Staff News

Students, faculty and staff will find a lot of updates to tech services as the new school year starts. Make sure you’re up to date with all these changes!

Make sure you are ready for the start of the semester by running this top 7 checklist on your mobile device! Do you have a lock on your phone? Use a password, fingerprint, face recognition or other means to make sure other people can’t get your private data.

Technology support for instruction at the University of Arizona has evolved. Classroom Technology Services (CTS) now consists of five interconnected support teams along with a classroom design and build team. This department now offers support for academic areas across the state. Originally responsible for about 250 centrally scheduled classrooms on the main campus, CTS now supports approximately 800 rooms in Tucson, the Colleges of Medicine in Tucson and Phoenix, and satellite locations from Sierra Vista to Yuma—including unique environments like a classroom at the College of Engineering’s San Xavier mine.

For most teams across UITS, the back-to-school rush kicks into high gear in late summer. For Karina McCune, IT Support Manager for Tech Zones, the work begins months earlier. By late April, while many students were still wrapping up finals, Karina was already looking ahead to fall. This year’s preparations came with an added twist: 85% of her student workforce graduated in May, a testament to their long-term commitment and growth in the role, but also a challenge in rebuilding the team.

At the IT Summit last year, Julie Suess and Cecilia Esguerra Gunn used their experience with the complex Zoom Phone migration—spanning 25,000 lines and 400+ departments—to spotlight the value of embedding “lessons learned” into every stage of a project. Instead of waiting until the end, they encouraged teams to reflect continuously, adapting in real time to improve collaboration and outcomes. Their session reframed lessons learned as a proactive strategy for team growth, not just a post-project formality.

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve, the University of Arizona is taking proactive steps to ensure its IT professionals are prepared for the rapidly changing cybersecurity landscape. Across campus, AI is becoming an increasingly important tool in modern cybersecurity strategies, supporting threat detection, streamlining processes, and enhancing decision-making.

The University of Arizona’s College of Veterinary Medicine (Vet Med) is known for providing students with immersive, hands-on learning experiences that prepare them for the future of veterinary care. With a commitment to innovation, Vet Med recently completed a major technology refresh in its academic labs, ensuring faculty and students have access to modern, efficient, and reliable technology to enhance learning in the classroom.

At the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix (COM-PHX), innovation isn’t just a buzzword – it’s a blueprint. With a unique blend of academic rigor, healthcare delivery, and advanced technology, the college is creating an environment where learning is hands-on, efficient, and highly adaptive. And behind that transformation is a collaborative team of UITS professionals, like Chris Dieterich, Instructional Support Manager, and Lorenzo Borean, Information Technology Manager, who are helping to shape a smarter infrastructure for education and research.

Summer in Arizona brings more than just triple-digit temps and monsoon clouds. It also brings new challenges for your technology. Whether you’re headed out for vacation, working remotely, or taking summer courses, University Information Technology Services (UITS) has tips to help your devices survive the sizzle.

University Libraries Dean Shan Sutton arranged a tour of the Main Library for new President Suresh Garimella on April 23. The CATalyst Studios near the front doors make an impressive visual impact, especially when the large Viz Wall in the Data Studio has a display up.