Weekly Tech Update: Your what's what of IT news

Dec 22, 2022

Welcome to the twice-weekly newsletter dedicated to everything IT! News, fun, informational content—get your quick digest of tech content and then go about your day.

Check for updates here every Monday and Thursday.

Please continue to seek support if you have issues with Miami-supported technology:

MiamiOH.edu/ITHelp

December 22, Thursday

Miami University: Best Place to Work in IT 2023

Once again it is our pleasure to announce that Miami University was voted a top place to work in IT! The Computerworld rankings for 2023 are now live, and we are so excited.

The IT department at Miami (that’s us!) is full of folks who work every day to create a more secure, technologically innovative, and future-focused university. Computerworld is just reaffirming what we already know about our workplace. This is true #LoveAndHonor at its best.

This recognition wouldn’t be possible without all the amazing people who come to work in IT every day striving to support Miami. Thank you all!

Read our announcement.

Reminder: myMiami authentication

On Tuesday, Jan. 17, myMiami will switch to authentication-only. This means that when you go to myMiami.miamioh.edu, you will need to log in before seeing any content.

This change is being done to bring the new portal more in line with the previous version of myMiami, so the change should not be disruptive. Entity accounts and courtesy accounts will still be able to log in to myMiami as usual.

New year, new job?

We are looking for someone who loves all things data, loves a challenge and is looking for a dynamic and highly rewarding position at a nationally respected university. Is this you?

Our Ideal candidates, like you, will help Miami University to continue to take big steps forward with our data analytics environment that is unifying multiple successful data-driven business intelligence and data analysis efforts across campus. This is a chance to help guide Miami’s data-driven future. The University Data Modeler position is a highly technical position with responsibility to lead the development, validation, publishing, and maintenance of logical and physical data models. You’ll be an integral part of providing data-driven insights that inform significant University wide decisions.

Come along!

Previous Updates

December 19

Identifying Whether an Email, Phone Call, Text Message, or Webpage is from Amazon

As the holiday season continues, there are opportunities for scammers to impersonate frequently used online retailers like Amazon. This resource, from Amazon itself, provides key reminders and information on how to make sure what you’re interacting with is the actual company and not a scam.

Successful firewall upgrade this weekend!

Congratulations to the project team for a successful weekend of firewall upgrades. This is work that we have to do every five years or so to improve resiliency and update physical hardware in the data center, and the team has been working for months on the upgrade plan to ensure the least amount of downtime as this critical appliance was replaced.

Awesome work, team!

Additional BannerWeb Finance links upgraded to Banner 9 Self Service today

On Monday, Dec. 19, more links in BannerWeb were redirected to their counterparts in Banner 9 Self Service.

At 8:30 a.m., additional BannerWeb Finance links were redirected to Banner 9 Self Service. This means the pages were officially upgraded and replaced with Banner 9 Self Service.

The good news is that accessing these new pages will not change much for you. They will still be accessed from the main BannerWeb menu the same way they always have – when you click on the links, they will simply redirect you to the new pages in Banner 9 Self Service.

For more information and ongoing updates about the exciting upgrade to Banner 9 Self-Service, don't forget to subscribe to the project blog.

December 12

Miami University: Best Place to Work in IT 2023

Once again it is our pleasure to announce that Miami University was voted a top place to work in IT! The Computerworld rankings for 2023 are now live, and we are so excited about this incredible honor.

Read the full article at Computerworld.

REMINDER: Many Miami services will be down on December 17

On Saturday, December 17, from 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m., IT Services will be conducting scheduled maintenance in the Hoyt data center. This work will necessitate a significant shutdown of many Miami online services, including Banner, BannerWeb, MU-Wireless, and VPN, for several hours during that maintenance window. See below for a more complete list of the affected services.

There are some major systems that should not be affected by this work, including Google Workspace apps, Canvas, Zoom, TeamDynamix, Slack, and the MiamiOH.edu webpages. Door access on campus should also not be affected.

For an updated list of services that will be impacted, please visit the news article.

Notice: Errant Direct Deposit email impacts Miami community

On Saturday afternoon (Dec. 10, 2022), many Miami faculty, staff, retirees, students, contractors, vendors and former employees received inadvertent emails stating that they recently changed their Direct Deposit information in BannerWeb or Banner 9 Self Service.

IT Services has discovered that this is being caused by the scrambling of account and routing numbers during a refresh of the Banner DEVL and TEST databases.

We are confident that any undesired changes are NOT being made to any data in production. This means that your direct deposit information did NOT change. You can safely disregard the email.

November 28, Monday

Introducing: CrowdStrike EDR

Beginning in December, the Information Security Office will be launching an initiative to bolster Miami’s security posture and improve our response to cyber threats and incidents.

We are all on the same team at Miami, and we are all stewards of different data. Have you ever thought that maybe you are in possession of someone else's vital information that you need to keep safe? If you have access to student information, if you do government research, if you have permission to access any of Miami’s systems… We all have a shared responsibility to help keep that data (student, research, administrative, and otherwise) safe.

In service of that shared responsibility, the University is implementing CrowdStrike Falcon as another plank in our cybersecurity strategy, and IT Services is here to lead the way.

Visit the CrowdStrike website for more information and an updated timeline for rollout.

Update Google Chrome

Google has released an emergency security update for the desktop version of the Chrome web browser to address a critical vulnerability. Please update your browser now!

UPCOMING: Winter Break changes

We are hard at work figuring out what upgrades and implementations will be taking place over the 2022-2023 winter break. Historically, it is a time when IT Services plans the most disruptive work, as there are not as many folks on campus who would potentially be impacted. Keep an eye on the IT News site for more information!

Instagram Photo of the Week: I AM Miami!

November 21

We hope you are having a great start to the holidays. The University is open on Wednesday this week, but there are no classes – so if you are heading out of town to visit family, travel safely!

We’ll keep the news short this week.

Tech Tips for the holidays

For students, staff, and faculty alike, any time away from home comes with certain preparations. Turn off lights; make sure the pets are taken care of; make sure you have your passport, plane tickets, travel snacks, and plenty of games for the ride.

One thing you shouldn’t forget about: technology!

Read our list of things to remember before you go out of town.

UPCOMING: Winter Break changes

Unplug your tech!

November 14

IMPORTANT: Big changes coming to BannerWeb THIS WEEK

As Miami continues forward with implementing Banner 9 Self Service modules, the next step is the replacement of some of the BannerWeb tools with this new functionality. We have allowed you access to this new functionality for several months now, but beginning November 16, these BannerWeb pages will be officially upgraded and replaced with Banner 9 Self Service.

Please read the announcement carefully and follow the Banner 9 blog for more information.

UPCOMING: Winter Break changes

Twitter notice: Be aware of fake “verified” accounts

We are aware (as are many of you) of the current turmoil within Twitter’s leadership and the resulting changes to the popular social media platform. We want to caution the Miami community to be wary of “verified” Twitter accounts – as users have been using the blue checkmark to impersonate others on the platform.

IT Services in the greater Miami University community

November 10

IMPORTANT: Big changes coming to BannerWeb this month

Please read the announcement carefully and follow the Banner 9 blog for more information.

In case you missed it: Meet Patrick Hawk!

Patrick, a 2006 Miami graduate with a degree in computer science, joined the ISO in November 2021, just after last year's NCSAM extravaganza. He is a security analyst II. This essentially means he is one of the folks who ensures the security of Miami’s technological systems and software – the guy who helps keep our data safe, in a sense.

Get to know Patrick!

November 7

New tool: Gmail mail merge capabilities

Google is rolling out a new tool that will allow users to do a mail merge right in the email window (without having to connect a requisite Sheet or use a separate add-on like YAMM). You can use mail merge tags to send more personalized and engaging emails to large audiences from web Gmail. This new feature is being rolled out beginning today! Read more on the Google blog.

In case you missed it: AccessMU Center recommends using CARES for accessible documents

We hear all the time how important good communication is, and there are lots of ways to improve how we communicate. One important aspect of good communication is making our content accessible to all audiences. That’s where CARES can help.

Conversion and Remediation Express Services (CARES) is a self-service solution for students, faculty, and staff that automates the conversion of documents into a wide-range of alternative formats including MP3, EPUB, HTML and digital Braille.

Learn more about CARES!

NCSAM Wrap-up

Many thanks to everyone who came out to the Security Awareness Events the ISO held in Armstrong. It’s great to get the word out about cybersecurity and it’s even better when the university community is receptive to the important message. Check out more articles that we put out during October in the Security Awareness tag of our news site.

October 24

Keep it up! Be cyber-aware this October

As National Cybersecurity Awareness Month continues, we wanted to take a minute and recap some of our best practices for being more "cyber-aware" in your day-to-day life.

Cybersecurity awareness involves being more mindful of potential dangers to your data and taking steps to protect yourself from criminal activity. Sometimes, those steps are small – but any action you can take to boost your own security is one more shield against data theft and cybercrime.

Read our recap in the IT News.

Do not get caught by a phishing scam

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and this year’s theme is: “See yourself in Cyber.” With that in mind, let’s spend a little time reviewing some common ways scammers try to get your personal information -- and how to spot them so you don’t experience the heartache of falling for a phishing scam.

Join us on Friday!

October 6

Test your Cybersecurity knowledge here!

Answer ten cybersecurity related questions and see where you rank against a group of over 1,000 randomly sampled adults in a Pew research study. For more information on other findings from the survey, check out: "What the Public Knows About Cybersecurity."

Be on the lookout for the hashtag #NCSAM on Twitter and Instagram and more news articles in this space, as well!

How safe is your password?

We are officially six days into National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, bringing you yet another quick read to help you stay safe online: https://staysafeonline.org.

According to the National Cybersecurity Alliance your password should be “unique and complex,” meaning you should have a different password for each site, and before you ask, changing one character does not count. For your password to be complex, it must contain a combination of 12+ upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters (!,@?>). You may be thinking “that’s a lot of passwords to remember,” but we have one more tip!

Featured Knowledge: Password Managers

A password manager is a safe computer program that allows users to store, generate, and manage their passwords for local applications and online services. Not only do these services save you from having to write down a million passwords, but they also keep your information secure. We recommend BitWarden and LastPass to students/staff/faculty for any password management needs.

For a more in depth overview of password managers check out this article from the Knowledge Base!

September 19

Get ready for NCSAM…

October is steadily approaching, and that can only mean one thing: National Cybersecurity Awareness Month! We hope you are ready for a month of cybersecurity tips and how to maintain your privacy and security on the internet. Be on the lookout for the hashtag #NCSAM on Twitter and Instagram and more news articles in this space, as well!

Reminder: Tech Fee proposals due September 25, 2022

We know everyone is extremely busy this time of the year, but we wanted to remind everyone that the deadline to submit proposals for the next round of the Student Technology Fee Competitive Proposal Process (Tech Fee) is midnight on September 25, 2022. The complete schedule for FY23 is available at MiamiOH.edu/TechFee.

Featured Knowledge: Clear cookies, cache, and history on computer

Did you know that often the first step to troubleshooting when you’re having issues with a Miami application is to clear your cache? This effectively resets your browser and gets rid of any cookies that could be messing with your machine. Check out this handy Knowledge article for more info.

September 12

Latest phishing scam impersonates Geek Squad

Remember Best Buy? Scammers do. Miami’s Information Security Office has received reports that a new scam email has been making the rounds, and it has a very specific motive: to get your money.

The sender claims to be from the Best Buy Geek Squad, and the message informs recipients that they are subscribed to the Geek Squad service for $300 - $400. It also states that if you feel this is wrong to call a phone number, where they will then attempt to get money from you. An example of the note can be seen in the IT News article.

Miami tech tools you need to know about

Now that we are a few weeks into the first semester of a new school year, we in IT Services know that the University is in the midst of a whirlwind of activity. Everyone is busy trying to do five things at once and still be able to keep our heads above water.

Hopefully, that’s where we come in. We thought it would be helpful to spend a little bit of time looking at some of the helpful tools Miami staff and faculty have at your disposal -- and how they can help as the semester ramps up.

Read the story now!

Featured tweet: Learn more about Read & Write

September 1

Happy September! Fall is almost upon us, and summer seems to be releasing its grasp slowly but surely as temperatures decrease. That’s right, folks: It’s decorative gourd season!

And now, on to the news for this week:

Staff Accessibility Training now live!

Staff members from the AccessMU Center and the Miller Center for Student Disability Services have joined forces to ensure we provide you with the most up-to-date accessibility content. The content of the accessibility training course has been updated for the 2022-2023 academic year. If you are required to do this training this year (staff are required to complete it every three years), you will have received a notification in your email.

IT Services in the news: Featuring Tyler Gifford!

Tyler Gifford, support analyst II and team member of Technology Support Services (TSS), was quoted in CIODive this week in an article about Gen Z in IT.

Tyler is a Miami grad and pretty popular around the Oxford campus -- he does great work, and is appreciated for that. Read the article here!

IT Services, University partners celebrate CIO 100 win

At the beginning of August, Brian Henebry, assistant vice president of solution delivery in IT Services, accepted the Top CIO 100 award that was given to a team of IT staff and University partners this past March.

The team, which consisted of staff members from several groups in IT Services as well as partners from various departments across the University, were conferred the award earlier this year for their efforts to improve contact tracing methods used throughout the pandemic by Oxford Butler County health officials.

Read all about their awesome win. Congratulations, team!

August 29

Welcome to Fall Semester Week 2! We hope the first week went well and your semester is off to a great start. Here are a couple regular reminders as we get back to work:

Miami DigitalID is here!

Miami University is going contactless. The Miami ID can now be added as a digital ID card to eligible iPhone, Apple Watch or Android devices. Students, faculty, and staff will be able to use the digital ID, in addition to the physical ID, to access residence halls, campus buildings, meal plans, Recreational Sports Center, MUlaa debit accounts, library resources and more.

Miami University ID holders now have access to the new digital campus ID and can follow step-by-step instructions to provision the mobile credential. To learn more, visit the Campus Services Center’s Digital ID website.

IT Diversity Film Festival highlights Freedom Summer activists

Each year, the IT Services Diversity Committee hosts a film festival where we invite someone from the Miami community to join us in watching a film and facilitating a discussion afterward. In previous years, we have discussed films about using native imagery in sports mascots, comparative religions, and racial inequality.

This year, in July 2022, we gathered in person on a perfectly sunny day for the first time in several years to break bread together, watch a couple films, and have a lively, moderated discussion with our coworkers. The festival was also broadcast via Zoom to our colleagues who were unable to attend in person – our first hybrid event!

Featured Photo: Mega Fair

August 22

Welcome to Fall 2022! The semester is now officially underway. On all of our social channels this week, you'll find tips and tricks for putting your best technology foot forward as the semester gets going.

Warning: Text scams posing as government agencies

The Information Security Office would like to send out a general word of warning about phone and text message scams as the semester gets underway.

You may have seen this last week, but we have had some notifications that scammers are trying to take advantage of international students via text. Unfortunately, Miami IT does not have the ability to block these kinds of texts – so please share this information widely.

Remember: Government agencies will never contact you via phone call or text about important things like visa status or social security.

Introducing: Your guide to managing your identity

Miami students, faculty, and staff now have one place to go for information about managing their identity at the University.

Miami DigitalID is here!

Featured photo: Convocation 2022

Though Convocation may be over, look for us at your next event (hint: it’s a fair, and it’s MEGA, and it’s this coming Sunday, August 28).

August 18

The News You Need: TechFee call for proposals opened this week

With the new school almost upon us, it is time to prepare for the next round of the Student Technology Fee Competitive Proposal Process (Tech Fee).

This year, we will once again be using a fall proposal period. With that, the application period began on Monday, August 15, and the deadline to submit proposals for the 2022-2023 awards is midnight on September 25, 2022.

More information can be found in last week’s news article.

How to get support: IT Help 101

To celebrate the start of the Fall 2022 semester, we are bringing out all the hits! Don’t forget that you can get IT Help by visiting our portal at MiamiOH.edu/ITHelp. You can find a convenient place to change your password, commonly used Knowledge articles, and all of our contact information for getting help.

Get IT Help now

Congratulations!! CIO100 winners accept award

August 11

Resource: Inclusive Language in Microsoft Office

Inclusive language (i.e., using words intentionally to promote acceptance of diverse cultures and backgrounds) is something we are passionate about in IT Services. In 2020, an IT project team took a hard look at the problematic language that is used in the information technology field to describe some of the most basic tenets of our work. The team recommended limiting or discontinuing specific terms used in our technology and applications, and language that we use when communicating and interacting with one another. As a result, identified terms (such as “whitelist/blacklist,” “master/slave” terminology used when describing servers, or “native” applications) are being replaced with more inclusive language.

This helpful site gives an overview of what inclusive language is and how you can enable some inclusive-language proofing features that Microsoft Office just rolled out to the online versions of its popular applications.

The News You Need: TechFee call for proposals opens Monday

With the new school almost upon us, it is time to prepare for the next round of the Student Technology Fee Competitive Proposal Process (Tech Fee).

This year, we will once again be using a fall proposal period. With that, the application period will begin on Monday, August 15, and the deadline to submit proposals for the 2022-2023 awards is midnight on September 25, 2022.

More information can be found in this week’s news article.

Featured Photo: Freedom Summer

August 4

Scheduled downtime between 5-7 today, August 4

IT Services will be changing the load balancer in use for Miami applications at www.apps.miamioh.edu to pave the way to be able to deploy to containers.

During the planned maintenance, there will be a five-minute outage of the www.apps.miamioh.edu applications. Any jobs applications will not be affected by this change. If you experience any issues, please wait five minutes and try again.

New scam alert:

A recent article from Lawrence Abrams warns twitter users to stay vigilant when receiving emails asking for your login credentials. Hackers may attempt to steal and sell your account data. Remember to only enter your information on the official secured Twitter site.

Check this out!

Visit Be Secure: Scam awareness on Twitter and at Miami for more information on general online safety guidelines and how to protect your online profile. “Anyone claiming to be a figure of authority – such as a member of Miami’s senior leadership – and trying to get you to buy an NFT is probably, in fact, not the person they claim to be.”

Getting started with the new myMiami

As you know, the new myMiami is up and running. Send us feedback in the app itself if you have any questions or concerns!

Check out our useful YouTube playlist for getting started in the NEW myMiami:

July 25

Upcoming maintenance: Stream2 television service

From July 27 to July 29, the Stream2 streaming television service in residence halls and communal spaces will be undergoing maintenance by the vendor.

The maintenance will take place beginning at 8 a.m. on July 27 through the end of the business day on July 29. The Stream2 television service will not be available during this time. Connected devices such as Roku, FireTV sticks, Apple TVs, and others may need to be rebooted after the maintenance window is complete.

Learn more about this work.

Getting started with the new myMiami

As you know, the new myMiami is up and running, and will fully take the place of the current myMiami instance on August 1. We highly recommend that you try out the new portal now, and send us feedback in the app itself if you have any questions or concerns!

Check out our useful YouTube playlist for getting started in the NEW myMiami:

Upcoming maintenance: Production Oracle patching scheduled for August 7

On Sunday, August 7, 2022, between 12 - 4 a.m., IT Services will be installing a patch to the production Oracle grid infrastructure (specifically on the databases that are on 19c).

These patches will typically be installed in a rolling fashion; one Oracle Grid node at a time. This means the supported databases will not be completely down, and services will be available since they all have multiple instances (except for IAPROD -- see below). However, users may need to log back into their sessions after the upgrade (as some applications don’t handle failover well).

For a full list of databases, visit the news article.

July 18

Top tips for getting started with the new myMiami

Later this week, we will have a whole support list for you of tutorial videos and Knowledge Base articles geared toward helping you get started on the right foot with myMiami. In the meantime, use this handy list of tips for what you should do when you first log in to the new portal:

1. Authorize Canvas connector

Upon login, you will see a popup asking you to authorize the Canvas connector. This acts similarly to the MyCourses module in myMiami – which shows the courses you are signed up for in Canvas. Once you authorize the connector, your courses will show up at the bottom of your home page in myMiami.

2. Set your campus and roles

Under the “Preferences” tab in the top-right menu, you can set your primary campus and role at the University. Use these settings in order to get the most relevant information to you based on your primary role at Miami.

3. Add a few “Favorites” to your list

The new portal has a feature where you can add “Favorites” to your home page in myMiami. You can add favorites by pressing the heart icon next to any task, and it will be included in this list.

When you log in, this section is conveniently at the top of your home page – and you can add any tasks or task centers you like. Need to get to BannerWeb every day? What about your email? Go ahead and add it to your Favorites, and it’ll be right at your fingertips.

This can act as a starting point for your day!

Banner 9 Self Service modules replacing BannerWeb

As has been noted in previous announcements, Miami is in the process of transitioning from Banner 8 to Banner 9, and the next part of that process will be the retirement of BannerWeb which will be replaced with Banner 9 Self Service (SSB9). There are multiple individual modules for Self Service Banner 9 that have already gone live into production, along with some additional ones that are still in progress. The next step is for you to start using these new modules on a daily basis.

Featured social post: David Seidl on cultivating a positive work culture

July 14

From the ISO: Reject unknown Duo pushes

The Information Security Office has received several reports recently of erroneous Duo pushes being sent to users’ phones and accepted without verification. This has resulted in compromised accounts.

Please be aware: If you receive a Duo push that you did not initiate, this means that someone has your password and is accessing your Miami account without your knowledge.

What should you do about it if you receive an unknown push?

In case you missed it: New Business Intelligence website!

To help with communicating what services and tools the team can provide to the University, the BI Team has rolled out a new website.

Banner 9 Self Service modules replacing BannerWeb

July 11

We’re back! Let’s get to that good tech content you crave.

Upcoming maintenance: Network failover testing

IT Services will be beginning its annual network failover testing on Wednesday, July 20. This testing enables IT Services to exercise the resiliency of our network systems to provide highly available and stable core communications systems for all Ohio campuses of the University.

Check the daily schedule of the work to be performed that week.

Reminder: New myMiami going live on August 1

IT Services would like to remind the Miami community that the myMiami portal is getting a much-needed upgrade at the end of this month. Thank you for helping us make this new portal a success! We’re excited about the new features and can’t wait to see how you use this tool to its full potential.

Visit the new myMiami now!

IAM in the spotlight

As you may know, Miami University has embarked on a journey to improve identity and access management (IAM).

The core IAM Program team has been engaged with client offices (e.g., Finance and Business Services, OEEO, Human Resources, Advancement, and many others) as well as internal IT Services teams to determine what our environment looks like and how it can be improved with a modern Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) tool.

So far, our efforts have been mostly in the background – but we are getting ready to move into a new phase of the IAM Program!

Read all about it.

Once more, with feeling...

June 21

New phishing scam: Google Chat edition

A new scam attempt is coming from, of all places, the Google Chat application. These types of scams are becoming more prevalent, so stay vigilant!

Business Intelligence Team debuts new website

To help with communicating what services and tools the team can provide to the University, the BI Team is rolling out a new website. The new site is linked from the main IT Services website and provides information on the team, available tools, and community resources.

Visit the site now!

You have a mission…

June 6

ShredFest 2022 in the books!

It's hard to believe another ShredFest has come and gone, but ShredFest 2022 is now officially in the books. This year marked the 12th annual ShredFest event, and we couldn’t have asked for better weather over the two days. The event, co-sponsored by IT Services and the Office of General Counsel, was held in Middletown and Hamilton on Monday, May 9, and in Oxford on Thursday, May 12. A total of 112 people attended this year’s ShredFest, which is a slight increase over our attendance last year. We were able to collect over 10,200 pounds of paper to be shredded, which is nearly 3,000 more pounds than we did a year ago.

Some users losing Google Chrome bookmarks after a recent update

In a recent upgrade to Google Chrome, a new feature has been added that prompts users to either 1) keep their local browsing data on this Chrome profile, or 2) create a new Chrome profile. When users select the latter option, their bookmarks and data disappear (because they have created a new profile).

This is causing some confusion, so we wanted to clear some things up. First of all: Miami does use managed profiles for our users in Chrome, but administrators do not have access to your bookmarks, history, or passwords. Second: The bookmarks are not actually lost. Chrome has simply created another profile to separate the personal and enterprise data.

From the Desk of the Information Security Office: Turn off your Meeting Owls

A security concern has been recently discovered in Meeting Owls, which Miami offices have been using for some time as a way to streamline hybrid (combination in-person and remote) meetings.

A recent Ars Technica article enumerates the flaws in these Owls, but suffice it to say that several key vulnerabilities make these devices a threat to the Miami network. In particular, a flaw in the bluetooth functionality of the devices uses no passcode, making it possible for someone within bluetooth range to take control of those devices.

Owl Labs is working to patch the most important flaws, but until at least the bluetooth issue is fixed, the Information Security Office (ISO) is recommending that folks at Miami with access to Meeting Owls only use them when they are needed for hybrid meetings – and to unplug them when not in use.

Again: Please turn off or unplug your Meeting Owls while you are not using them, and only use them if they are absolutely necessary for hybrid meetings.

Reporting in from Fall Orientation 2022

June 2

Zoom requires security update

Zoom users recently became the target of a new security vulnerability. An automatic update was pushed out last week to mitigate this vulnerability, but IT Services is aware of some folks who have not received the automatic update, or the update was received but not automatically installed upon startup.

Miami’s Information Security Office recommends that all Miami Zoom users update their Zoom app to the latest version (5.10.7).

IAAP Accessible Digital Content Miniseries continues!

After today, there will be two more trainings this month for the IAAP miniseries hosted by AccessMU. The next training is scheduled for June 16, 2022 and will feature a chat titled: “Audio Description as Aesthetic Innovation,” given by Joel Snyder. Registration is required, as there will be some refreshments at this in-person session!

Reporting in from Fall Orientation 2022

May 26

Zoom requires security update

Miami’s Information Security Office recommends that all Miami Zoom users update their Zoom app to the latest version (5.10.6).

Available now: Your identity at Miami

Miami University is committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive environment for students, faculty, and staff. This guide is intended to be a starting point for you to curate your Miami identity using the technological systems and services provided to you during your time with us (as long as you are associated in some way with Miami).

Check it out!

Fall 2022 Orientation: Play along at home

Welcome to Miami! IT Services wants to ensure that you have the right tools to succeed and grow during your time with the Redhawks.

With our informative YouTube playlist, you'll find information about all the tech know-how you'll need. And with the website we’ve curated at MiamiOH.edu/ITOrientation, you can play along at home!

TechTerm: Cookies!

May 23

Congratulations again to the graduates who walked the stage a couple weekends ago and entered the next stage of their lives! We are so proud of you – who you are, who you become.

Orientation starts next week: Are you ready?

Welcome to Miami! IT Services wants to ensure that you have the right tools to succeed and grow during your time with the Redhawks.

With our informative YouTube playlist, you'll find information about all the tech know-how you'll need.

Learn more with us!

Tech Fee call for proposals coming in August!

It's never too early to look ahead to the fall and the next round of the Student Technology Fee Competitive Proposal Process (Tech Fee). The complete schedule for FY23 is available at MiamiOH.edu/TechFee, but we wanted to highlight a few items early.

Find out when to submit your proposal.

Don’t forget to update Chrome

The past few weeks have been full of notifications about updating Google Chrome, and we aren’t kidding – get those tabs updated!

May 2

Welcome to May! Classes are nearly over and summer session is just around the corner. Let’s see what the techies have been up to over the past week and what’s on the horizon for Miami IT.

Warning: Update Google Chrome browser today

Google recently became aware of a significant security flaw in the Google Chrome browser application. It’s imperative that you go in and manually update your browser and, if you can’t, simply uninstall and then reinstall the app.

Tech Fee call for proposals coming in August!

Believe it or not, the school year is beginning to wind down, but it is never too early to look ahead to the fall and the next round of the Student Technology Fee Competitive Proposal Process (Tech Fee). The complete schedule for FY23 is available at MiamiOH.edu/TechFee, but we wanted to highlight a few items early.

Find out when to submit your proposal.

Featured Knowledge: Set your pronouns in Canvas

Instructors: Did you know that you can set your pronouns in Canvas? Check it totally out!

Stay tuned for more information about your (technology) identity at Miami…

Reminder: Try the new myMiami portal now!

IT Services would like to remind the Miami community that the myMiami portal is getting a much-needed upgrade later this year.

The technology underpinning the old version of myMiami is no longer supported and cannot be updated. Faced with a decision to make, a University-wide committee chose to request proposals and selected OneCampus as our new portal solution.

On August 1, 2022, the old portal will be turned off – and at that point, the link to myMiami.MiamiOH.edu will point to the new portal.

April 25

Greetings and happy Monday, friends! We’ve made it to the start of another week. As exams get closer and the weather outside warms up, we're still coming at you with your weekly dose of technology news for you to use!

IAM Program Update

The folks in charge of the IAM program are excited to announce that they have a new Program Manager, who will be in charge of making sure the program runs smoothly and Miami has completed all our homework. The team is working through a vendor scorecard – because when we send out our requests for proposal and get information from potential vendors for the IGA (identity governance administration) tool, we will need an objective way to rank our top choice.

Learn more about Identity and Access Management.

Tech Fee call for proposals coming in August!

Find out when to submit your proposal.

It’s spring!

April 18

Notice about suspicious pension emails

The Information Security Office has been receiving reports from folks across Miami about an email asking them to make an appointment with their “pension officer.” Please note that this is not an authorized solicitation email. The only communication you should receive about your pension would be from your elected 403b provider (e.g., Voya).

Read more in the IT News.

Production Oracle Patching: This Saturday

On Saturday, April 23, 2022, beginning at 6 p.m., IT Services will be installing a patch to the production Oracle grid infrastructure (specifically on the databases that are on 19c).

These patches will typically be installed in a rolling fashion; one Oracle Grid node at a time. This means the supported databases will not be completely down, and services will be available since they all have multiple instances (except for IAPROD -- see below). However, users may need to log back in to their sessions after the upgrade (as some applications don’t handle failover well).

Note on IAPROD: This database only has one instance. Therefore, during the install for the patch on this server, there will be a full outage. It will take around 20 minutes. Please be sure to save your work.

These patches are estimated to take about 60 to 90 minutes to install on each node. AppWorx will be disabled for the duration of the upgrade.

We recommend that you validate your applications thoroughly after patching and notify duit-dba@MiamiOH.edu immediately of any issues. For a full list of databases that will be impacted by this change, please visit the IT News site.

IT Services Spring Fling was a success!

April 11

Several Banner 9 Self-Service modules are now live!

The latest phase of Miami’s transition from Banner 8 to Banner 9 is the implementation of the “self-service” modules. This is the part of Banner that many of us interact with currently through BannerWeb. There are multiple individual modules for Self Service Banner 9 (SSB 9) that have already gone live into production, along with some additional ones that are still in progress. The next step is for you to start using these new modules on a daily basis.

Reminder: Try the new myMiami portal now!

IT Services would like to remind the Miami community that the myMiami portal is getting a much-needed upgrade later this year.

On August 1, 2022, the old portal will be turned off – and at that point, the link to myMiami.MiamiOH.edu will point to the new portal.

Meet Bill Miley

April 7

Reminder: Try the new myMiami portal now!

IT Services would like to remind the Miami community that the myMiami portal is getting a much-needed upgrade later this year.

On August 1, 2022, the old portal will be turned off – and at that point, the link to myMiami.MiamiOH.edu will point to the new portal.

Congrats to Leah, Kent, and Chip!

April 4

Lots of great IT-related news to start this week! Let's get to it!

Register now! Access For All: Accessible Technology Symposium

The annual Access for All: Accessible Technology Symposium will be held virtually on Thursday, April 14, 2022, from 2 to 3:30 p.m.

This year’s keynote speaker is Liz Persaud, the Program and Outreach Manager for Tools for Life, Georgia’s Assistive Technology Act Program at the Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation at Georgia Tech University.

Dates set for ShredFest 2022

The dates have been finalized for ShredFest 2022, so make sure you have them in your calendar. ShredFest is your opportunity to bring confidential office and personal documents for secure, on-site shredding at the various Miami campuses.

A mobile shredder will visit the regional campuses on Monday, May 9. It will be at Middletown in the parking lot outside of Johnston Hall from 9 to 11 a.m. and at Hamilton in the parking lot outside Wilks Conference Center from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

The shredder will be on the Oxford campus on Thursday, May 12, between 12 and 4 p.m. at Cook Field (near Pulley Tower).

For more information, check out the ShredFest website at MiamiOH.edu/ShredFest.

Congratulations to David Seidl!

March 28

Security warning: Update Chrome and Edge browsers

Google has issued a warning on its official Chrome blog, revealing that Chrome for Windows, macOS, and Linux are all vulnerable to a new ‘zero-day’ hack. Microsoft has also confirmed that the same zero-day hack affects its Edge browser. Zero-day is the most dangerous form of attack because it means the vulnerability is known to hackers before Google or Microsoft could issue a fix. This means every Chrome and Edge user is vulnerable.

For information on how to update, please see the IT News article.

Have you followed us on Twitter yet?

We have been trying out a new campaign on social media: #TechTerm. We know technology vocabulary can be inscrutable at times, and we want to help break down barriers to understanding. So far we’ve talked about things like ERP, CRM, data centers, and virtual machines. Follow us on Twitter for more!

Are there any words you would like to see defined? Email ITAdvocate@MiamiOH.edu or DM us on Twitter!

Featured IT Services staff: Emma Lester

March 24

Hello and welcome once again to the Thursday edition of your Weekly Tech Update! This week, we have Knowledge Base … well … knowledge, some Spring Break updates, and more kudos for our IT Services staff.

Congratulations: IT Services, Miami partners win CIO 100 award

We can’t stop talking about it. Congratulations are in order for a team of IT Services staff and partners from across the University. On Monday, March 21, 2022, they were conferred a CIO 100 award for their efforts to improve contract tracing methods used throughout the pandemic by Oxford Butler County health officials.

Featured Knowledge: Identity and Access

The IAM Program is continuing at a pretty good pace, and the program’s core team is excited to share updates on the website. But did you also know that you can get information about identity and access in the Knowledge Base? Visit this category for info about courtesy accounts, entity accounts, myMiami for Families, and more.

Identity and Access in the KB.

Spring Break update: F5 upgrade postponed

The software underpinning the F5 appliance will be upgraded several times over the next two months. The original start date was the second Saturday of spring break, but the work was postponed.

The F5 is a networking appliance that allows Miami users to connect to various important applications. Any work done on the F5 may result in momentary disruptions during the maintenance window.

Please stay tuned for further information as the date is rescheduled.

IT Services at the State of the University

March 21

Happy Spring Break! IT Services is busy working on campus this week as we ready the computing environment for the return of the students.

We also have some very big news to share!

Congratulations: IT Services, Miami partners win CIO 100 award

Congratulations are in order for a team of IT Services staff and partners from across the University. On Monday, March 21, 2022, they were conferred a CIO 100 award for their efforts to improve contract tracing methods used throughout the pandemic by Oxford Butler County health officials.

IT work to take place over Spring Break

This week is traditionally a time when demands on systems are lower, reducing the risk that students, faculty, or staff will be inconvenienced by the outages and disruptions that this work may cause.

Check the whole list in the IT News.

New phishing scam: Google Docs / Word Docs

IT Services has received reports that a new scam email has been making the rounds, and it looks a little different from phishing scams that we have seen in the past.

The sender claims to be a Miami senior executive, such as academic dean or senior administrator. An example of note claims to be from Brent Shock, vice president of enrollment management and student success. The email asks for the recipient to open a Google Doc or a Word Doc supposedly having to do with payroll information.

The information security team is aware of this scam. Please be aware: Do not respond to this message and do not open the Google Doc or Word Doc.

For an example of the message and further instruction, please visit the IT News article.

March 3

Welcome to your Thursday tech update. This week, we have a new tech term for you, a glimpse at some work coming up during Spring Break, and some new social media activity for you to peruse.

Let’s get started!

Shields Up: What to Know About Cybersecurity in Today’s World

In the wake of the global events this past week, we know you probably have questions. While we don’t have all the answers, we do know one thing: The more prepared you are, the better! We have a few key concepts you can study to make sure you are staying safe and vigilant as a member of our technologically savvy society.

Read more in the IT News.

Spring 2022 IT Services Annual Survey for Miami University

A randomized group of folks (faculty, staff, and students) will be receiving an emailed survey this week. This is how IT Services gauges how we’re doing and puts data in the hands of people who can make improvements. When you get the survey, don’t forget to fill it out!

Featured Photo: Tech Term of the Day

We’re starting a new campaign on social media: #TechTerm. We know technology vocabulary can be inscrutable at times, and we want to help break down barriers to understanding. Are there any words you would like to see defined?

February 28

Hello and welcome to yet another week of lots going on for IT Services!

ELEVATE Conference: This Thursday!

Join the Center for Career Exploration and Success for the ELEVATE conference this week. Miami students, faculty, and staff will come together with industry leaders 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. March 3 to identify ways to advance inclusion, equity, and diversity in professional spaces. IT Services is hoping to be involved in the “reverse career fair” in future conferences, but for now, we’re happy to participate as members of the Miami community.

More information can be found in the Miami news.

Reminder: New myMiami Portal Beta Test

In the culmination of an amazing cross-campus effort, the team in charge of the myMiami portal replacement project is ready for the Miami community to test out the new portal. This is your reminder that the Beta version of the new myMiami is available!

On August 1, 2022, the cutover will be official and the old myMiami will be turned off.

Shields Up: What to Know

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has established that we are in a "Shields Up" era of elevated awareness of cybercrimes and threats. The events of the past week concerning Ukraine and Russia have impacted everyone on some level. The unprovoked attacks from Russia included cyberattacks on Ukrainian government and infrastructure organizations. There is no immediate Russian cyberthreat to citizens or systems within the U.S., but it’s important to be aware and practice good cybersecurity standards in order to reliably combat any threats that may arise.

We know the Miami community is resilient and supportive! Thank you for helping us stay cybersecure!

February 21

Happy Presidents’ Day! We have a week of exciting news and tech updates. Let’s get started!

In case you missed it: myMiami FAQ

You have, by now, heard that myMiami is undergoing a bit of an overhaul. We will be saying goodbye to the older user interface that you’re used to, but the new myMiami is going to be just as useful – or more!

We know you probably have a lot of questions. We broke it down in last week’s Miami Matters.

Welcome Candice!

The IT Communications team is growing! Candice Cockerham has joined the team as a student worker. They are going to be working on video, social media, and student engagement for IT Services. Be on the lookout for posts from them soon!

February 14

We hope you love technology as much as we do!

TRAIN Scheduling Application Being Retired in May

Since 2001, the Training Registration and Information Network, better known as TRAIN, has been a staple application for departments across the University. It is not very often that an electronic tool lasts 20 plus years with very few updates and upgrades, but that has been the case here.

Hundreds of workshops and thousands of individual training sessions have been organized and maintained using the program over the years. But, as they say, all good things must come to an end, and officially on May 15, 2022, TRAIN will be added to that list.

There are a few reasons why it has been decided to sunset TRAIN at this time, including using an obsolete platform, as well as security and accessibility concerns.

February 7, Monday

Brrrr! Hope you’re bundled up, folks! The Miami community enjoyed a much-needed and very surprising long weekend after a few days of wintry weather. Here are today’s updates!

Google Updates

Once again, Google is changing things up. They’re introducing a “new, integrated look for Gmail.” With this new look, users will be able to more easily (and seamlessly) move between Gmail, Meet, and Chat.

This will essentially give you a single-pane-of-glass look into all three of these apps – right from your inbox. For a visual sneak preview of the new interface, check out the Google blog!

Here is a high-level timeline on when Google will be implementing these changes in our domain:

Starting Feb. 8 (tomorrow!), you can opt in to the first-look experience.
By April, everyone will be moved into the new user interface! However, at this point, you will be given the option to go back to the original interface.
By the end of June, however, the option will no longer be available. This will be the new experience!

Weekend Wi-Fi work a success

Congratulations to the Network Services team, who made some configuration changes to the Wi-Fi service. The work went well, and we are seeing improvements across the board. Stay tuned this week for more information as we continue to make updates.

Featured photo: Brrr!

January 31

Phishing notice: Scam posing as Tom Herbert

IT Services has received reports that a new scam email has been making the rounds.

The sender claims to be a Miami senior executive, such as academic dean or senior administrator. An example of note claims to be from Tom Herbert, senior vice president of university advancement. The email asks for the recipient to open a Google Doc supposedly having to do with student transcripts.

The information security team is aware of this scam. Do not respond to this message and do not open the Google Doc.

See the announcement for more.

Wi-Fi Update

Engineers have made several changes to the Wi-Fi service that have helped stabilize connections. We have isolated the issue and continue to monitor the status while developing further improvements.

Thank you for all of your patience and understanding over the last week!

As always, please visit MiamiOH.edu/ITStatus for more information and up-to-date news.

January 27

Update on Wi-Fi issues

Engineers have made several changes to the Wi-Fi service that have helped stabilize connections. We have isolated the issue and continue to monitor the status while developing further improvements. Thank you for all of your patience and understanding over the last several days!

As always, please visit MiamiOH.edu/ITStatus for more information and up-to-date news.

Reminder: IT support when you need it

As the Spring 2022 semester gets under way, it's a great idea to familiarize yourself with the ways you can get help with technology issues.

Read all about the available support.

Techsplaining 101: Coding languages

January 24

Welcome to the new semester! Spring 2022 will be an event-filled, exciting time, and we’re glad to have you on board.

Maintenance notice: Ongoing Wi-Fi work

As we work to strengthen our Wi-Fi network and move forward with better coverage, stronger signals, and cooler technologies, we will be assessing campus equipment and making configuration changes. Thank you for your patience as we work through any issues that arise!

Reminder: New myMiami Portal Beta Test

In the culmination of an amazing cross-campus effort, the team in charge of the myMiami portal replacement project is now ready for the Miami community to test out the new portal. Starting today, the Beta version of the new myMiami is available!

To test out the new interface, please visit myMiami.MiamiOH.edu and click on the link in the topmost announcement.

January 20

New myMiami Portal Beta Test

To test out the new interface, please visit myMiami.MiamiOH.edu and click on the link in the topmost announcement.

Success: Perimeter firewall work

This morning, the network services team successfully upgraded the perimeter firewall. This helps to keep our campus network safe from malicious actors! Congrats, network services team!

Featured Knowledge: Canvas!

We are quickly approaching the Spring 2022 semester, and it never hurts to have a reminder about what knowledge is available for your support needs. Did you know that there is a whole category in the KB devoted to Canvas? Whether you’re a student or faculty member, or you provide support for them, there’s plenty of good facts in here to use.

Check it out!

January 13

Reminder: LISTSERV Upgrade

On Friday, Jan. 14, at 5:30 pm, IT Services will be performing an upgrade to the LISTSERV service. During the upgrade, the web-based LISTSERV application (where users can look up lists and see archived messages sent previously) will not be available. Emails sent to listservs (i.e., addresses that end in @listserv.miamioh.edu) will not be immediately delivered during this time.

Important note: Emails sent through LISTSERV during this update window will be delivered once the maintenance is complete.

Read more in the IT News.

Notice: Wi-Fi work tomorrow morning

IT Services will be performing scheduled Wi-Fi network maintenance on Friday, Jan. 14 from 6 to 8 am. We do not expect any significant disruptions to network service during this maintenance window.

Featured photo: When fiber fails

January 10

Critical information regarding Miami Wi-Fi

The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate Miami uses for its wireless network will be updated between 6:00 - 7:00 am on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. Following the update, users may be asked to re-authenticate to MU-WIRELESS and eduroam on their various devices, and some users will also have to “forget” the networks and re-add them.

For more information, including troubleshooting tips, visit the IT News article.

Important notice: LISTSERV Upgrade

Important note: Emails sent through LISTSERV during this update window will be delivered once the maintenance is complete.

Read more in the IT News.

VMware Cluster work continues in January

IT Services has officially started to rebuild our production VMware Cluster (Cluster P) hosts. This rebuild is taking place over several weeks, ending the week of Jan. 19.

Administrators will rebuild one host each day, taking into account other change schedules to avoid possible conflict. This work will begin at 11 pm and finish at 9 pm the next day.

No interruptions are expected during this process. However, there might be some performance issues for some services between 3 am and 7 am each day of the rebuild. We will be monitoring the status of our Production cluster as we proceed with this rebuild process.

Current IT Services employment opportunities

Did you know that IT Services currently has 13 open positions that are currently posted? These positions are all listed in the Job Postings section on the homepage of the IT Services website, with links to the full HR job description.

January 6

We’re still rambling on! Work continues on several key network things and there are a few important upgrades coming up.

As always, if you have questions, please contact IT Help at 513-529-7900 or MiamiOH.edu/ITChat. To view planned IT activities and the current status of major systems and services, please visit our dashboard at MiamiOH.edu/ITStatus.

Let’s get to it!

Important Information Regarding Miami Wireless Updates

The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate Miami uses for its wireless network will be updated between 6:00 - 7:00 am on Wednesday, January 12, 2022. SSL certificates are used to establish an encrypted connection between a browser or user's computer and a server or website. The SSL connection protects sensitive data from being intercepted by non-authorized parties.

Following the update, users may be asked to re-authenticate to MU-WIRELESS and eduroam on their various devices, and some users will also have to “forget” the networks and re-add them. For instructions on how to do this, please visit the article in the IT Services Knowledge Base: Unable to connect after Winter Break 2021.

Listserv Upgrade Jan. 10

On Jan. 10, IT Services will be performing an upgrade to the LISTSERV service. During the upgrade, the LISTSERV application (where users can look up lists and see archived messages sent previously) will not be available.

This will be a substantial upgrade, and users of the LISTSERV interface will notice several differences. Please stay tuned for more information about this upgrade as the team knows more.

Featured photo: Roxanne Storer!

January 3

Happy New Year, everyone, and welcome to 2022! We hope you had a relaxing holiday season and were able to recharge in preparation for the spring semester.

We have some updates for the Winter Upgrade work that is ongoing as we move through the Winter Term. The work to upgrade our systems to further protect from Log4Shell is ongoing, and campus network updates are also continuing successfully!

The biggest takeaway this first Monday of 2022: Whether or not you’re making personal goals or resolutions for the new year, let’s resolve together to make this year a good one.

NetApp Storage Upgrade

IT Services will be performing planned maintenance on our enterprise storage system. The NetApp storage device in the Hoyt Hall data center will be upgraded on Monday, Jan. 3 from 8 to 10 pm.

No disruptions are expected. However, some University applications may experience brief outages during the maintenance window, and some applications may need to be restarted after the work is complete. Services that might be impacted include: Banner, Windows File Servers, and Oracle databases. Technicians will be on hand to resolve any issues, and we will provide updates as necessary during the work.

If you have any issues logging in to Miami resources using your UniqueID and password on Monday, please check MiamiOH.edu/ITStatus for more information and a full report of any ongoing problems.

Network Switch Upgrades Scheduled for Jan. 3-18

IT Services will be performing scheduled network maintenance throughout January 2022. We expect a few disruptions to network service during each maintenance window. Each campus building will be affected on one scheduled day. Please visit IT News to see the complete schedule.

Maintenance windows are between 4:00 - 8:00 am on each day. Technicians will be on hand in the event there is a sustained disruption.

Important Information Regarding Miami Wireless Updates

The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate Miami uses for its wireless network will be updated between 6:00 - 7:00 am on Wednesday, January 12, 2022. SSL certificates are used to establish an encrypted connection between a browser or user's computer and a server or website. The SSL connection protects sensitive data from being intercepted from non-authorized parties.

Following the update, users may be asked to re-authenticate to MU-WIRELESS and eduroam on their various devices, and some users will also have to “forget” the networks and re-add them.