IT News and Updates:

Securing our World

Over the past year, you have reported over 3,892 suspicious emails, leading to the interception of 920 threatening messages. Thanks to your vigilance, we have been able to isolate, mitigate, and resolve these incidents, safeguarding the University. Your commitment to the University’s security has been invaluable.

As we continue to enhance our defenses, it's essential that we all stay informed and up-to-date. Therefore, as part of the University’s annual requirement for cybersecurity training, the completion of the courses below is mandatory for all staff and faculty. These courses will take 25 minutes to complete and can be accessed via the MySHU portal starting October 1st. Navigate to the "Information Technology" section and select "Cybersecurity Training." Enter your email address to be directed to the KnowBe4 platform.

This year's theme, "Securing Our World," includes the following modules:

• Generative AI: Intelligent and Dangerous?
  Explore the basics of generative AI, its potential uses by cybercriminals, and how you can protect yourself from related threats.
• Security Bytes: PII
  Learn how to safeguard Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in this informative video.
• Security Bytes: Phishing
  Recognize and avoid phishing attacks with this quick, targeted lesson.
• The Inside Man: Buying Time
  Discover the importance of using a password manager to keep track of strong, unique passwords and passphrases.
• Classic Danger Zone
  Challenge yourself in this interactive game where you must outsmart a hacker by answering security awareness questions before they breach your computer.

These courses will be available throughout the month of October. Courses take 25 minutes to complete, but materials will always be available for your reference through the Cybersecurity Training link on Blackboard.

Invitation to Participate in SHU AI Community Survey

We invite you to participate in a brief survey designed to better understand your current use, experiences, and needs regarding generative artificial intelligence (AI) in your work at Sacred Heart University. This community survey was created by members of the 2024 SHU Aspiring Leaders Program Artificial Intelligence Group (listed at the end of this email) and is being distributed to all SHU faculty, staff, and students. Your voice is critical to helping us understand our community’s perspectives and priorities related to AI and to informing future university AI decision-making. 

Survey Information 

• To participate, you must be a current SHU student, staff, or faculty member aged 18 or older. If this is not the case, please refrain from completing the survey. 
• The survey will take about 5–10 minutes, depending on your familiarity with generative AI. 
• Participation is voluntary.  
• Deidentified results will be aggregated and shared with senior leadership to guide AI-related decisions and future initiatives.  
• All data will be stored securely via Qualtrics and Microsoft Teams, with access limited to the survey team via password protection. 
• If you would like to share more about your experiences with AI with the survey team, you have the option to share your name at the end of the survey in a separate form that is not linked to your individual survey responses.   

The survey will close on Friday, October 18, 2024 at 11:59PM. Click here to begin the survey. 

Blackboard Updates for September 2024

On September 6, 2024, Blackboard released the newest updates to the Learning Management System. These updates include a modified layout of the Course Content page, several enhancements to course content and grading workflow, and a new AI feature called AI Conversation. For detailed information about these features, please visit the September 2024 Release Notes created by Academic Technology.