Wrapping up the National Cyber Security Awareness Month with game changing super cyber security takeaways!
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With the month of October coming to an end, we'd like to thank our behind-the-scenes super cyber security heroes: the McMaster IT Security team! The National Cyber Security Awareness Month campaign was a success thanks to your dedication and efforts, and the McMaster community's support and engagement.
Over four weeks, the McMaster cyber heroes' adventures have taught us a lot about protecting ourselves from phishing attempts and keeping our data and devices secure. The most important lessons of all are that cyber security is a shared responsibility, every one of us is a cyber hero and we should always trust our cyber senses!
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You're invited to the McMaster IT Community Get-Together!
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In early preparation for the festive season, the Office of the AVP and CTO invites you to an in-person IT community event to catch up over hot drinks and desserts.
The event will take place in The Great Hall, Alumni Memorial Building on Tuesday, November 22, 2022, from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM.
Due to limited capacity, please reserve your preferred timeslot before November 9, 2022. Eventbrite registration will send your 'ticket' with the option to save the event information to your calendar.
Hope to see you there!
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Do you manage a McMaster website? Make sure you are AODA compliant!
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The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Web Accessibility Roadmap initiative, endorsed by IT Governance 2021, is in phase two. The goal of the initiative is to support and encourage the wider McMaster community to work together towards achieving WCAG 2.0 AA (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) compliance and implementing a plan to maintain compliance by the end of 2022.
For more information, join the AODA Roadmap Team Channel to receive news on upcoming webinars as well as schedule one-to-one consultations with web accessibility specialist Clark Cipryk.
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McMaster HR and UTS release the updated Pre-Hire Mac ID eForm
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In the context of enhancing the McMaster IT experience and commitment to operational excellence, University Technology Services (UTS) in partnership with Human Resources (HR) Services, released the updated pre-hire Mac ID eForm to enable more rapid generation of new MacIDs.
The new Pre-Hire MacID eForm ensures new hires can access information systems and their McMaster email on their first day of employment , allows new employees to attend mandatory safety training faster, separates the MacID process from the existing new hire setup in Mosaic, and reduces the risk of duplicate MacIDs in Mosaic through an automated validation function.
For additional support with Mosaic HR eForms, email hr.mcmaster@mcmaster.ca or call 905-525-9140 x222HR(47).
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McMaster IT supports the ACCESS Tech Donation Drive
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In the framework of Campus Sustainability Month, McMaster IT supported students from the Academic Sustainability Program and Facility Services collected donations of gently-used technology, like laptops, computers, and smartphones, at the ACCESS Tech Donation Drive. The event, which took place on October 27, 2022, aimed at providing Hamiltonians in need with gently used technology through the help of Empowerment Squared.
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Blue by Explorance administers Student Course Experience Surveys (SCES) starting Fall 2022
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Student Course Evaluations, now referred to as Student Course Experience Surveys (SCES), will now be administered through the Office of Institutional Research & Analysis (IRA) starting this Fall, using Blue by Explorance. The transition to Blue for Student Course Experience Surveys is a partnership between the Office of the Vice-Provost of Teaching and Learning, IRA, the Faculty of Humanities Media and Computing team, with support from University Technology Services (UTS).
If you have questions, feel free to email Chris or Thomas at evals@mcmaster.ca
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NEW: The UTS Telecom website has moved!
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The UTS Telecom website has moved to a new location with a new look! It's now available within the UTS website, in the communication, collaboration and storage services section. On the Telecom webpage, you can find information about the different available services and products, general walkthroughs and guides on how to use them, the latest news, and more.
Please note: If you had the website bookmarked, please remove it and add the new webpage as a bookmark to your web server.
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Stay up to date with changes or new features in Zoom or Microsoft 365 apps
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Are you a Microsoft365 user? Here are some new tips for you!
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Are you a Zoom user? Here are some new tips for you!
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Upcoming new minimum version for Zoom clients
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Zoom plans to implement a new Software Lifecycle Policy in which they will block client versions below a minimum version and enforce a minimum version on a quarterly schedule — the first weekend of November, February, May, and August. This will take effect on November 5, 2022.
Users who are running version 5.8.6 or below after November 5 will not be able to join meetings via the Zoom Client and will be prompted to update or join from the Web browser. On that same schedule, Zoom will announce the minimum version required across products and services for the next scheduled enforcement in order to provide three (3) months’ notice. However, there may be additional updates outside of this release window to address larger security or compliance features.
It is recommended that you regularly download and update to the latest version of Zoom software to take advantage of all the latest security and functionality features. Please review how to check your current Zoom client version and update Zoom if it is below version 5.8.6.
Please visit Zoom Software Quarterly Lifecycle Policy for more information.
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McMaster IT Governance Committees | Join the Teams channel for the latest updates
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Stay on top of the latest updates from McMaster IT Governance Committees. Join the IT Governance MS Teams channel where all meetings agendas, information and materials are available.
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Call for volunteers for the Connectivity 2023: IT Forum Organizing Committee
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Preparations for the Connectivity 2023: IT Forum have started! If you're interested in being part of the organizing team, make sure to sign up as a volunteer on the link below. Spread the word with your IT colleagues, as we're hoping to have a team from diverse departments across the campus.
Looking forward to working with you all!
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ICYMI: ITSAC Report 2021-2022
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The Information Technology Student Advisory Committee (ITSAC) recently released its annual report outlining recommendations and feedback on IT services at McMaster University.
ITSAC provides a forum for undergraduate and graduate students to discuss current campus technology priorities and new IT initiatives. This committee is an essential channel for ensuring students have meaningful input and involvement in enhancing the IT experience at McMaster.
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Have you subscribed to the UTS Service Dashboard?
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The new UTS Service Dashboard allows you to customize your preferences for alerts on upcoming planned maintenance and unplanned major service interruptions. The dashboard is built on Atlassian. You can set your preferences to receive your alerts via email and/or text for the services most relevant to your work. Subscribe today!
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Submit a proposal to present and share your expertise at NERCOMP annual conference 2023
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The NERCOMP Annual Conference brings together higher education library and IT professionals from across the Northeast of the US and Canada, to build up expertise around issues they care about the most. Your proposal is essential to advancing the collective knowledge of the community. This is a great small conference where you can build relationships across institutions, and also practice your presentation skills!
Next year’s conference covers a variety of key topics you can speak about that are built around three key themes community, resilience, and the social good. For instance, are you passionate about innovating student success? Does data-driven decision-making get your creative juices flowing?
Submit a presentation proposal by November 7, 2022—your colleagues will benefit from your knowledge, successes, and struggles!
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Canada Alliance 2022 Conference
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The Canadian Higher Education Users Group (HEUG) is holding the Canada Alliance 2022 conference in person to Rediscover, Reconnect and Rejuvenate on November 7-8 2022, at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario.
CHEUG Alliance is a great opportunity to network with your colleagues from other institutions around Canada. McMaster IT personnel interested in attending and benefitting from the group rate can get in touch with Tanya Reid (reidt10@mcmaster.ca). Multiple McMaster IT presenters are part of the program including:
- Billing Request Form/Billing Upload Form: Si Tan
- Finance Birds of a Feather: Stacey Farkas
- Procurement Card Blues? Travel And Expense Can Help: Derek Konieczny
- Out of Province Tuition Fee Increase: Aba Wadden
- Higher Ed information eco-systems in 5 years - opportunities and challenges: Dennis Tian
- Student Email Refunds: Carly Silenzi.
Register, explore the agenda and learn more about the conference on the link below.
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EDUCAUSE Annual Conference
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The EDUCAUSE Annual Conference convened in-person from October 25-28, 2022 in Denver, CO. However, an online event will follow on November 2-3, 2022. With the best presenters, the best content, and the best networking, the premier higher education IT event brings together professionals and technology providers from around the world to discuss their discoveries, grow professionally, and explore solutions to continuing challenges.
Register, explore the agenda, and learn more about the conference on the link below.
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Know a young person looking to start a career in STEM? Share this free networking event!
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Eclipsys Solutions Inc. has partnered up with hEr VOLUTION to present this year's 2022 Women In Technology Speakers Panel on November 3, 2022, from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM in Toronto. McMaster's own Tanya Reid, Associate Director of Strategic Implementations in the Office of the AVP and CTO is part of this Q&A panel session, which will discuss trending topics in tech and information on thriving through tech career phases and facets. It also provides a unique networking opportunity where we connect women working on the business and technical sides of the industry, at every career level, from students to senior executives.
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Have a story you want to share with the IT Community? Email McMaster IT Communications team at itcomms@mcmaster.ca to feature an article!
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