March 2026 Tech News Continued
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
School of Medicine Systems Readiness Support: Following the preliminary accreditation approval of UGA’s new School of Medicine, EITS has completed foundational configuration and process alignment within Banner to support admissions processing, fee assessment, student records management, identity provisioning, and academic program structure. The effort included extensive business and data mapping to ensure medical education workflows align with institutional systems and compliance requirements, as well as direct participation in the accreditation review to demonstrate system readiness and data governance. With core milestones complete ahead of the first admitted cohort, EITS continues to validate workflows and coordinate with School of Medicine leadership to ensure a seamless launch. For more information, contact Ilir Hasko.
New Associate CIO for SIS and IAM Named: Kristi Wall has been selected to serve as Associate CIO with oversight of the Student Information Systems (SIS) and Identity and Access Management (IAM) teams. In this role, Wall will provide strategic and operational leadership for both areas, ensuring strong alignment between student systems, identity services, and broader institutional priorities. The SIS and IAM teams play a vital role in supporting the university’s academic, administrative, and security objectives. Wall’s appointment reflects a proven record of leadership across complex, university-wide initiatives and a strong commitment to collaboration and operational excellence. Appreciation is extended to the many colleagues and stakeholders who supported this selection process and continue to advance these critical services.
New Digital Accessibility Services Hub Launched in February: The EITS Digital Accessibility Services Team launched the new Digital Accessibility Services Hub website in February. This site serves as a central resource for training and support on digital accessibility and includes a feature for reporting accessibility issues across UGA’s websites. The launch is part of a broader effort to comply with the new federal digital accessibility policy, which takes effect on April 24, 2026. For more information about the Digital Accessibility Hub visit the DASH Website or contact the Digital Accessibility Services team.
GACRC Buy-In Program: The Vice President for Information Technology will continue the GACRC Buy-In Program for Fiscal Year 2026. This program helps faculty expand their use of UGA’s high-performance computing and AI cluster at the Georgia Advanced Computing Resource Center (GACRC). To support this effort, the Vice President for IT is providing $250,000 in matching funds. These funds will cover part of the cost for faculty or research groups who purchase dedicated computing resources on the GACRC system. For full program details, including eligibility requirements, matching structure, allowable purchases, and timelines, contact Guy Cormier.
Digital Accessibility Tool for Websites Launched: In November, UGA launched Ally for Web, a new digital accessibility tool designed to help identify and address accessibility issues in website content. This initiative supports compliance with a federal rule from the U.S. Department of Justice requiring all state entities to make their websites and mobile apps accessible to individuals with disabilities by April 24, 2026. Ally provides clear visual indicators and actionable feedback to guide improvements in accessibility. As part of the rollout, the Digital Accessibility Services team contacted Digital Accessibility Liaisons (DALs) to collect a list of their unit’s website domains. Once accounts are provisioned, DALs will gain access to Ally and can begin updating their sites to meet compliance standards. Weekly standing DAS office hours will take place every Friday at 10 a.m. Participants can register and view recordings of past sessions on the DASH Website. For more information, contact the EITS Digital Accessibility Services team.
Spring Cybersecurity Awareness: Spring Cybersecurity Awareness Training will take place in April and must be completed by all State of Georgia employees, including UGA faculty, staff, and student workers. This required training occurs twice each year—in April and October—in accordance with University System of Georgia policy and the Governor’s executive directive. Delivered online through the KnowBe4 platform, the course provides practical, actionable guidance to strengthen cybersecurity awareness and help protect university systems and data. Employees will receive reminder emails during April until the training is completed. Faculty, staff, and student employees with questions may contact the EITS Help Desk.
Teams Phone Available for Campus Units: EITS now offers Teams Phone, a cloud-based, next-generation phone system provided by Microsoft. Teams Phone allows UGA employees to communicate and collaborate anytime, anywhere, on any device. It integrates seamlessly with the Microsoft Teams application on laptops, tablets, or mobile devices, allowing employees to access all calls, chats, calendar invites, and meetings in one place. EITS will transition all phone lines off the legacy PBX and onto Teams Phone by March 2026. Telephone Services is scheduling departments that have not already scheduled their transition to Teams Phone. DTRs should fill out a Teams Phone Onboarding Request for their unit as soon as possible. Upon receiving the onboarding request, approximately six weeks prior to the port date, Telephone Services will schedule a large group meeting to address any concerns and answer questions. The Teams Phone transition does not affect AT&T Centrex/HVS users or phone lines outside of the Athens area. Users should note that they will lose access to their voicemail if they are not transitioned over to Teams Phone before the March 2026 deadline. As part of this project, Telephone Services has successfully transitioned around 5,000 extensions off the UGA PBX and approximately 6,000 phone extensions now on Microsoft Teams Phone with 2,500 remaining. Furthermore, there has been a reduction in PRIs resulting in significant cost reductions due to this transition. For more information, contact Steven Duffee.
Microsoft Office 2021 Reaching End of Life in October: Microsoft has announced that support for Microsoft Office 2021 will end in October 2026. After this date, the software will no longer receive updates or security patches. To prepare, EITS will work with departmental IT teams over the next nine months to ensure all Office suites are upgraded to the latest version. For more information, contact Justin Sackett.
OIR Advances Phase 2 of Tableau to Power BI Report Conversions: The Office of Institutional Research (OIR) is continuing its multi-phase effort to transition institutional reporting from Tableau to Power BI. Last semester, OIR converted most census-based reports on the OIR website. During Phase 2, OIR is focusing on student-related operational reports and collaborating with end users to convert existing Tableau reports. This phase will conclude on or before May 8, 2026. Following this milestone, OIR will begin the third and final phase of the project, which will focus primarily on financial and HR-related reports. Updates will be posted on the OIR website at oir.uga.edu. For more information, contact Kelly Slaton.
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