News | Technology Services | Office of the Chief Information Officer

Tech Trouble? Students and TAs say the IT Service Desk has them covered

Author: Zach Shapero
Zach is a student employee with Technology Services.

The start of the semester brings adjustment. Students, new and returning, acclimate back to the campus environment. The first few weeks of the semester bring students back to campus—but the beginning of the semester is also a common time for technology issues to spring up.

Some students went to the annual Tech Points to bring technology-related questions. Others will go to the IT Service Desk promptly whenever issues reveal themselves.

For the most part, technology has been running smoothly for students. Journalism senior Jonathan Mathew says that going into his final year, it has been easier for him to adjust than other years.

“My schedule has been pretty easy on me, and so now it’s just getting into the swing of things and kind of getting ready for post-grad life,” Mathew said.

He also says his technology is running smoothly, with his email and Canvas working and just a little persnickety with switching his password over the summer. While technology runs fine for the most part, students do know where to go when trouble hits.

“I haven’t encountered too many issues,” said journalism senior Carson Fenelon. “It’s a good thing to know that [the IT Service Desk] is there if I ever do have any problems.”

It’s a good thing they are there, because an issue with a classroom TV in Bevier Hall arose earlier in the semester. This had agricultural leadership graduate student and teaching assistant Morgan Mouser in a pickle, and she reached out to the IT Service Desk for help.

“For whatever reason, the TV wasn’t connecting [through HDMI],” Mouser said. “So, I was able to call the IT Service Desk. They sent somebody up right away. It was a super easy process [for getting the issue resolved].”

Mouser also says the University of Illinois does a great job at providing resources for students to get technology assistance with signage. She had an email discrepancy with Canvas, but a call to the IT Service Desk resolved that issue swiftly.

Situations like these are why the IT Service Desk is there for tech support that students may need at any time during the semester. Visit the IT Service Desk website to learn more or get help.

Steve Fletcher Behind the Screens: Strategy and security

Author: Lucy Roller
Lucy is a student employee with Technology Services.

When you play any game of strategy, whether it be chess or cards, understanding the mind of your opponent is crucial. Getting into the other player’s head allows you to anticipate their next move, defend against it, and ultimately take the victory.

A love for this kind of strategic thinking is what drove Steve Fletcher to an early passion for history. In his youth, he would play tabletop games of strategy with friends, recreating famous historical battles. What interested him most about these games was trying to get into the heads of his enemies, “learning how the bad guys think, what they might do, and what their purposes are.”

This urge to defeat something by knowing how it works eventually led Steve to his position here with us at Tech Services as a member of the Cybersecurity Operations team. Since last semester’s Canvas incident, the team has been more dedicated than ever to keeping Illinois students, staff, and faculty safe online. As a Cybersecurity Analyst, Steve works to identify and eliminate digital threats before the general campus population even becomes aware of them.

“I see it as a puzzle,” said Steve. “When you see something and go, okay, this looks suspicious, you’ve got to piece together things and do your research and figure out, what do we need to do, what’s the next steps we need to take?”

Part of Steve’s position is evaluating the immediacy of a threat and deciding what needs to be addressed right away. “I heard one time somebody described it as being on a submarine, that most of the time is day-to-day monotony, nothing happens. But then when things DO happen [they really happen.]”

Before his time at Tech Services working to lower digital risk, Steve worked with a wide variety of campus groups in his previous position as a Field Consultant. From the Counseling Center to Animal Sciences, to the College of Media, that position gave him a ton of contacts across campus, which has been a major help to him in his current Cybersecurity Analyst role when trying to resolve tech issues. “There’s times things will come up, and I’ll be like, oh yeah, here’s the person we need to talk to. It’s been kind of nice to actually have that inside picture of things.”

The collaborative nature of Tech Services is deeply important to Steve, and he emphasized the values at the core of the position. “Honestly, the thing is, we’re not here to tell people, no, you can’t do that. We are here to work with people. We are here to collaborate. We are here to help. That’s our whole purpose.” He reaffirmed that one of the Cybersecurity team’s main goals is to work with campus groups, collaborating to find the best solutions and procedures for all.

Though Steve has come so far, he still will return to that original love of strategy games. In his free time, he enjoys playing tabletop games and also video games as a way to keep in touch with friends across state lines. “I do enjoy the social activity of getting together, playing a game with someone who, you know, we might have different interests outside of it, but we all have an interest in coming to the table and having fun. Politics and the rest of the world can be left to the side; we can just sit down and enjoy the game.”

Fletcher (left) and his son at a Rush concert, his favorite band.

“Behind the Screens” is a series of stories highlighting a different member of Technology Services each month so that you can get to know who we are and what we do for our university.

New students, check out our new-to-campus checklist!

Author: Lucy Roller
Lucy is a student employee with Technology Services.

Arriving at college for the first time can be exciting. For many people, it’s their first time living away from home, allowing them to experience freedom and independence while building confidence and becoming their own person. But all that flexibility can come with a lot of pressure. From picking classes to picking friends, it can be hard to make sure you’re moving in the right direction.

Technology on campus can be the same. With so many options, it can be hard to know where to begin. Tech Services is here to make it a little bit easier. Whether you’re an incoming freshman or a new faculty member, our new-to-campus checklist is a great resource to help you get started this semester. Here are some of the things the checklist can help you do.

Claim your NetID

No clue where to begin with technology? A great first step is claiming your NetID. Your NetID is a unique username that you will use to access your university email, as well as various other accounts. Follow the guide on the checklist to claim your NetID today.

Access your university email

Once you’ve got your NetID, a good next step is accessing your university email account. That’s where you’ll receive information about your classes, various opportunities on campus, and any other important information. Your university email is your main source of communication on campus, and it’s important to gain access to it as soon as possible. Our checklist can help you do just that.

Connect to campus Wi-Fi

Another important step is connecting to campus wi-fi. Follow the steps on the checklist so you can get connected as soon as you arrive.

Check out the rest!

There’s lots more to do before classes begin, so make sure you check out the rest of our new-to-campus checklist, which can help you access free software, storage, and more.

Other helpful resources

Another great resource we provide as school begins is our Tech Points program, various pop-up help desks we run for the first few days of school. This year, Tech Points will be running on August 24 and 25 at the CIF, Illini Union, and Ikenberry Commons. We’re happy to answer your questions, and we’ll do our best to help you with your tech needs. Check out the Tech Points page for more information.

If you miss the pop-up, we also have our IT Service Desk operating out of the Illini Union and Digital Computer Lab, as well as online. You can find more information about the IT Service Desk here at their webpage.

We’re here to help!

Adjusting to school can be stressful, but Tech Services is here to help take away the stress of technology. We want to help you to have the best semester that you can. Take advantage of the resources we provide and have a great start to the year!

Get IT help at Tech Points this fall

Author: Zach Shapero
Zach is a student employee with Technology Services.

At the start of every academic year, Tech Services hosts an event called Tech Points. At this event, IT staff from around campus volunteer to help students get the support they need at the beginning of the fall semester.

Tech Points is scheduled for August 24 and 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at three locations: the Campus Instructional Facility (CIF), the Illini Union outside near the Quad, and the Ikenberry Commons lobby.

Each booth will have staff members readily available to answer and solve all technology-related questions and issues, including but not limited to:

Connecting to Wi-Fi.
Duo for Multifactor Authentication.
Accessing Canvas.
NetID/Password.
Email support.

Students may visit these locations during the first few days of classes to get IT support, as well as receive helpful handouts and information to meet their needs.

For more information, visit the Tech Points webpage.

New Student Orientation Resource Fair recap

Author: Zach Shapero
Zach is a student employee with Technology Services.

The Technology Services Communications and Marketing Team made its annual appearance at the recurring New Student Registration Resource Fairs in May, June, and July.

Volunteers staffed 28 resource fairs and answered questions from the newest Illini regarding this important information about the services that Tech Services offers. More than 6,800 students attended the fairs along with 10,500 family members and friends.

The goal of these fairs was to welcome new Illinois students and their families to campus and inform them of all the resources available to them. For Tech Services, this means making sure students can access their email, Wi-Fi, Canvas, Duo, and more. This helps students ensure they are all set for the upcoming semester by answering their questions, giving parents peace of mind knowing their student has a place to get help if something goes awry.

Tech Services was one amongst many organizations helping those students settle into their new home. They were alongside University Housing, the Illini Union Tech Zone, Campus Recreation, the Career Center, and many others.

While the resource fairs were a success, the work is just getting started. When students return to campus again in August, Tech Services plans to connect with students through Tech Points. Volunteers will be at pop-up IT Service Desks at popular locations around campus to provide a smooth transition for students arriving on campus while creating less demand for the traditional service desk locations.

This year, Tech Points will be located at the Campus Instructional Facility, Ikenberry Commons, and Illini Union on August 24 and 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The committee hopes to reach 10,000 students this year, and plans to attend other outreach events:

August 17: International Graduate Student Virtual Orientation
August 20: New International Student Resource Fair
August 21: Welcome Celebration and LAS Liftoff
August 22: Illini Frenzy

To learn more, visit the Tech Points page.

CIMS department highlight: Keeping our campus connected

Author: Lucy Roller
Lucy is a student employee with Technology Services.

While much of the work of Tech Services happens behind a screen, none of it would be possible without the physical efforts of several organizations. Today, we’d like to highlight the hard work of one of those groups: the Communications Installation and Maintenance Service, or CIMS. For over twenty years, CIMS has done the hands-on work to keep our campus connected.

What does CIMS do?

The CIMS team is incredibly dynamic, installing and maintaining all communications cables and equipment on campus, as well as all security cameras, wireless access points, and emergency phones. They usually work in groups of two to four technicians on each project. Whether an assignment takes a few hours or a few months to complete, the CIMS team works with tireless dedication to keep our campus up to date.

At any given time, CIMS is working on over 150 unique projects, which can range from installing a single cable, to aiding in the construction of an entirely new building. Their largest recent projects include complete upgrades of Beckman Institute, the Campus Instructional Facility, Seibel Design Center, Ubben Practice Facility, and Vet Med Oncology, as well as the new construction of Wymer Hall.

Recent renovations

CIMS recently had the opportunity to improve and expand their office space, as the organization they shared a space with moved out. The team has been in the same building since 1996, so expansion was both due and welcome. The office space was expanded from 1200 square feet to 3000 square feet, allowing each team member to now have their own private, climate-controlled workspace.

The renovation was a large, but worthwhile effort. Associate Director of Enterprise Managed Systems & Service, Heidi Gharst, generously donated furniture to the project, which, along with new paint and a new floor, improved the quality of the office. As CIMS manager Scot Pruitt shared, “Although it took a while and there were many inconveniences that happened during the remodel, the end result is actually more than we expected.”

Thank you, CIMS!

Next time you connect to campus Wi-Fi, or see an emergency phone, remember CIMS and all the hard work they do to keep our campus plugged in. The CIMS team wants to emphasize that they are here for the students, faculty, and staff of the university. Thank you, CIMS, for keeping our community connected.

Cybersecurity outreach: Teaching cyber safety skills across campus

Technology Services staff Cindy McKendall and Sandy Delaney are charged with providing cybersecurity training to University of Illinois staff and faculty on a quarterly basis, so that individuals can understand how their actions can help keep university data and systems safe from cyber threats. In the past two years, they also have engaged with several university-affiliated groups to provide more individualized training.

This spring, these staff members taught a course through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

Members urged OLLI director Kathryn Williams to invite them to submit a proposal to reprise the cybersecurity essentials course they offered the previous year. They were happy to share cybersecurity and privacy tips and strategies with nearly 20 OLLI participants.

The OLLI course covered a range of topics from cybersecurity basics like using longer and unique passwords to phishing and multifactor authentication.

McKendall noted that this year’s class was especially interested in privacy topics.

“We talked about cookies, what cookies are, and how they can impact your browsing experiences. I showed examples of cookie banners and how to turn off non-essential cookie banners,’’ she said.

Delaney said that the students were a very eager and engaged audience. “I feel like I have to be on the top of my game for this group. They have great questions and I want to anticipate and stay ahead of them.”

To cap off the series during the final class, small groups worked together on a cybersecurity escape room – a paper-based exercise where they were challenged to use what they learned in the course along with logic and puzzle-solving skills to “save the barnyard.” With a series of clues, they worked to discover who had used stolen digital credentials, who was digitally impersonating real individuals and more.

McKendall enjoys offering the escape room exercise to groups ranging from high school students to staff and now this audience. “It is a different way to reinforce the learning,” she said.

Participant Larry Orndoff, whose career also included training and teaching adults, praised the series of classes.

“This team is right up there with the best, most professional, and patient adult trainers I have been around.”

Technology Services’ online cybersecurity training is provided to all staff at Illinois and UIS, and optional self-directed cybersecurity courses are also available to students.

To learn more about cybersecurity training and how to reach out for special group training, visit the Technology Services website.

Internet safety month: Seeing through scams

Author: Lucy Roller
Lucy is a student employee with Technology Services.

June is Internet Safety Month. Congress created Internet Safety Month in 2005 as a direct response to the increasing percentage of young people with access to the web. With the world’s growing reliance on technology, it is crucially important to make sure that you are responsible and safe online.

One persistent danger of the internet is the threat of scams. According to security.org, as of 2020, Illinois was ranked #19 in the nation for cybercrime. Here are some common scams and how you can avoid them.

Phishing

Phishing is when someone impersonates someone else to try and trick people out of money or personal information. This may take the form of offers that seem to be good to be true, promising money in exchange for bank information, and impersonating family or friends in desperate situations. Internet scams such as phishing often employ a technique known as social engineering. The National Institute of Standards and Technology defines social engineering as “The act of deceiving an individual into revealing sensitive information, obtaining unauthorized access, or committing fraud by associating with the individual to gain confidence and trust.”

To avoid social engineering, be extremely cautious with who you believe on the internet. Do not give out personal information to people online, especially financial information. Review any suspicious links carefully before clicking on them. If you think someone is trying to scam you, report them, to prevent them from tricking others.

Artificial Intelligence

Another tool that scammers often use is generative artificial intelligence. AI now can be used to impersonate the voice or image of familiar people to aid in scams, or create false, harmful images that can be used for blackmail.

AI engines can hallucinate and output information that ranges from slightly inaccurate to blatantly false. When trying to find information, review your sources carefully before believing them. If something seems odd or suspicious, such as a message from a family member, try to verify it in another way. Double check your information across multiple sources.

What else can you do?

Avoiding scams is important, but it isn’t everything. Here are some further measures you can take to keep yourself safe on the internet.

Use strong passwords

Make sure that you’re using complex, unique passwords. Don’t use personal information that is easy to discover in your passwords. Use a password manager to store and remember your passwords. Bitwarden is the university approved password manager, but there are many great options out there.

Use multifactor authentication

Multifactor authentication requires you to use multiple devices or accounts to verify your identity when you are trying to log into an account. According to the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, “The use of multifactor authentication on your accounts makes you 99% less likely to be hacked.” Enabling multifactor authentication is a quick and easy way to improve your digital security.

Update software

Updating your software is another simple way to keep yourself safe online. Make sure that all your software is up to date to ensure that the latest safety technology is in place.

Though June may be Internet Safety Month, being responsible online is important year-round. Tech Services has plenty of resources and guides to help you stay safe. Make sure that you are taking steps to protect yourself on the web.

Technology Services’ new website launched!

Author: Lucy Roller
Lucy is a student employee with Technology Services.

On June 2, the Technology Services website was relaunched. This project was part of a larger effort to improve the Office of the Chief Information Officer’s digital presence by redesigning several of our websites. The goal of this initiative is to streamline information, maintain design consistency, and improve accessibility.

The Tech Services website was redesigned to remove redundant information and be more easily navigable. Tech Services serves a wide range of audiences, and the relaunch will help us not dilute its content.

The Office of the CIO’s brand consistency will also be improved by this relaunch, allowing users to quickly identify sites belonging to the Office of the CIO, and ensuring a similar experience across all of them. Rob Watson, Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing and Chief Communications Officer for the Office of the CIO, spoke with us about this aspect of the relaunch. “It’s about enhancing the user experience by building a cohesive Office of the CIO web ecosystem,” he shared, “We’ve redesigned the (Tech Services) site with university students, faculty, and general staff in mind. We want their feedback if something isn’t easy to locate or they think something is missing.”

The relaunch is also part of an ongoing effort to improve the accessibility of all Office of the CIO websites. Tech Services is committed to providing an accessible experience for all users, adhering to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium. The WCAG uses the POUR system as a guide, providing a framework to ensure that all online content is Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust for all users, regardless of ability. The updated website has a consistent design, accessible colors, clearly labeled buttons and links, and alt text for all images.

As the Office of the CIO’s Communication Coordinator, Lauren Stream, shared with us, “Accessibility has been top of mind when creating nearly every element on the website. We hope it will be easier for users from all walks of life and different skill levels to find the information they need.” Improving accessibility not only helps users with disabilities but often allows the site to be easier to operate for all users. The reorganization of our website will help to ensure that we can provide a quality, accessible experience to all.

What can users expect?

Overall, our website retains much of the user-helpful content and many of the same features. The major changes are focused on design, information architecture, and a single intentional audience. Users can expect an updated, streamlined layout that is easier to navigate. Outdated or redundant information, along with any details that do not serve our audience, have been removed, making the site less cluttered and easier to understand.

Another significant change is that the Cybersecurity website is being merged into the Tech Services site and will be sunset in the near future. All the relevant cybersecurity information for Illinois students and faculty will be located on the Tech Services site while any information meant specifically for technical professionals will be moved to the new IT pro site, which is being launched later this year.

Tech Services is here to assist you with all your technical needs. We hope that the relaunch allows you to better take advantage of the resources we provide. Updates to the Office of the CIO web ecosystem are a gradual process, and content will be moved over time. Some content may be unavailable for brief periods. For the first few months, redirects will be in place with any information that has been moved to ensure that it remains accessible. We’re doing our best to keep URLs the same so that links and bookmarks will still work.

If you have any issues with the website or any feedback, we encourage you to submit a help request to the Communications and Marketing Team.

Dozens of portals to one: my.illinois for all

For more than 20 years, Engineering has hosted dozens of portals, including my.las, my.oar, and my.techservices that supported key university applications. Across all three University of Illinois campuses, this grew to nearly 70 separate portals, each requiring its own maintenance and support.

We are about to enter a new phase, together. The Office of the CIO and Engineering IT are partnering to unify those portals under a single destination: my.illinois.edu.

This consolidation is a concrete example of Illinois’ Boldly IT at work—specifically Strategy 1.2: Develop a formal collaborative structure for IT.

“Unifying these across all units makes the single portal potentially visible to every single user on campus,” said Jim Hurst, Chief Administrative Officer at the Office of the CIO. “Removing the specific unit branding and specific portal-locked applications treats all units as part of one larger ecosystem. There has been a single provider of these apps for many years, but this unifying change visually represents us acting more as one IT unit in a coordinated way.”

One address, one experience

Faculty, staff, and students will now have one place to go, regardless of which unit they work in or which applications they need. Access is controlled at the user level—you’ll only see what you have rights to, no matter which portal you log into. This will be a unified experience for those using the portals and those managing them.

“When we have updates…we would only have to apply them to one portal, instead of 70,” said Brad Butler, Associate Director of Application Development, Data Analytics, and Project Management Office at Engineering IT. “We are hoping to provide a more consistent user experience and common destination for accessing our applications. We will no longer have to explain ‘go to a specific portal to submit something’ — they can simply go to one place.”

Engineering IT has owned and operated the my.___ portals for over two decades. What began as a framework built by Josh Potts in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department grew as developers from across Engineering joined in, each building applications designed for anyone to use.

“We all have a common goal, to help people do their jobs more efficiently and collaboratively,” said Butler. “We write our applications so that anyone can use them and over time, through word of mouth and personalized service, we grew and evolved to what we are today.”

More than 100 applications are available through the portals, with 43 currently live at my.illinois.edu and more being added over time. Eight are fully funded by the Provost’s office and approved for all units campuswide—TimeTracker, Vacation/Sick Leave, Chart of Accounts, Inventory, Appointments, Gradapps, Gradrecs, and UGradrecs.

The transition

The portal itself will remain the same and is not retiring; the domain is what will change. The portal itself will remain the same and is not retiring; the domain is what will change.

“We won’t move anyone, they can simply choose between the two for now. We will notify all users over time if we decide to shut down an existing portal, but even if we were to do that, we would redirect the old portals to the new my.illinois,” said Butler.

“The idea of consolidating to this one name has been proposed a few times over the years,” said Hurst. “But only now under this new [Boldly IT] strategic plan have both sides embraced that.”

If you have questions or feedback about the move to my.Illinois, you can visit my.illinois.edu/apptrack and chat with the chatbot or send an email to engrit-apps@illinois.edu.