August Tech News
Edition 26.8 - August 5, 2026
TOP NEWS
Dr. Ilir Hasko Named Interim Vice President for Information Technology: Effective August 1, 2026, Ilir Hasko, EdD, has been named Interim Vice President for Information Technology at the University of Georgia. Dr. Hasko brings more than 20 years of enterprise IT leadership experience, including 17 years at UGA, where he has led enterprise student information systems, enterprise infrastructure, system and network engineering, web and mobile technologies, and identity and access management within Enterprise Information Technology Services (EITS). His leadership has advanced initiatives to enhance the student digital experience, modernize enterprise systems, strengthen UGA's data management strategy through improved tools, practices, and governance, and expand the university's strategic use of artificial intelligence. Dr. Hasko recently earned his Doctor of Education from UGA, where his research focused on adaptive leadership for navigating complexity in information technology organizations.
Computer Equipment, Software, and Services (CESS) Moving to TeamDynamix August: Later this month, EITS will move the Computer Equipment, Software, and Services (CESS) request process from UGAMart to TeamDynamix, the platform currently used by the EITS Help Desk and other IT support teams across campus. This change will update the look and feel of the CESS process while helping streamline requests. The CESS request form will remain accessible through UGAMart; when the new process launches, users will be directed to TeamDynamix to complete their request. For more information, contact Heather Stoltz.
Biannual UGA SSO Upgrade and Look and Feel Change Planned for September 11, 2026: UGA’s single sign-on service (UGA SSO), will undergo scheduled maintenance on September 11, 2026. This upgrade will include a look and feel change of the SSO log in page to align with digital accessibility efforts. EITS will not deploy any new applications to production UGA SSO on September 11, 2026, to facilitate a smooth upgrade. UGA SSO upgrades are conducted twice a year, in March and September, to ensure reliability and security. For more information, contact Wes Merrill.
UPCOMING DATES
August 6:
August 10:
August 15:
August 17:
August 17-21:
August 21-24: August 2026:
Zoom Reset
Students gain access to AI Literacy Course
Help Desk open for Move-in Hours
First Day of Class
Drop/Add
Financial Management System maintenance
CESS Migration to TeamDynamix
IT SERVICES IN ACTION
2026 ITMF Excellence Impact Award
Winners: In June 2026, the ITMF IT Excellence Awards ("The Techie") recognized three outstanding IT professionals whose work exemplifies leadership, innovation, collaboration, and service across the University of Georgia. Michael Wiesenbaker, IT Senior Manager for the Mary Frances Early College of Education, was selected for his outstanding role as a trusted technology leader. Micheal has strengthened IT decision-making across UGA through cross-unit collaboration, committee
leadership, and technical expertise while serving as a valued resource for colleagues across the university. Laura Rowan, Web Developer Specialist for the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, was recognized for her outstanding contributions to the UGA IT community. Through her leadership of digital accessibility initiatives, development of training and documentation resources, and support for campus partners, Laura has strengthened accessibility compliance and enhanced the user experience across the university. Ben Whetstone, IT Assistant Director for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, was honored for his dedication to advancing technology services and supporting institutional success. His leadership in enterprise web services, data systems, accessibility initiatives, and statewide Extension support has strengthened technology operations while demonstrating a commitment to service excellence and continuous improvement. Together, these recipients reflect the award's mission to recognize sustained impact, innovation, collaboration, and excellence in service to the University of Georgia's IT community. Their contributions help strengthen technology services across campus and support the university's teaching, research, and outreach missions. Learn more about the ITMF Awards program.
EITS Help Desk Extending Hours for Move-in: To support student move-in activities, the EITS Help Desk will be open on Saturday, August 15, 2026, from 1:30 to 6:30 p.m. In addition, the Help Desk returned to its regular fall operating schedule on August 2, with hours of 1:30 to 6:30 on Sundays, 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and closed on Saturdays. The Help Desk closes at 5 p.m. on Fridays when UGA hosts a home football game. Located at 101 Cedar Street, the Help Desk provides technical support by phone at 706-542-3106, email, online chat and through the EITS Knowledge Base.
CAMPUS IT
New Centralized Process for Microsoft Add-On License Requests Launching in August: To improve management and visibility of Microsoft software licenses across the university, UGA is implementing a centralized process for purchasing Microsoft add-on licenses. Under the new process, campus IT Directors will submit requests through Enterprise Information Technology Services (EITS), which will coordinate directly with the University System of Georgia (USG) to obtain pricing and process orders. Centralizing these purchases will help ensure accurate license tracking, consistent management practices, and better oversight of Microsoft licensing across campus. A new TeamDynamix request workflow has been created to support this process, and detailed instructions will be shared with campus users in early August. For more information, contact Mamtha Ramaraja at itcla@uga.edu.
Resources Available for Instructors: As UGA continues its digital accessibility efforts and works toward compliance with federal accessibility requirements by April 26, 2027, instructors are encouraged to take advantage of resources available through Digital Accessibility Services (DASH). DASH offers training, consultations, technology, office hours, and other support to help create accessible course content, documents, presentations, videos, and web materials. Digital Accessibility Services Office Hours are held virtually on Fridays from 10 to 11 a.m., and additional guidance, events, and resources are available on the DASH website.
SERVICES FOR RESEARCHERS
GACRC Teaching Cluster for Fall Semester: A small high-performance computing cluster devoted exclusively to teaching duties is available for use during the Fall 2026 semester. This cluster includes high-memory nodes and GPU-enabled nodes. The cluster, which is supported by the Georgia Advanced Computing Resource Center (GACRC), was also in use during the spring. Faculty members interested in discussing the capabilities of the teaching cluster and how it might integrate with their coursework should contact the GACRC. For more information, contact Dr. Guy Cormier.
CHANGES & MAINTENANCES
Annual MyID and UGAMail Account Cleanup Scheduled for Fall 2026: This fall, EITS will conduct its annual review and cleanup of MyID and UGAMail accounts for students, employees, and affiliates who are no longer affiliated with the university but still have active accounts. Individuals whose accounts are identified for removal will receive two email notifications at their UGAMail address in September explaining that their account access is scheduled to be disabled and permanently removed in November. Accounts belonging to students currently enrolled in a UGA degree program will not be affected, and retired employees remain eligible to keep their UGAMail addresses. For more information, contact Kristi Wall.
Financial Management System Maintenance Scheduled for August 21–24, 2026: The University of Georgia Financial Management System (FMS) will be unavailable from 5 p.m. on Friday, August 21, 2026, through 7 a.m. on Monday, August 24, 2026, while the EITS AIS team performs scheduled maintenance and installs important system updates. To help ensure all transactions are processed before the system goes offline, users should submit FMS business transactions by 1 p.m. on Friday, August 21, allowing sufficient time for longer processing tasks to finish before the 5 p.m. shutdown. After maintenance is completed, users are encouraged to clear their web browser cache before signing back in to the system. For more information, contact Kenneth Little.
Zoom student account reset planned for August 6, 2026: To ensure that Zoom licenses can be provided to all active students in the fall, EITS will perform a reset on student Zoom accounts in August. During the reset, accounts belonging to students will be temporarily removed from UGA’s main Zoom account. Students who wish to keep their UGA Zoom account during the fall 2026 semester will need to log in to Zoom again after the reset occurs on August 6, 2026. Upon logging in with their MyID and password, their licenses will be re-provisioned. During the reset, students may lose access to meetings they are scheduled to host, and custom user settings, including their profile and background photos. Students will be asked to note any meetings they are scheduled to host and save any profile or background photos they wish to keep before August 6, 2026. The reset will not affect any meetings or classes hosted by UGA faculty and staff, including those scheduled with students. Zoom sub-accounts will not be affected by the reset. However, EITS strongly encourages Zoom sub-account owners to use this as an opportunity to conduct a full review of their accounts and remove any faculty, staff or students who have left the university or no longer require access. For more information, contact Mamtha Ramaraja.