Catch up on tech updates on campus
While students were away for the summer, ITS improved security, expanded Wi-Fi and more.
Because fewer students are on campus, summer was an ideal time for Information Technology Services to undertake major work to improve campus systems and infrastructure:
Launched a new Help Portal
ITS launched a new Help Portal at help.unc.edu to connect users with tech help, answers and services. New features include an “easy button” to submit a help ticket, an option to request support via email, web-searchable help articles and a fresh look. The new portal was part of a larger change to a new customer support tool provider, TeamDynamix, from the previous provider, ServiceNow.
Lengthened Duo ‘remember me’ period
The Information Security Office extended the default “remember me” period for Duo 2-Step Verification from 12 hours to seven days. This extension means that most users will verify their identities less often when they log into systems that require Duo at UNC-Chapel Hill. This provides a more convenient — yet still secure — experience.
Celebrated milestones
In July, the Digital Accessibility Office celebrated five years of making UNC-Chapel Hill a more digitally inclusive campus. Since its creation in 2019, the office has made significant strides in policy, education and culture around digital accessibility at Carolina. Here’s a look back at the origins and timeline of UNC’s Digital Accessibility Office and you can dive deeper with these 5 fun facts about the DAO.
On Aug. 1, the Onyen marked 24 years of service as the name for consolidated logins at UNC. Fun fact — for many years, the Onyen services page greeted users with the “Cool Onyen” mascot.
Said goodbye to Sakai
On May 15, Sakai entered restricted access, and all Sakai sites were unpublished. Now, Sakai site access is limited to site owners, except for temporary access granted to students with incomplete grades. Sakai will remain in this restricted access state, allowing site owners to review and retrieve content until the system is decommissioned in 2026. This completes the transition to Canvas and streamlines the learning experience for instructors and students.
Increased security
This summer, the Information Security Office wrapped up a major firewall migration project. The migration, which took four years, moved about 200 unprotected virtual local area networks to campus enterprise firewalls. Moving unprotected VLANs to campus enterprise firewalls helps prevent attacks and limits the scope of attacks across the University.
As of July 22, Adobe apps at UNC-Chapel Hill require Duo 2-Step Verification at login. This requirement includes the standalone Adobe Acrobat Pro app, Adobe Creative Cloud apps and online services. Adobe apps at Carolina power creativity, learning and essential business processes. Students and instructional staff have free access to Adobe Creative Cloud and noninstructional staff pay a greatly reduced rate.
Expanded guest Wi-Fi
The UNC-Guest Wi-Fi network is now available in every campus building. Previously, UNC-Guest was available in select locations, usually deployed at the request of a department. To prepare for the expansion of UNC-Guest, teams in ITS configured changes to campus guest Wi-Fi networks. These changes, which strengthen the security of University resources, include limiting access to some University websites from the guest networks.
Introduced a new way to connect with tech
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