Dear Colleagues:
As we approach the end of the year, I’d like to share some key updates from the IT Executive Dashboard and highlight the progress we've made together.
These achievements have been made possible through strong partnerships across campus, along with invaluable guidance from strategic and advisory governance committees. I also would like to extend my gratitude to our IT Strategic Partners for their ongoing support and collaboration.
Here are some highlights of our recent accomplishments:
- The next major milestone for the FACET Program is scheduled for January 15, 2025. This release will enable the processing of Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) and the student verification process. If successful, the system will launch for the 2025-26 financial aid year, allowing students to submit documentation to support their financial aid applications.
- The Bruin Connect and Secure team has completed the campus deployment of Trellix for university-owned devices and is now addressing non-compliant units as well as personal device coverage. Additionally, a comprehensive discovery of all university assets (e.g., network devices, databases, printers) is underway to ensure compliance with UCOP requirements. Over 2,000 network devices have been cataloged to help inform our network design.
- The Artificial Intelligence initiative has awarded ChatGPT Enterprise licenses to an additional 48 proposals as part of the second phase of the campuswide Call for OpenAI Project Proposals, bringing the total to 69. ITS is also evaluating datacenter capacity to support advanced AI computing needs, piloting cloud-based tools in collaboration with campus partners, and exploring enterprise-grade AI Assistant platforms. For more information, visit the Generative AI website.
- The University is advancing its data protection efforts through initiatives such as the Email Unification project, which is designed to modernize email and productivity platforms. Additionally, ITS is implementing enhanced cybersecurity measures, including improved multi-factor authentication processes, to meet UCOP requirements by May 2025 and strengthen overall data security.
- Over the last year, the BruinBuy Plus Stabilization initiative has worked with campus to reduce the BruinBuy Plus’ invoice backlog. Since April, unpaid invoices have decreased by more than 88%, an accomplishment that would not have been possible without collaboration across campus. There is still work to do and the project team has more enhancements planned in 2025.
Your partnership is essential in creating an exceptional tech-enabled experience for UCLA, and I appreciate your continued support.
Best regards,
Lucy Avetisyan
Associate Vice Chancellor
Chief Information Officer
Information Technology Services
Resources
For questions or more information on the IT Services portfolio resources, please email ocio@ucla.edu.
