Current News

Banner Upgrade

Banner is being upgraded from version 7 to version 8.1. This will be implemented over the Labor Day weekend starting Friday September 4 at 5 p.m. through Tuesday, September 9. The project is currently in phase one, and user testing is being done. In order to continue receiving product support from SunGard Higher Education, the University must upgrade to version 8. However, the general user will see no changes, and some areas will gain new features. Also, there will be an increased level of performance with the new version. The timing of the upgrade is being coordinated between the Office of Information Technology (OIT) and various departments in order to provide adequate testing time and minimize the business impact of downtimes.

New Issue of FrontLine Security Newsletter Available

OIT has subscribed to the quarterly FrontLine Security Newsletter from Computer Security Institute (CSI). This newsletter contains both industry-wide and UA-specific security information. As part of our subscription, this newsletter may only be downloaded from computers on the University of Alabama network. The current issue and archive of past issues will always be located on the OIT Web site.

The 2009 Computer Security Awareness Student Video and Poster Contest

The EDUCAUSE/Internet2 Computer and Network Security Task Force, in cooperation with the ResearchChannel and CyberWATCH, is conducting its third annual contest in search of computer security awareness posters and short videos developed by college students for college students. The deadline for submissions is April 30, 2009. Enter to win cash prizes of up to $1,000. See the contest Web site at http://www.educause.edu/SecurityVideoContest2009/ for contest rules, submission details, and links to previous winners’ videos.

John McGowan Named Vice Provost and Chief Information Officer

Dr. John P. McGowan is the new vice provost and chief information officer at The University of Alabama. McGowan has more than 20 years’ experience in information technology. Immediately prior to joining the University, McGowan served as vice provost for information technology and chief information officer at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

University Relations has the full press release.

UA System partners with NASA to build Regional Optical Network

The University of Alabama System in partnership with NASA has purchased dark fiber and networking equipment to build a regional optical network (RON). Within the next couple of months, UA’s connection to the RON will be complete.

The RON will connect all three UA system campuses and the Marshall Space Flight Center to the National Lambda Rail (NLR) research network point of presence in Atlanta. The RON will provide all three campuses with virtually unlimited bandwidth for use not only for research applications but also for Internet connectivity and disaster recovery purposes.