Initiatives
The current CIO initiatives provide improved security and connectivity to the university community by keeping personal information and devices better protected and by expanding network coverage on campus.
Safeguarding UND
UND Digital Storage Solutions Discovery
With the growing impact of digitization, rising data storage expenses, and ever-present cybersecurity threats, efficient and effective data and file storage management are crucial to support academic, research, and administrative activities. This discovery project aims to identify and analyze the data and file storage needs of faculty and staff at UND. By understanding the current usage patterns, challenges, and requirements, we aim to develop a comprehensive strategy for optimizing data storage and enhancing user experience.
Unified Communications
University IT kicked off its Telecommunications Modernization Project to upgrade the current on-premise telephony system. The current telephone infrastructure will be migrated to a cloud-based communications platform. Maintaining the current system, which is over 20 years old, is cost prohibitive and does not support the communication needs of our community. Avaya Cloud Office's unified communication and collaboration platform will provide a truly unified experience that brings 99.999% reliability, mobility, messaging, meetings, and team collaboration to any device, from any location. Providing a seamless communication experience is critical to our success as an educational institution.
Student Portal
University IT has started the kickoff of our UND Student Portal project which is to implement an engaging UND mobile app, or portal, that will serve as a virtual one-stop for students to connect with real-time campus resources, events, and information on their mobile device.
Working with Modo Labs, University IT has partnered with others from Academic Affairs including Student Success (academic advising), Enrollment Management, and TTaDA, as well as Student Affairs, Athletics, Marketing & Creative Services, and Student Government leaders to build functionality with a focus on enrolled students. The UND portal will integrate with Blackboard and Campus Connection and students will use multi-factor authentication to securely see grades, add and drop classes, view course offerings, and more. Students will have easy access to Library resources, interactive campus maps, bus schedules, UND events, dining information, and so much more through this single portal.
The portal will be ready to launch for enrolled students in time for Welcome Weekend this August. Then, we will begin to focus on enhancing enrolled students’ functionality and bringing in additional functionality for various personas including, eventually, faculty and staff.
Phishing Campaign
Phishing is a cyber attack that uses disguised emails to prompt people to reveal personal information, such as user id, passwords, and credit card information. Throughout the year, phishing campaigns are created to train the UND community on what to look for in an email and determine whether it is a phishing attempt or not.