IT Announcements and Outages

WEEKLY MAINTENANCE

IT Services has set Fridays from 2-4 p.m. as a weekly maintenance period for all systems. During this time, applications will cycle through brief outages. IT Services will notify campus of any systems that will require maintenance or if the time is different from the scheduled maintenance period by Wednesday of each week via campus e-mail and on this page. To avoid any potential data loss or disruptions, users should save their work and log out of applications before maintenance begins.

LIVE SYSTEM STATUS

• Web Services at UA-PTC
• Microsoft Applications

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Announcement (A)
• Outage (O)
• Planned Maintenance (PM)

March 27: UA-PTC is experiencing issues with some of our equipment in our Data Center. Due to this issue, some internet users on campus may experience no internet access. Some of UA-PTC's critical systems are also currently unavailable to all users (UA-PTC Campus Portal, UA-PTC Financial Aid Portal, and UA-PTC WiFi). IT Services and Facilities are working diligently together to restore services as soon as possible. Blackboard, Workday, and other Microsoft based platforms can be accessed at uaptc.edu/myapps. (O) (resolved)

February 28: Internet services are currently unavailable as of 10:30 a.m. While this is outside of IT Services control, we are staying in close contact with our internet service provider, Arkansas Research and Education Optical Network (ARE-ON). An estimated time for services restored is currently not available. (O) (resolved)

February 15: Internet services are currently unavailable as of 11:20 a.m. While this is outside of IT Services control, we are staying in close contact with AT&T. An estimated time for services restored is currently not available. (O) (resolved)

February 15: The UA-PTC Campus Portal, Jenzabar, and PowerFaids services are currently unavailable. IT Services is working diligently to restore services as soon as possible. (O) (resolved)

February 2: Phone services are currently unavailable as of 10:50 a.m. at all UA-PTC sites. Calls can be made to other offices and other UA-PTC sites from campus but calls are unable to be made to numbers outside UA-PTC or received from off campus. While this is outside of IT Services control, we are staying in close contact with AT&T. An estimated time for services restored is currently not available. (O) (resolved)

January 10: IT Services will be performing critical maintenance on Jenzabar (J1) and the UA-PTC Portal on Thursday, Jan. 11 at 9 p.m. During this time, J1 and parts of the UA-PTC Portal (Advising, Class Schedule, Financial, Registration) will be unavailable. The update is expected to take 3 hours. (PM) (completed)

2023

December 6: IT Services will be pushing out security updates affecting VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) and Wyse terminals on Friday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. The update is expected to take 2 hours. (PM) (completed)

December 4: IT Services will be upgrading Jenzabar on Friday, Dec. 15 at 10 a.m. During this time, the UA-PTC Portal, Financial Aid Portal, and J1 services will be unavailable. An estimated time is unavailable when the upgrade will be complete. IT Services will notify campus via campus e-mail as soon as the upgrade is complete. (PM) (completed)

November 30: IT Services will be performing security updates at 8 p.m. on the Campus Portal and NetPartner (Financial Aid). Services for these platforms will be unavailable for approximately 15-30 minutes. (PM) (completed)

November 16: The UA-PTC Campus Portal and Jenzabar services are currently unavailable as of 8 a.m. IT Services is working diligently to restore services as soon as possible. (O) (resolved)

November 7: IT Services will be performing maintenance on the VDI system beginning at 8 p.m., Nov. 7. Maintenance is expected to take 5-15 minutes. To avoid any potential data loss or disruptions, users should save their work and log out before maintenance begins. (PM) (completed)

November 2: Workday is currently unavailable. IT Services has reached out to Project One about the outage. There is not an estimated time when services will be restored. (O) (resolved)

October 26: IT Services will be performing network maintenance at 8 p.m. Maintenance is expected to take 15-30 minutes. During this time, all in-house campus platforms (Campus Portal, Jenzabar One, PowerFaids, VDI) will be unavailable. Blackboard, Workday, submitting an IT Ticket, JRM, and Microsoft programs can be accessed at uaptc.edu/apps. (PM) (completed)

October 13: IT Services will be pushing out security updates affecting VDI and Wyse terminals beginning at 4 p.m. The update is expected to take 5-20 minutes. During this time, VDI EX web access will be temporarily interrupted to facilitate essential security updates installation. (PM) (completed)

October 3: IT Services will be making an emergency clean-up of the Jenzabar tables at 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 4. Users will be unable to use Jenzabar or access the Campus Portal during the clean-up. The clean-up will take approximately 10 minutes. (PM) (completed)

September 29: IT Services will be pushing out security updates affecting VDI and Wyse terminals beginning at 8 p.m. The update is expected to take 5-20 minutes. During this time, VDI EX web access will be temporarily interrupted to facilitate essential security updates installation. (PM) (completed)

September 18: IT Services will be restarting the campus portal server as part of basic maintenance at 1 p.m. Campus portal services should be restored within 5 minutes. During this time, the campus portal will only be interrupted. Please ensure you are not in the campus portal at that time as the interruption to prevent any disruption of any ongoing work. If you notice any problems or issues with the campus portal after the restart, please contact IT Services via the ticketing system. (PM) (completed)

September 14: IT Services will be pushing out VDI security updates at 8 p.m. for the following systems: Student, EX, Dental, and SolidWorks on Thursday, Sept. 14. During this update, users using VDI will experience a brief disruption, lasting no more than 5 minutes. The purpose for this update is to enhance the security of our systems. By keeping our Windows security updates up-to-date, IT Services can better protect UA-PTC from potential threats to our systems. (PM) (completed)

September 7: IT Services will be pushing out an urgent update to the Jenzabar One system at 4 p.m. The system will be offline during the evening and will be back up in the morning. The only system that will be unavailable during this time is Jenzabar One. The Campus Portal will still be available. (PM) (completed)

August 28: Are you looking for an e-mail that never made it to your inbox? Or a DocuSign e-mail? For security purposes, it's possible your e-mail was put in quarantine. To locate and release quarantined e-mails, please review the following: Locate Quarantined E-mail with Microsoft 365 Defender (A)

August 18: Employees that are moving to another office/building/site and have a UA-PTC monitor(s) and docking station in their current office, please DO NOT MOVE the monitor(s) or docking station as monitor(s) and docking stations are assigned to locations and not employees. Prior to moving, please notify IT Services by submitting an IT ticket. After a ticket is sent, a representative from IT Services will assign a new monitor(s) and docking station in your new location. Laptops are not included in this process as they are assigned to employees and not locations. (A)

June 19: The VDI at all UA-PTC sites is currently unavailable. While this is outside of IT Services control, we are staying in close contact with the vendor. An estimated time for services restored is currently not available. (O) (resolved)

June 15: In efforts to improve performance, IT Services will be performing maintenance on the imaging system (AppExtender) at 5 p.m. Staff should be able to access AppExtender Friday morning at 8 a.m. using the web application through the portal. If the desktop client application is used, please submit an IT Ticket so we can contact the vendor to remote into your system in update settings. (PM) (completed)

May 17: Internet and Mitel services are currently unavailable as of 3:05 p.m. at the Main Campus and possibly at the Aerospace Technology Center and at the Business and Industry Center. Internet services are available at Little Rock-South but not Mitel services. IT Services has reached out to ATT. While this is outside of IT Services control, we are staying in close contact with ATT. An estimated time for services restored is currently not available. (O) (resolved)

May 10: Course shells for the Summer term have been created in Blackboard for faculty. Faculty should be able to see their assigned course load under the Academic Year 2022-2023 Summer term in Blackboard. If this information is not appearing, please refer to the Blackboard Learn: My Courses Dashboard Display Customization Guide to turn visibility on for the new term, or remove visibility of old terms to make room on your home screen for the new ones. If faculty have any questions or need assistance, please submit a ticket through the IT Services ticketing system. (A)

April 17: IT Services will be performing network maintenance Wednesday, April 19 at 5 p.m. Jenzabar One and PowerFaids will be the only platforms down during this update. Staff will need to ensure no processes are running and that they are logged out of those systems by 5 p.m. (PM) (completed)

March 22: IT Services will be performing brief server maintenance Thursday evening, March 23 at 5 p.m. and lasting approximately an hour. During this window, the following systems will not be accessible: Jenzabar J1, Campus Portal, PowerFAIDS. (PM) (completed)

March 9: Per the UA System, a four digit pin will need to be created when accessing UA-PTC data through individual Microsoft apps such as the Microsoft Outlook app and the Microsoft Teams app on mobile devices. This new security feature will help keep your UA-PTC data safe and secure. If a “Device Passcode Required” message appears when accessing UA-PTC data through a Microsoft app, a passcode will need to be enabled on the device. See your devices settings for enabling a passcode. (A)

February 8: IT Services will be conducting a brief maintenance operation on our Jenzabar server at 6 p.m. This will affect access to Jenzabar One, PowerFAIDS, and the Campus Portal. The outage will last 5 minutes. Staff who are actively logged into one of those systems at that time, are recommended to save their work and log out to ensure the interruption does not result in any lost work. Staff may log back in and resume work after the 5 minute maintenance window. (PM) (completed)

January 20: IT Services has completed the transition from Jenzabar EX to Jenzabar One (J1). Staff using EX will need to be aware of the change in the application name on their computer in order to access the new program. If a shortcut was previously saved to the Jenzabar EX program, this will no longer work to log in. To find the new J1 application, click the start menu, and then type “Jenzabar One”. (Spell out “One”.) The computer being used should find a match for a program named “Jenzabar One Desktop 2022.” This is the new application needed to access the system. If “Jenzabar One Desktop 2022” does not appear on the computer being used, or staff are having difficulty in logging into the new application, please reach out to the Administrative Computing team via the ticketing system, and include the computer’s PU number being used and a convenient time when the computer will not be in use, so that IT Services can log into the computer and fix the application. (A)

January 17: IT Services will be upgrading Jenzabar EX to J1 on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 4 p.m. We anticipate the system to be down for approximately 6-8 hours which will affect accessing some of the data points in the Campus Portal. For example, if a student is looking for their class schedule or an instructor is accessing their class rosters, they will be unavailable until after the upgrade. In order for the upgrade to be successful on individual machines, IT Services will be working with employees running Jenzabar on their computer between now and when the upgrade takes place on Thursday, Jan. 19. (PM) (completed)

January 13: Microsoft has announced that a change was pushed out last night/this morning in Microsoft Defender which has caused icons to disappear and occasionally pop up an error that appears to block Microsoft applications from launching. Please know, applications are still on the computer. Only the icons/shortcuts are missing and incorrect block errors. Microsoft is currently rolling out a fixed Defender update which is estimated to take a few hours. While this outside of IT Services control, we are monitoring the situation closely. (O) (resolved)

January 13: A new version of the UA-PTC Mobile App has launched and is now available. Current UA-PTC mobile app users will need to update the app in the Apple and Google Play app stores to experience the new version. (A)

January 11: VDI has been successfully set up on all classroom computers and computer labs at the Main Campus and at Little Rock-South. A visual handout for using and logging out of VDI is available in English and Spanish. (A)

January 5: In efforts to uphold the mission of UA-PTC and the mission of IT Services by providing high-quality and reliable technology on campus, we are pleased to announce beginning Thursday, Jan. 5 until classes begin on Tuesday, Jan. 17, CCI Arkansas will be at the Main Campus and at the Little Rock-South Site replacing computers in the classrooms and open labs. This update will equip students with access to the latest technology in the classroom that will enable a high-quality and reliable technology experience at UA-PTC. (A)

January 4: IT Services will be performing a brief server maintenance task on Thursday, Jan. 5 at 4:30 p.m. Access to Jenzabar EX, the Campus Portal, and PowerFAIDS will be unavailable. The outage should not last more than 30 minutes, and all services should be restored by 5 p.m. (PM) (completed)

2022

December 14: Internet services will be unavailable at 4:30 p.m., Dec. 15 at all UA-PTC sites. The Arkansas Research and Education Optical Network (ARE-ON) is updating their network. While this is outside of IT Services control, we will be staying in close contact with ARE-ON. An estimated time for services restored is approximately two hours. Blackboard, Campus Website and phones will not be affected but accessing the Campus Portal and WebExtender will be affected. Direct access to Blackboard/Workday/IT Ticket/Microsoft products: uaptc.edu/apps. (PM) (completed)

December 6: The Campus Portal is currently unavailable. IT Services is aware and working to resolve services as soon as possible. An estimated time for services restored is currently not available. Blackboard or the Campus Website have not been affected. Direct access to Blackboard/Workday/IT Ticket/Microsoft products: uaptc.edu/apps. (O) (resolved)

December 5: IT Services will be performing critical network upgrades beginning at 5 p.m. this evening, Dec. 5. During the upgrade, internet services at all UA-PTC sites could be interrupted briefly for approximately 30 minutes or less. Campus phones, access to the UA-PTC website, portal or Blackboard will not be affected. (PM) (completed)

October 28: For security purposes, IT Services has updated the Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) sign in process for Microsoft Authenticator app users. When accessing any UA-PTC based platform, Authenticator app users will be prompted with a number to sign in. This number will need to be entered into the Authenticator app to complete authentication. For instructions, see handout at uaptc.edu/mfa. (A)

September 30: Campus Portal services are currently unavailable as of Thursday evening, Sept. 29. However, Blackboard access has not been affected. IT Services is aware of the situation and is working to get services restored quickly as possible. An estimated time for services restored is currently not available. Direct access to Blackboard/Workday/IT Ticket/Microsoft products: uaptc.edu/apps. (O) (resolved)

September 12: Internet service is currently unavailable as of 7 a.m. at the Main Campus and at Little Rock-South. IT Services has reached out to ATT. While this is outside of IT Services control, we are staying in close contact with ATT. An estimated time for services restored is currently not available. Campus phones have not been affected but accessing the Campus Portal is affected. Direct access to Blackboard/Workday/IT Ticket/Microsoft products: uaptc.edu/apps for LibGuides, visit libguides.uaptc.edu.  (O) (resolved)

August 3: IT Services will be making critical updates beginning at 5 p.m. that should conclude by 5:30 p.m. The following services will be unavailable during this update: Campus Portal, Financial Portal, and EX Systems. Access to Blackboard and E-mail will still be available through the college website. (PM) (completed)

August 2: IT Services will be making network updates beginning at 5:30 p.m. that should conclude by 6 p.m. This update will cause an interruption to local services. Access to Blackboard and E-mail will still be available through the college website. (PM) (completed)

July 14: While IT Services works with our service providers to get the portal functional, students and faculty may access Blackboard at uaptc.edu/apps. If you are having technical difficulties, please call our IT Help Desk at (501) 812-2780. (A)

July 13: The Campus Portal is currently unavailable as of 1:30 p.m. IT Services has reached out to Jenzabar for assistance. An estimated time for services restored is currently not available. (O) (resolved)

June 10: IT Services discovered at 7 a.m. access to degree plans, academic catalog, policies, handbooks, and majority of the files housed on the college website were unavailable. Including the digital signage (TV screens at Main and Little Rock-South) appearing down. These files are hosted on our media server which went down during the night of June 9 at some point. IT Services has reached out to our hosting provider, Lapero. While this is outside of IT Services control, we are staying in close contact with Lapero. (O) (resolved)

June 6: Students have reported to IT Services about an “account blocked” message appearing when they attempt to log into Office 365/Blackboard. This problem reported has been resolved. However, if students happen to encounter this message, please send us an e-mail (from personal e-mail account) to [email protected] with their name, UA-PTC e-mail address, phone number, and a screenshot of the message so an IT Services team member can assist quickly with resolving the problem. (A)

June 2: Blackboard services have been disrupted which has impacted several institutions including UA-PTC. While this is outside of IT Services control, we are staying in close contact with Blackboard. (O) (resolved)

May 26: Blackboard will be unavailable at 6 p.m. for a brief interruption that is expected to last an hour for maintenance. (PM) (completed)

May 23-24: IT Services is creating the “live” Blackboard course shells for Summer I and II terms. The delay in providing faculty access to Summer I and II course shells is due to the Blackboard upgrade and cloud migration. (PM) (completed)

May 20: Not sure what type of technology is needed for Blackboard? IT Services has published a new webpage that features the recommended technology and more at uaptc.edu/bbtech. (A)

May 18: Prior to accessing student e-mail and Blackboard on May 31, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) will need to be enabled on your device. MFA is required to provide a second form of identification. (A)

May 17-21: IT Services in collaboration with Blackboard will be moving UA-PTC's Blackboard platform from a physical server to the cloud. During this time, Blackboard services will be unavailable. (PM) (completed)

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