UMS Colleagues,

Welcome to the latest edition of the UMS IT Connections Newsletter.  This newsletter is distributed each semester to inform the faculty, staff and students of the University of Maine System on recent service enhancements, upcoming projects and initiatives, as well as deliver timely information and guidance to enhance the user experience with technologies available to the entire UMS community.

In this edition, you will find relevant information and updates on several key initiatives, including recent enhancements and improvements to granting and managing data access championed by the UMS Data Governance stakeholder groups.  In addition, the system-wide rollout of multi-factor authentication continues to move forward with expanded user testing occurring this Spring semester.

Other initiatives highlighted in this edition include information on the new digital display platform powering information displays and kiosks across all campuses, the ongoing implementation of a new enterprise service management platform (TeamDynamix) as well as ongoing work on improving the MaineStreet environment designed to simplify the end-user experience for students and faculty and support system-wide unified accreditation outcomes.

Finally, as the University’s COVID-19 response evolves along with the pandemic, improvements to the tools and systems available to the entire community to help campuses and individuals manage their compliance with University requirements have been an ongoing area of development.  Notably, the availability of the improved UMS Clearance Shield tool to help campuses better manage access to facilities and events was deployed this Spring term.  While we are all hopeful that we will soon see the day when such tools are no longer necessary, we look forward to continuing to support and promote the safety of the entire University community with technologies designed to enable users to make informed decisions.

We hope you will find the content presented in this edition of the UMS IT Connections newsletter valuable and on behalf of the entire UMS IT team, we wish you a safe and healthy remainder of the Spring semester.

Sincerely,

David M. Demers, Ph.D.,
Chief Information Officer