An increase in attendees, participation, and engagement were hallmarks of this year’s Summer Institute on Teaching and Technology (SITT), held virtually over the course of two days on September 14 and 15, 2023. The annual event showcased how instructors are using technology in creative ways to help students succeed. This year, presenters honed in on key issues facing instructors—improving classroom communication and collaboration.

In many classrooms, instructors use touchscreen tablets to operate overhead projectors. It's part of a host of technology offered to instructors to enhance lessons at UC Davis. But while setting up for a history class this summer, UC Davis alum and guest instructor, Seth Clark quickly realized he was going to have difficulty using the touchscreens due to his sight impairment.

“When I touched it, there was nothing on the tablet to indicate where the buttons were,” Clark said. “It made it impossible for me to turn on the projector.”

In order to contract with a third-party Vendor (service provider), all University of California units are required under the IS-3 Policy to complete Risk Assessments for institutional information and IT resources. At UC Davis, the Information Security Office (ISO) manages the Vendor Risk Assessment (VRA) program to guide and assist with this process, which can feel daunting, confusing, and frustrating. But what goes into a VRA and why is it so important?  

UC Davis has increasingly become a target of fraudulent emails, also known as phishing, in recent weeks. Here is everything you need to know about phishing scams and actions you can take to keep yourself safe.

Phishing is a form of fraud that tries to trick you into providing your sensitive information, often by sending a message under the guise of a legitimate sender, such as a professor or campus staff member.

Practicing good cybersecurity is essential to protecting the UC’s mission to provide world-class teaching, research, and public service. There are many ways we do this here at UC Davis, but one big piece of the cybersecurity puzzle is data classification. After all, you can’t protect what you don’t know you have!

Members of the campus community, especially students, are reminded to keep an eye out for false jobs listings when searching for work or internship opportunities online. 

Scammers create and maintain fraudulent postings on many reputable job boards, for monetary gain, including Handshake and even networking sites like LinkedIn. While every position that is posted to Handshake is vetted, sometimes fraudulent postings make it through. 

Email is the most common vector for cyber security attacks in higher education. The average cost of a data breach in 2022 was $4.35 million and the cost only increased when fraudulent emails (or phishing attempts) were the initial attack vector.  

Most often motivated by financial gain, hackers frequently employ social engineering techniques to gain unauthorized access to data and accounts via email (“phishing”), text messaging (“smishing”), phone (“vishing”), or online services such as social networking. Click here to learn how to spot a scam.

To promote digital inclusion and belonging, campus technology services have started displaying lived names for students, faculty, staff, and other affiliates. A lived name reflects a person’s true identity and may differ from their legal name.  

Beginning November 1, 2023, Duo will have a new look and a speedier login process. Duo is UC Davis’s multi-factor authentication app which provides an additional layer of cyber security protection when Aggies access email, online storage, and other technology and university services. 

Starting Monday, September 18, 2023, Duo, UC Davis’ multi-factor authentication app, will no longer work on certain operating systems, browsers, and security protocols for mobile devices and desktop computers. Members of the campus community use Duo as an additional layer of protection to access email, online storage, and other technology and university services. 

In an email to all UC Davis and UC Davis Health employees and student employees on July 25, 2023, Vice Provost for Information Technology Viji Murali and Chief Information and Digital Health Officer UC Davis Health Ashish Atreja shared the following guidance regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence tools and sensitive UC Davis systems and data. 

The 11th Information Security Symposium (ISS) was held on June 20-21, 2023, drawing nearly 400 attendees from UC campuses, UCOP, and more than 40 state agencies. While the biennial event was again conducted virtually, there was no shortage of opportunities to connect. Attendees were easily able to live chat with each other via the virtual social wall, browse sponsor booths in video rooms, and network with others through one-on-one messaging. The event was organized by an all-volunteer committee, with members primarily from UC Davis and UC Davis Health.

20 GB storage limit for new students and staff becomes effective July 15, 2023. 

Updated July 24, 2023

Previous versions of this article indicated that current students and staff had until November 15, 2023, to meet a new 20 GB storage requirement. This timeline has been altered to allow for more campus feedback. More information will follow as soon as it is available.  

In recognition of Global Accessibility Awareness Day on May 18, it is timely to share tools, like Zoom automated captioning, that enhance the usability of technology for everyone. Zoom’s automated captioning feature creates instant captions during live Zoom meetings which supports accessibility for those who are deaf or have experienced hearing loss but is also helpful for those working with distractions or low-bandwidth connections.