Starting Dec. 19, 2017, anyone who still wants to access SmartSite will need to do so from a campus location or, if they’re away from UC Davis, use a VPN (virtual private network) connection.

The change, which essentially limits access to people who have UC Davis accounts, is part of the phased retirement of the former campus learning management system.

On Dec. 14, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is expected to replace current rules enforcing net neutrality. Because of interest generated by the pending decision, we’re posting this essay originally written last spring.

From Information and Educational Technology

If the United States abandons net neutrality, says UC Davis University Librarian MacKenzie Smith, the harm to scholarship will be significant.

A serious flaw in Apple’s macOS High Sierra software was discovered Tuesday, and Apple released a patch today to fix it. The UC Davis Information Security Office and other security experts are advising Mac users to install the patch immediately.

Instructure, which created Canvas, will make a key decision in 2018 on how best to develop software that’s intended to help faculty manage large or multiple courses.

Before deciding which way to go, the company would like to hear from instructors at UC Davis and other universities that use Canvas.

A new tool that helps instructors combine enrollments from multiple course sections into one primary course site is now available in UC Davis Canvas.

The Cross-listing Assistant improves on the previous Canvas process for combining sections, which was complex for courses with multiple sections. As an interim measure, Canvas Support has been offering to cross-list sections for any UC Davis instructor upon request.

Improving the process has been a top goal this fall for the Information and Educational Technology team that manages UC Davis Canvas.

A good email service includes good email “hygiene”—back-end processes that remove malware and block spam. On Dec. 2, UC Davis will make some improvements to its hygiene for all campus email systems, including Office 365 (used by most staff and many faculty) and DavisMail (used by undergraduates and many graduate students and faculty).

Few people are likely to notice any difference. The changes will make campus email more secure, especially over the long term.

The latest phase of the project to improve Banner, the student information system for UC Davis, wrapped up as planned on Sunday evening.

The work to improve Banner’s long-term sustainability required a scheduled maintenance window that took Banner offline from 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, until 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22. Myucdavis and other services that draw data from Banner were offline as well, and then resumed normal operations on Sunday. From Friday through this morning (Oct. 23), the IT Express Service Desk received only a handful of questions related to the work.

Faculty research attracts attention, and it’s not always the kind faculty want. On Oct. 26, FBI Special Agent Nick Shenkin will visit UC Davis for a lunchtime talk about international and other cybersecurity threats directed at researchers.

The risks can range from cyber-based incidents to steal data, to attempts to bribe researchers at sham academic conferences set up to flatter them.

UC Davis Canvas is beginning its second full year at UC Davis this fall, after implementing a few changes and improvements since spring. Here’s a quick rundown, plus links to locations where you can read more about the changes that interest you:

MyUCDavis and other services that draw data from the Banner student information system will be unavailable from 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, through 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22, while Information and Educational Technology makes necessary improvements to the Banner infrastructure. 

However, some services that students, faculty and staff access through myUCDavis, including email and UC Davis Canvas, will still be available. You’ll just need to access them without using the portal. See this Knowledge Base article for more information about accessing services when myUCDavis is unavailable. 

Students and faculty will enjoy improved technology inside 15 classrooms in Giedt, Olson and Everson halls starting this fall, thanks to upgrades made over the summer.

The changes include a much better sound system, improved wireless coverage, high-definition projection, room clocks connected to the internet, and adjustable ADA-compliant desks for the instructor.

‘Be the Geek,’ another way of saying ‘be the change,’ wins $5,000 campus grant

Some UC Davis online services will be unavailable during parts of Saturday, Sept. 9, while the campus corrects a problem with Data Center equipment through a software update. The plan is for two service outages, each approximately 5 to 30 minutes long, between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. If more interruptions are needed, information will be posted at status.ucdavis.edu.

The affected services include the myUCDavis web portal and Office 365 email accounts, although O365 accounts that are active when an interruption begins will continue to work.

For more information, see the status announcement. For service updates, including announcements when the work is finished, please see status.ucdavis.edu.

Students and faculty will enjoy improved technology inside 15 classrooms in Giedt, Olson and Everson halls starting this fall, thanks to upgrades made over the summer.

The retirement of SmartSite moves another step forward on Sept. 1, when the ability to use the service to create new project sites will end.
 
Rather than create a new site in a vanishing service, it’s time to choose an alternative. Several exist.
 
For more information, including a survey tool that can help identify alternatives for project sites, please see the projects transition web page. Read more about the transition from SmartSite to UC Davis Canvas at movetocanvas.ucdavis.edu.