Build a Transformational Network and Systems

HEUG Campus Impact Award: EAS ERP teams received the inaugural Higher Education User Group Campus Impact Award in March 2026, recognizing U-M’s broad participation, collaboration, and leadership across programs, events, and initiatives in the higher education technology community.

Pavilion Activation Readiness: Partnered closely with stakeholders on key development and operational readiness work, helping accelerate readiness for Pavilion activation and supporting a smoother launch through coordinated execution and leadership support.

Digital Experience and Web/Mobile Application Development

Model Context Protocol Standardization: Established Model Context Protocol as the team’s unifying standard for AI tool integration, sharing templates and server code across ITS to help accelerate AI adoption organization-wide.

Application Framework Upgrades: Completed major framework upgrades for VaxViewer, Transfer Credit, ServiceNow Archive Viewer, and the ARC Resource Management Portal, improving maintainability and long-term platform support.

Michigan App Releases: Delivered five Michigan App releases, continuing to improve the mobile experience for the U-M community.

Student Administration Enhancements

Recruiting and Admissions Data Retention Modernization: Replaced a 20-year-old custom Prospect Purge process with Oracle’s Archive Manager tool, enabling archive-before-purge capabilities and allowing records to be restored for up to one year. The first production run deleted 18.5M rows of data in approximately 60 minutes.

Access Validation Audit Report Modernization: Launched a new Tableau dashboard for the Access Validation Audit Report in collaboration with DSP, advancing the MReports Modernization initiative. The updated report gives ITS Unit Liaisons three enhanced reports to help ensure users maintain appropriate administrative access.

Department Transfer and Separation Reporting: Added reporting that identifies users who have transferred between departments or left the university, helping Unit Liaisons update access more accurately and efficiently.

Salesforce Center of Excellence

SEAS Salesforce Onboarding: Onboarded the School for Environment and Sustainability into the ITS Enterprise Salesforce Org. SEAS will use Salesforce, Form Assembly, Events Management, and Marketing Cloud for recruitment activities, becoming the fifth recruitment unit to join the service.

Student Success and Advising Technology Phase 1: Completed Phase 1 of the Student Success and Advising Technology initiative, which will modernize and replace the LSA Advising File system with a unified platform supporting students throughout their academic journey.

Enterprise Advising Platform Preparation: Prepared for Phase 2 of the Student Success and Advising Technology initiative, which will move 700 advisors and all U-M students from the LSA Advising File to the enterprise service.

DART and Constituent Data Improvements

M-Pathways to DART Name Integration: Implemented an automated M-Pathways to DART name-update integration, including preferred names, reducing manual effort and improving name consistency across EAS-supported systems and downstream services such as MCommunity and Google Mail.

Student-to-Alumni Transition Improvements: Improved the student-to-alumni transition experience by strengthening identity and name-data accuracy across systems.

Enterprise Application Security, Compliance, and Reliability

SSL/TLS Certificate Management Improvements: Strengthened certificate management processes by improving inventory visibility and advancing renewal and monitoring practices across the environment, reducing operational risk from expired or misconfigured certificates.

Certificate Automation Readiness: Positioned teams for increased automation as the industry moves toward shorter public TLS certificate lifetimes and evolving CA/Browser Forum requirements.

PeopleTools Security Patching: Applied quarterly PeopleTools security patches to 80 separate PeopleSoft systems, supporting continued enterprise application security and compliance.

PeopleTools 8.62 Upgrades: Completed seven major PeopleTools 8.62 system upgrades, improving platform currency and long-term supportability.

Oracle 26 AI Upgrade Support: Supported 20 Oracle 26 AI upgrades on PeopleSoft systems.

Bomgar Remote Application Upgrades: Completed eight major Bomgar Remote Application upgrades and converted the service to full Okta client authentication.

DOJ Blocking Rules Implementation: Implemented DOJ blocking rules for seven countries of concern across 17 PeopleSoft systems.

Okta Proxy Authentication Migration: Migrated more than 30 EAS systems to Okta Proxy authentication.

Vulnerability Remediation: Remediated 562 vulnerabilities and completed 102 changes, improving the security and reliability of the enterprise application environment.

Workload Automation and Operational Support

Run My Job Maizey Administration: Assumed responsibility for Run My Job Maizey administration, expanding support for workload automation services.

Run My Job Alerting Integration: Integrated Run My Job Splunk alerts with Slack, improving operational visibility and team response workflows.

Run My Job Production Support: Supported approximately 190K Run My Job production jobs each month.

Simply Voting Support: Supported the distribution of 253K ballots through Simply Voting.

EAS and AI Innovation

Information Assurance & Office of Privacy

EAS AI Champions Program: Continued the EAS AI Champions program, supporting AI adoption and helping teams explore practical uses of generative AI across EAS.

Chuck AI Assistant: Built “Chuck,” an EAS-specific AI assistant with Run My Job search, ITS org chart navigation, TeamDynamix auto-matching, and system integration lookup, improving internal productivity.

Local LLM Hosting Experiments: Spearheaded local LLM hosting experiments with MiDesktop to explore reduced token costs and prepare infrastructure for broader university AI demand.

Expanding security visibility into cloud, containers, and web

In FY26, IA paired Tenable web application scanning with an internally developed tool called Web Store. Web Store helps identify web servers across U-M campuses and cloud environments by using DNS data, scanning common web ports, and collecting HTTP responses. The process allows IA to:

Identify where web servers are running across millions of IP addresses.
Narrow the scope quickly to a much smaller number of active web servers.
Determine which technologies are likely running based on HTTP headers and response content.
Identify where a vulnerable technology may be present.
Use web application scanning to verify whether systems have been fixed.

Without this system, identifying affected systems during a zero-day event could take days. With Web Store and scanning, IA can often reduce that work to roughly an hour.

Tenable also empowers units to conduct and manage their own scans, streamlining the process and reducing wait times for results. Web application scans help units meet their responsibilities for secure coding and vulnerability management. Web application scans are part of a larger toolkit of scanning capabilities that IA provides, that include network vulnerability scans and penetration tests.

The on-premise Splunk environment, including the existing data, was migrated to Splunk Cloud in FY26. This allowed IA to increase their ability to analyze and consume security logs from 1 terabyte per day to 1.5 terabytes per day. Moving to Splunk Cloud also reduced the physical footprint of campus machines by more than 50%.

Strengthening of the Network

The network infrastructure was substantially strengthened through a firewall and VPN modernization and the continued evolution of a high-capacity 100 Gbps campus backbone supporting advanced research. Strategic consolidation efforts reduced legacy complexity and generated over $300K in cost savings, while large-scale management of more than 17,300 wireless access points ensured seamless, ubiquitous connectivity across campus.

Additional Highlights

Maintained 100% uptime of the core U-M Net Wi-Fi network.
Total Access Points (APs): 16,788
Relocated fiber hub & decommissioned Wolverine Tower infrastructure.
Upgraded Central Firewalls
Upgraded Data Center Firewalls
Installed new Site-to-Site VPN hardware (cutover completed).
Installed new Remote Access VPN hardware.

Infrastructure Upgrades Strengthen Network Resilience

Major modernization programs accelerated the replacement of end-of-service network equipment, with hundreds of access layer and distribution layer switches completed and additional upgrades on track. Parallel efforts in fiber infrastructure expanded capacity, improved route diversity, and enhanced resilience across medical, campus, and transportation networks.

Additional Highlights

Installed 368 new Access Layer (AL) switches.
Removed 104 Cisco and 241 Juniper switches.
Deployed 1,869 new Cisco switches since last RFP.
1,882 legacy switches remain.
Significantly expanded remote site support.
Developed and piloted Assistance Kiosk network design.

Building a Safer, Smarter Campus

Significant progress was made in public safety and infrastructure improvements. Over 1,000 security cameras were deployed, new emergency systems were planned, and extensive cabling and fiber projects supported both academic and safety needs. These upgrades directly contributed to safer, smarter campus operations.

Additional Highlights

Emergency kiosk Wi-Fi/AP design.
Designed and integrated A/V intercom calling paths for Emergency Kiosks, including DPSS MiServer consultation.
Housing access control engineering support.
Participation in MCard Advisory Board.

Proven Reliability Under Record-Setting Demand

ITS Infrastructure played a critical role in supporting high-profile, large-scale events at Michigan Stadium, including enabling connectivity for the largest ticketed concert in U.S. history, demonstrating the network’s scalability and reliability under extreme demand. U-M Net Cellular expanded coverage for both Verizon and T-Mobile as well.

Modernizing Communication Services for Greater Reliability and Innovation

Communication services continued a transformative modernization focused on resilience, scalability, and improved user experience. U-M Net Phone Services maintained continuity as work continued to migrate all remaining legacy telephone lines on the UM-Ann Arbor campus and decommission legacy switch sites. Contact center services were also modernized with cloud-based platforms, AI-driven innovation, and new service models.

Additional Highlights

U-M Net Phone Services

Migrated 15,132 numbers to Zoom Phone (2,379 remaining).
Decommissioned 3 legacy switch sites.
Launched Zoom for Government.
Upgraded SBC infrastructure in both lab & production environments.
Hosted Zoom Phone User Group.
Testing and compliance work for ZPLS, eFax, Cisco Call Manager, Unity, and IP fax services.
Disaster recovery plans completed for all services.

U-M Net Contact Centers

Retired ITS-Automated Call Distribution (ACD) contact centers (2025).
Operate 8 Amazon Connect contact centers.
Introduced tiered pricing models, including self-service.
Migrated Parking Services, Puerto Rico, Financial Aid.
Presented at AWS Higher Education Summit (Apr 2026).
Launched AI-driven contact center project (Center for Academic Innovation).

Expanding Connectivity Through Wireless Innovation

Wireless and connectivity initiatives expanded access and reduced costs through multi-carrier 5G deployments, fixed wireless modernization, and innovative hotspot solutions reaching previously unserved locations. Residential networking also advanced with high-speed, cost-effective designs and AI-driven enhancements to improve student experience.

Additional Highlights

U-M Net Cellular

First tri-carrier indoor 5G deployments in the Leinweber CS Building and the Kahn Pavilion
AT&T 5G rollout at Michigan Medicine (launch 2026).
AT&T upgrades at Munger, Ruthven/CCCB.
Verizon outdoor 5G C-band deployment.
Multiple carrier small cell deployments across campus.

U-M Net Hotspot & Mobile Connectivity

Deployed 30 DPSS mobile hotspot devices (public safety).
First deployment at Radrick Adventure Center.
Temporary 5G at 1580 Ellsworth Rd.
Flint Community RV mobile Wi-Fi 7 + 2.5 Gbps.
Solar-powered UMCI camera optimization (efficiency + reporting).

U-M Net Fixed Wireless

Emergency connectivity for Telefund (hotspot + Bridgewave).
Modernized point-to-point links (1/10 previous cost).
Launched Ubiquiti platform (UISP) for planning, monitoring, configuration.
New link: 555 S Forest ↔ 1220 S Forest Ave.

TeamDynamix Growth

Support Services

ITS processed more than 217,000 TeamDynamix tickets this year, and the Service Support team played a key role in supporting over 100 TDX applications, which have now surpassed 10 million tickets since the tool was adopted in May 2020.

Used by 90+ teams across U-M, TeamDynamix continues to serve as a shared service-management foundation for the institution. The platform helps work move seamlessly across units, campuses, and Michigan Medicine, allowing requests to be routed and resolved without requiring individuals to restart the process.

MiWorkspace: Future-Proofing Computing Infrastructure

Support Services

MiWorkspace Core was conceived, built, and fully operationalized in just four months, from September through December 2024. The service extends Mac, Windows, and MPrint platform services to remaining campus units outside the full MiWorkspace service.

With onboarding underway, 9 of 11 academic units are complete and 2 are in progress. The MiWorkspace family of services will soon manage 34,000+ campus endpoints, making it one of the largest centrally managed endpoint programs in U-M’shistory.

This expansion strengthens endpoint security, standardizes support, improves lifecycle management, and provides campus units with access to scalable platform services.

Tech Shop: Supporting Secure Access with Okta

Support Services

Okta continued to serve as the secure front door to U-M systems, with more than 175,000 users signing in each week. The platform enforces security policies and manages access decisions across thousands of applications for faculty, staff, students, researchers, and affiliates.

As U-M transitioned from Duo to Okta for two-factor authentication, Tech Shop played a key operational role by distributing 4,358 Okta security tokens to faculty and staff across the Ann Arbor campus. The team coordinated procurement, inventory management, custom U-M branding, and customer support to meet increased demand and help ensure uninterrupted access to critical systems supporting teaching, research, healthcare, and administrative operations.

Tokens were distributed through multiple service channels: 1,057 to walk-in customers, 643 through curbside and counter service, 347 shipped directly to customers, and 2,311 hand-delivered through the Campus Delivery Program. This coordinated effort helped the university meet adoption timelines and maintain business continuity throughout the transition.

Generative AI in Teaching & Learning

Instructor Tools

Teaching & Learning has partnered closely with the Emerging Technology team over the past year to co-develop, deploy, and support innovative tools that directly impact the academic landscape. Central to this effort was the creation of Custom GPTs, ‘Instructor Tools,’ integrated within Canvas to provide personalized, 24/7 course-specific support. These tools aid instructors by streamlining course creation, administrative tasks, and assessment management. Key highlights from this suite include:

AI Prompt Coach: Helps users craft precise prompts to maximize the effectiveness of any AI tool.
Course Design & Learning Objectives Assistants: Enables instructors to quickly build engaging courses and create measurable learning objectives rooted in instructional best practices and learning science.
Multiple Choice Questions Assistant: Develops scenario-based assessment questions with rich feedback to support deep student understanding.
Letter of Recommendation Assistant: Saves valuable administrative time by generating personalized, high-quality draft letters that showcase an applicant’s unique strengths.

GenAI Workshops

Building on the success from previous GenAI workshop series, Teaching & Learning delivered over 60 AI-themed workshops to more than 1,200 participants over the last year. Attendees represented a wide variety of roles and units across U-M, with ⅓ of participants being faculty and the remaining ⅔ being staff. This snapshot of participants underscores the broad, institutional reach and impact of Teaching & Learning’s services as they work to provide critical support for AI integration within course design and more. The team also introduced a new, tiered micro-credentialing program through Canvas Credentials, offering basic, intermediate, and advanced badging opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to showcase their GenAI proficiencies on platforms like LinkedIn.

Alongside the synchronous workshop series, the team also expanded its asynchronous offerings to support student-led learning. This year marked the successful launch of the self-paced course, “Learning with GenAI,” which achieved a major milestone of over 600 student enrollments shortly after its release.

Testimonials

Attendee feedback fromIntroduction to GenAI: Unpacking Key Concepts.“This was a great overview! The exercise using different models was helpful also.”
— Raymond Muscat, Lecturer I in Industrial and Operations Engineering, College of Engineering

“The Maizey workshop covered information that I could easily apply.”
— Edith Mei, Programmer Lead, Medical Affairs

“I appreciated the support documentation provided and learning that consultations are available.”
— Cindi Plummer, Business Administrator Assoc, Office of VP for Research

Online Learning Expansion

Teaching & Learning continued to expand its online learning support to campus units, both in revenue-generating and pro bono educational experiences. Central to this growth is Canvas Catalog, which saw its active customer base increase by an impressive 35% while retention of the existing base remained exceptionally stable at 91%. The total number of licensed partners has now increased to 16, allowing units to lower administrative costs, tap into new revenue streams, and expand their overall reach to internal and external audiences. Interest continues to grow in the service, and the Teaching & Learning team has delivered numerous administrator training sessions across campus to onboard new users.

Other expansion efforts include Parchment Credentials integration into Canvas Catalog, a comprehensive platform that allows users to seamlessly request, verify, and receive transcripts, diplomas, and alternative credentials. Looking forward, the team is also collaborating with the Registrar’s Office and the Provost’s Office to plan and support official Co-curricular transcripts, creating a standardized way to validate student achievements outside the traditional classroom.

Accessibility Compliance Project

To strengthen the university’s digital landscape, Teaching & Learning launched the Accessibility Compliance Project (ACP), with Teaching & Learning team members coordinating with the ITS Accessibility Team to thoroughly evaluate documentation and test software for compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA standards. Prioritizing tools based on campus usage levels, the team has already completed or initiated these reviews for roughly 75% of the 120 third-party applications integrated within Canvas.

Advanced Video Accessibility