Monthly maintenance updates will occur on Thursday, May 21st, 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. This includes our monthly mandatory security patches for all services. Users may experience intermittent downtime.
ITS Help Desk Summer and Holiday Hours
Beginning May 3rd, the general Help Desk summer schedule will run:
Monday - Friday: 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Saturdays: Closed
Sunday: Noon - 5:00 p.m.
Holiday closings
Memorial Day, May 23rd - 25th
Juneteenth, June 19th - 21st
4th of July, July 3rd - 5th
UT System Announces Update of Title II Digital Accessibility Tool
On Monday, April 14, the UT Department of Technology Solutions sent the following correspondence to all UT campuses.
Colleagues,
As you may be aware, federal requirements will require digital content to meet accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1 AA) by April 24, 2026. This means content must be usable by everyone, including individuals with disabilities and those who use assistive technologies. This includes email, web, intranet, mobile applications, online course materials, documents and forms. We are actively working to ensure our digital spaces meet the highest standards of accessibility. We are committed to removing barriers, strengthening usability and delivering content and services that empower every member of our community.
Through collaboration and partnership with several specialists at the campus and institute level, the Department of Technology Solutions (DTS) has purchased YuJa Panorama, to help integrate directly with Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle and D2L and is designed to support accessibility within course content. It scans and suggests fixes for courses, with some fixes able to be applied automatically, and allows instructors to replicate settings across courses to maintain consistency.
For more information about system-wide preparation for ADA Title II accessibility requirements, please visit the DTS intranet site.
Panorama is in its final preparation phase. The campus will be notified of the official go-live date and upcoming training opportunities soon.
UT AI HUB
ITS is excited to share that the UT AI Hub has launched and will serve as a comprehensive platform providing access to full versions of several large language models: ChatGPT, Grok, Llama, Gemini, and Claude. This hub gives our community more flexibility to choose the AI tool that best fits their tasks and preferences.
The UT AI Hub will add to the campus AI ecosystem, which provides a tailored AI experience specifically designed for our university community. This platform features custom agents, specialized AI capabilities, and integration with UT-focused data to deliver relevant, contextual support. UT Verse runs on OpenAI models, currently GPT5.2, delivering cutting-edge AI performance while maintaining a safe, secure, and private environment.
Microsoft Copilot Chat is an AI-powered assistant designed to boost productivity across a wide range of tasks. Running on OpenAI models, this tool excels in web-grounded research, content generation, and document analysis, making it an invaluable resource for faculty, staff, and students seeking to enhance their daily workflows.
All tools are available to faculty, staff, and students at no cost through their NetID. We encourage you to explore these resources and discover how they can support your academic and professional goals. Learn more:
Our growing AI ecosystem is designed to support innovation, academic excellence, and student success. We are excited about the new AI Hub and look forward to offering more AI tools and learning opportunities to support students, faculty, and staff.
A New Authentication Page is Coming Soon
The UT System authentication page will be getting a new look! Starting May 27th, you will notice anupdated design that enhances accessibility, security, and user experience on all UT System services, such as DASH, Office 365, Zoom, and Adobe platforms. Beginning on this date, you will begin to use your full UTM email to login to these services. To align with the UT System, UT Martin will implement this authentication change on the same date for all UTM services, including Portal, Canvas, and Google.
Here's what you can expect:
Fresh New Look: The sign-in page will have a clean design.
New Sign-In Experience: When you visit the landing page, you'll be quickly redirected to Microsoft's authentication site for a seamless login process.
How to Sign In:
Use your UPN as your username. Your UPN is the email address used to sign in to UT services, such as email, typically in this format:
Faculty and Staff: Use NetID@utm.edu
Students: Use NetID@skyhawks.utm.edu or NetID@ut.utm.edu
Signing in with your UT Microsoft account will present the following screen:
You will also use the sign-in for these widely used apps
Adobe Creative Cloud
Canvas
DASH
LinkedIn Learning
MyUTM
Qualtrics
RingCentral
Software Distribution Site
VPN
Zoom
End-of-Semester Checklist
As a matter of good practice, consider these suggestions as you conclude the spring semester:
Go to your Canvas Gradebook and save a copy of your grades. Doing so will provide you with a copy of your course grades for quick access, writing student recommendations, etc.
Save examples of exceptional work by students for future reference.
Make notes of things that went well in your course this semester, as well as aspects that need improvement.
Make notes of changes that need to be made to your syllabi.
RingCentral Issues
There is currently an issue with the Do Not Disturb (DND) feature in RingCentral. When DND is enabled - either on a physical phone or in the app - all incoming calls are sent directly to voicemail. Calls will not be redirected to the next person in a Call Queue unless your DND settings are adjusted.
To ensure calls are properly routed, update your Do Not Disturb settings under Incoming Call Rules to an option such as: "Forward to Employee | Ext. 0000." This issue impacts users who are part of a Call Queue or who use the "Ring in Order" call flow. For more information and a step-by-step guide, please visit this Support Page.
Cybersecurity Students at It Again: Can You Spot the Next Phish?
If you recently received a notice about a campus traffic citation, an urgent message from "ITS" asking you to switch from DUO to a new MFA system, or a homework assistance from an unknown student - congratulations. You may have just participated in a phishing awareness campaign designed by students in Dr. Lily Pharris's CYBR 352 Secure Software Development course in conjunction with IT Services.
In partnership with the UT Martin ITS Department, students designed realistic phishing scenarios based on common social engineering tactics. Each student developed a campaign, with three selected for live deployment this semester and two more earning honorable mention for potential future use.
The selected campaigns - created by students Carson Summers (Computer Science), Joey Meeks (Cybersecurity), and Molly Corgan (Cybersecurity) - focused on high-probability situations: a parking citation (approved by the UT Martin Public Safety Chief, Dr. Michael O'Neill), an authentication update, and student request targeting the Department of Computer Science. All used familiar campus messaging and time-sensitive prompts to demonstrate how easily users can be persuaded to act.
This project highlights hands-on cybersecurity education in action. Students applied technical knowledge while thinking like attackers, and faculty and staff across campus became active participants - reinforcing that cybersecurity awareness is a shared responsibility.
Top 4 Tips: Stay Phish-Smart
Pause before you click - Urgent messages are designed to rush you or play on emotions - slow down and think
Verify the source - Don't trust links in emails. Go directly to official sites or pick up the phone and ask.
Trust your instincts - If something feels off, it probably is.
Report suspicious messages - Use the built in Outlook Reporting feature to train AI models to identify potential phish. Forward suspected phishing emails to abuse@utm.edu so they can be investigated.
Next time, it might be a real phish. Stay cyber-aware. Keeping our campus secure is a shared responsibility - and a skill that extends far beyond campus into every industry.
ITC Training in May
The ITC will offer training on the following topics this month:
Survey Tools for Faculty and Staff
Accessibility in SharePoint Sites
Using Panorama to Remediate Canvas Content for Accessibility
Log in to Runway to view the ITC schedule and to register for training. For the month of May, all trainings will be online.
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