• The Office of Institutional Research will be transitioning the Datawarehouse reports from Tableau to PowerBI. Business and administrative personnel should receive guidance on relevant systems.

• Fall campus-wide bi-annual network maintenance. This will impact access to all campus systems, including Franklin College. While wired and wireless network will continue to work, access to some campus information services will be interrupted.

• New DUO (MFA) requirement for Departmental MyID accounts. After this date, the accounts will be restricted to the Athens campus network until DUO is configured for the accounts.

• Verification for Departmental MyID Accounts begins and runs until the January 23, 2026 deadline. Notification will be sent to registered owners and they will need to confirm continued need of the accounts prior to this deadline.

• GACRC Webinar on an overview of their High Performance Computing resources. Register for the GACRC webinar

• Federal deadline to be ADA Title II compliant for electronic communications and materials.

ADA Title II Digital Accessibility Resources

• Ally for Web (to scan websites)

• Ally for eLC (to scan course materials)

Artificial Intelligence access to tools, guidance, and information:

• (AI) Information Hub

Question Pro Survey tool available to Faculty and Students:

• QuestionPro Survey Tool

Additional Survey Tools, Comparisons, and related information:

• Alternative Survey Tools

Additional campus-wide news and events:

• EITS/VPIT Status and Activity Reports

High Performance Compute (HPC) Cluster resources for Instruction:

• Franklin College has two dedicated nodes in addition to the existing campus HPC instructional cluster.

• Reach out to GACRC for more information and assistance getting setup for your course.

The Enterprise Information Technology Services (EITS) group is launching a campus-wide initiative to consolidate AI Product licensing across campus with the cited goals of, “…to simplify the purchasing process for these licenses. We will announce purchasing deadlines for each semester (spring, summer, and fall) to facilitate easier procurement and renewal of these licenses. The goal is for units to stop purchasing licenses one by one, eliminate the use of the CESS process for these licenses, and reduce the need to do individual UGAMart requisitions or expense reimbursements. What David is announcing is for the Spring. We will announce deadlines later for the Summer and fall terms.”

Franklin OIT has prepared a comparison of the AI products' features for the different products and launch memo to help with your unit’s decision. We will provide additional guidance and a process for participating in this program in the coming days.

“All Georgia State Agencies must meet WCAG 2.1, Level AA accessibility compliance by April 24, 2026, in accordance with the updated regulations for Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Agencies are encouraged to review the official requirements and exceptions, directing any questions regarding ruling interpretation and application to their general counsel.”

Franklin OIT is working on a compliance guidance, tools, and hands-on training to be available for all faculty and staff college-wide in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the State of Georgia Technology Authority provides Title II guidance for all state agencies.

As per the guidance from the UGA Registrar’s office on January 28, 2025, the USG updated definition of FERPA student ‘Directory Information’ requires action by all website and public-facing content owners. The revised definition changed to exclude a student’s Phone number(s), Address(es), UGA photograph (individual or named in a group), Faculty mentor as part of thesis/dissertation title, and Employment title and contact information as non-sensitive directory information. This means that the aforementioned items can NO LONGER be published without written approval from the student. The Franklin OIT FERPA page provides more information on this and how to become compliant.

With students, faculty, and staff making plans for the holidays and being absent from the campus and their computers, pease be aware and alert as Cyberattacks and related security intrusions will be likely to also increase. The Office of Information Security provides guidance on handling spam and phishing. This also includes the possibility of social engineering for individuals to gain access to systems, services, or data that they are not approved for through direct attempts at interactions (phone or chat). Be alert and if there are any questionable emails or related technical alerts, please reach out to the Franklin OIT Helpdesk. If you receive dangerous emails or communications, contact abuse@uga.edu or the Office of Information Security to obtain assistance and report the matter.