DOIT Newsletter - Spring 2026
A Message from the Interim Vice President / Chief Information Officer
Dear University Community,
The Division of Information Technology is entering a new chapter. As announced in October, CSULB’s inaugural Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Dr. Min Yao, retired in December. Dr. Yao was a strategic leader who established the Smart Campus Initiative and modernized our technology infrastructure to better support teaching, learning, and research. His thoughtful, deliberate approach to leadership shaped not only our systems, but our culture. I am personally grateful to have served under Dr. Yao’s leadership for nearly ten years and to have learned from his steady guidance and commitment to this university.
While I am new to the role of Interim VP & CIO, I am not new to CSULB. Over the past two decades, I have had the privilege of serving our campus in a variety of technology leadership roles, most recently as Associate Vice President for Technology Solutions & Innovation. Throughout that time, my focus has remained consistent: strengthening IT governance, enhancing service delivery, and ensuring our technology environment advances the academic and operational mission of the university.
As we move forward, my commitment is to ensure continuity where it matters and thoughtful evolution where it is needed. Technology at CSULB must be reliable, secure, innovative, and aligned with the needs of our faculty, staff, and students. Just as importantly, it must be collaborative. Your engagement and feedback will continue to shape our priorities.
In this newsletter, you’ll find updates on our campus technology initiatives, guidance on staying cyber-safe, and insights into projects designed to enhance your digital experience. I look forward to partnering with you as we build the next phase of CSULB’s digital future.
Best regards,
Bryon Jackson, MBA
Interim Vice President & Chief Information Officer
Go Beach!
GenAI
Metaverse & AI Symposium at the Beach
CSULB faculty and staff are invited to the third annual Metaverse & AI Symposium at The Beach, focused on how XR and AI technologies are shaping teaching, learning, and academic work across campus. The symposium highlights real CSULB use cases, student and faculty perspectives, and campus resources. The symposium offers a practical look at why these emerging technologies matter now and how they can support your work.
Engaging AI Bootcamp Held in December
Forty employees came together for a dynamic five-hour Microsoft Prompt-a-Thon focused on unlocking the full potential of Copilot. Participants explored Copilot’s capabilities through hands-on activities, learning how to craft effective prompts and apply AI tools to streamline their daily work.
Register for One-Hour AI Training Opportunities
Copilot 101: Foundations for Faculty (3/11, 2 pm)
Copilot 101: Foundations for University Staff (3/17, 10 am)
Copilot: Prompting that Works – Prompt Patterns for Faculty (3/24, 10 am)
Copilot: Prompting that Works – Helping staff with reliable and repeatable results (3/25, 10 am)
Introduction to Agents for Staff and Faculty (4/8, 2 pm)
Introduction to Agents for Staff and Faculty (4/10, 10 am)
CSU Resources for Students, Faculty, and Staff
The CSU AI Commons is a new systemwide hub designed to support faculty, staff, and students as generative AI becomes more integrated into higher education. The site brings together trusted tools, training opportunities, ethical guidance, and campus‑specific resources, which makes it a valuable starting point for anyone looking to build AI literacy, explore responsible use, or understand how AI is being approached across the CSU.
INFORMATION SECURITY
Cybersecurity Awareness Week
Cybersecurity Awareness Week (March 9-13) offers a series of fun, practical events focused on phishing, job scams, data privacy, and safer online practices. It’s an easy way to pick up timely tips and strengthen everyday security habits that help protect both you and the campus community.
DoIT Has Your Back
Scammers, often foreign threat actors, try to exploit our campus through phishing, spearphishing, and network attacks. DoIT blocked and filtered out over 8 million malicious emails in 2025. So far in 2026, we've blocked over 38 million network attacks, such as floods, spyware command and control sites, and malicious websites to ensure our campus remains safe.
Sobering fact: despite these protections, phishing still occurs. There were 128 student accounts compromised in January, a huge uptick from 52 in December.
Improved Phishing @ The Beach and Phishing Validation and Reporting Tools
Wondering whether a suspicious message is a real threat? Check out the updated Phishing @ The Beach page, which not only includes a phishing validation tool you can copy and paste your suspicious emails into, but it now includes a link to review real examples of scams targeting CSULB.
Reporting suspicious emails is a click away. You're encouraged to use the phishing alert button in your Outlook email apps, allowing you to flag potential threats directly from your inbox and help improve campus‑wide detection and response. You'll receive an automated response detailing the results of our review of your reported emails.
Student Cyber Awareness: "We Can DoIT Together"
Students are frequent targets of phishing and online scams, and awareness plays a key role in reducing risk. The We Can DoIT Together cyber awareness page provides clear, student‑focused guidance on phishing, MFA, and everyday digital safety. These are resources to reinforce good habits. A direct awareness campaign will aim to engage students throughout the year.
Quick Tip: Watch Out for Phone Call Scams
Universities across the country are seeing an increase in phone‑based phishing scams (also known as “vishing”), where callers pose as campus IT Help Desks or Financial Aid offices and claim there’s a problem with your account. These callers may ask for passwords, MFA codes, or banking information, often using urgency or fear to pressure quick action. Legitimate campus offices will never ask for sensitive information during an unsolicited call. If something seems off, hang up and verify the request by contacting the department directly using a trusted campus phone number or website.
NOTEWORTHY SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS
Eduroam is the Primary Campus Wi-Fi Network
Eduroam provides a more secure, streamlined experience on campus and automatically connects you at thousands of participating institutions worldwide, including other CSU campuses.
Wi‑Fi coverage is available throughout most indoor campus locations, with widely available outdoor Wi‑Fi in courtyards, quads, and common areas. Explore current outdoor coverage using the interactive campus map to see where connectivity is available when working or meeting outside.
If you haven’t already done so, ensure all your devices are connected to eduroam by visiting CSULB Wi-Fi Setup Page.
Understanding ADA Title II
Beginning April 24, 2026, public universities must ensure that websites, instructional materials, mobile apps, and other digital content meet ADA Title II accessibility requirements. Limited exceptions may apply under specific conditions. Visit the CSULB Accessibility website for additional information and resources. Need help? Submit a Document, Audio, or Video Remediation ticket for accessibility assistance.
DID YOU KNOW?
Outages & Degradations Page
Ever wonder if there is a campus service outage? From the IT Help Desk home page, there are handy links for your everyday IT needs, including a link to our IT Outages & Degradations page. We generally post incidents that have broad IT service impacts.
