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A Message from the Interim Vice President / Chief Information Officer

Dear University Community,

The Division of Information Technology is entering a new chapter. As announced in October, ������’s inaugural Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Dr. Min Yao, retired in December. Dr. Yao was a strategic leader who established the Smart Campus Initiative and modernized our technology infrastructure to better support teaching, learning, and research. His thoughtful, deliberate approach to leadership shaped not only our systems, but our culture. I am personally grateful to have served under Dr. Yao’s leadership for nearly ten years and to have learned from his steady guidance and commitment to this university.

While I am new to the role of Interim VP & CIO, I am not new to ������. Over the past two decades, I have had the privilege of serving our campus in a variety of technology leadership roles, most recently as Associate Vice President for Technology Solutions & Innovation. Throughout that time, my focus has remained consistent: strengthening IT governance, enhancing service delivery, and ensuring our technology environment advances the academic and operational mission of the university.

As we move forward, my commitment is to ensure continuity where it matters and thoughtful evolution where it is needed. Technology at ������ must be reliable, secure, innovative, and aligned with the needs of our faculty, staff, and students. Just as importantly, it must be collaborative. Your engagement and feedback will continue to shape our priorities.

In this newsletter, you’ll find updates on our campus technology initiatives, guidance on staying cyber-safe, and insights into projects designed to enhance your digital experience. I look forward to partnering with you as we build the next phase of ������’s digital future.

Best regards,

Bryon Jackson, MBA
Interim Vice President & Chief Information Officer
Go Beach!

GenAI

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Metaverse & AI Symposium at the Beach

������ faculty and staff are invited to the third annual Metaverse & AI Symposium at The Beach, focused on how XR and AI technologies are shaping teaching, learning, and academic work across campus. The symposium highlights real ������ use cases, student and faculty perspectives, and campus resources. The symposium offers a practical look at why these emerging technologies matter now and how they can support your work.

Engaging AI Bootcamp Held in December

Forty employees came together for a dynamic five-hour Microsoft Prompt-a-Thon focused on unlocking the full potential of Copilot. Participants explored Copilot’s capabilities through hands-on activities, learning how to craft effective prompts and apply AI tools to streamline their daily work.

Register for One-Hour AI Training Opportunities

(3/11, 2 pm)
(3/17, 10 am)
(3/24, 10 am)
(3/25, 10 am)
(4/8, 2 pm)
(4/10, 10 am)

CSU Resources for Students, Faculty, and Staff

The is a new systemwide hub designed to support faculty, staff, and students as generative AI becomes more integrated into higher education. The site brings together trusted tools, training opportunities, ethical guidance, and campus‑specific resources, which makes it a valuable starting point for anyone looking to build AI literacy, explore responsible use, or understand how AI is being approached across the CSU.

INFORMATION SECURITY

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Cybersecurity Awareness Week

Cybersecurity Awareness Week (March 9-13) offers a series of fun, practical events focused on phishing, job scams, data privacy, and safer online practices. It’s an easy way to pick up timely tips and strengthen everyday security habits that help protect both you and the campus community.  

DoIT Has Your Back

Scammers, often foreign threat actors, try to exploit our campus through phishing, spearphishing, and network attacks. DoIT blocked and filtered out over 8 million malicious emails in 2025. So far in 2026, we've blocked over 38 million network attacks, such as floods, spyware command and control sites, and malicious websites to ensure our campus remains safe.

Sobering fact: despite these protections, phishing still occurs. There were 128 student accounts compromised in January, a huge uptick from 52 in December.

Improved Phishing @ The Beach and Phishing Validation and Reporting Tools

Wondering whether a suspicious message is a real threat? Check out the updated , which not only includes a phishing validation tool you can copy and paste your suspicious emails into, but it now includes a link to review real examples of scams targeting ������.

Reporting suspicious emails is a click away. You're encouraged to use the in your Outlook email apps, allowing you to flag potential threats directly from your inbox and help improve campus‑wide detection and response. You'll receive an automated response detailing the results of our review of your reported emails.

Student Cyber Awareness: "We Can DoIT Together"

Students are frequent targets of phishing and online scams, and awareness plays a key role in reducing risk. The We Can DoIT Together cyber awareness page provides clear, student‑focused guidance on phishing, MFA, and everyday digital safety.  These are resources to reinforce good habits. A direct awareness campaign will aim to engage students throughout the year.

Quick Tip:  Watch Out for Phone Call Scams

Universities across the country are seeing an increase in phone‑based phishing scams (also known as “vishing”), where callers pose as campus IT Help Desks or Financial Aid offices and claim there’s a problem with your account. These callers may ask for passwords, MFA codes, or banking information, often using urgency or fear to pressure quick action. Legitimate campus offices will never ask for sensitive information during an unsolicited call.  If something seems off, hang up and verify the request by contacting the department directly using a trusted campus phone number or website. 

NOTEWORTHY SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS

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Eduroam is the Primary Campus Wi-Fi Network

Eduroam provides a more secure, streamlined experience on campus and automatically connects you at thousands of participating institutions worldwide, including other CSU campuses.

Wi‑Fi coverage is available throughout most indoor campus locations, with widely available outdoor Wi‑Fi in courtyards, quads, and common areas. Explore current outdoor coverage using the to see where connectivity is available when working or meeting outside.

If you haven’t already done so, ensure all your devices are connected to eduroam by visiting .

Understanding ADA Title II

Beginning April 24, 2026, public universities must ensure that websites, instructional materials, mobile apps, and other digital content meet ADA Title II accessibility requirements.   may apply under specific conditions. Visit the ������ Accessibility website for additional information and resources.  Need help?  Submit a  ticket for accessibility assistance.

DID YOU KNOW?

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Outages & Degradations Page

Ever wonder if there is a campus service outage?  From the home page, there are handy links for your everyday IT needs, including a link to our page.  We generally post incidents that have broad IT service impacts.