contact Bill Blum, the IT Manager for the Griffin campus, at bblum@uga.edu by email. PAWS Network Depreciated, Welcome_to_UGA Network for Visitors. On July 19th, 2013 EITS launched a new UGA wireless network for guests, Welcome_to_UGA, which provides visitors with information on how to access UGA wireless Internet services. Additionally, the previous wireless service PAWS was discontinued. Students, faculty, and staff are now directed to PAWS-SECURE for wireless Internet service that is more secure and more reliable. These changes affect individuals not only in Athens, but also on the Buckhead, Griffin, and Gwinnett campuses. For more information on the wireless Internet services, connect to the Welcome_to_UGA SSID and open a Web browser. 1st UGA Email Transition to Office 365 Underway. On August 2, 2013, the Microsoft Corporation began transitioning UGAs email system from its current Live@EDU platform to the new Office 365 platform, working hand in hand with EITS. This is the first of two planned upgrades for Office 365, required by Microsoft of all higher education institutions. The second upgrade is currently in the planning stages and additional information shall be available in the fall semester, but it will likely occur over the Christmas holiday break. More information is available by pointing a browser to http://office365.uga.edu on the Web.

6. Did You Know? ConnectUGA Open Forum for Students, Faculty, and Staff on August 14, 2013. The next open forum regarding ConnectUGA, the project to implement the Banner student information system, will be held on Wednesday, August 14, 2013 at 8:30am in the Tate Student Center Theater. These open forums provide the UGA community the opportunity to hear announcements, discuss issues, and provide feedback to the project governance committees and implementation leadership. For more information on the ConnectUGA project, point a browser to http://connectuga.uga.edu on the Web. EITS Assessment Committee Exploring Improvements to UGA Technology Services. A cross-functional committee of students, faculty, and staff has been created to continue to evolve and mature EITSs continuous improvement process, based on annual TechQual+ surveys. Committee members include Allan Aycock, Forrest Bridges, Diana Hartle, Scott Shamp, Emily Thompson, Beth Woods, Jeff Simpson, and Will Walker. The committee is charged with analyzing the TechQual+ data, formulating recommended actions, and stewarding the review of those recommendations across ITMF, UGANET, and other groups, and then to prepare questions for the next years survey. The committee will have an initial draft set of recommendation developed by September 2013. For additional information, please contact Lynn Wilson at llatimer@uga.edu by email.

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.
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