Did you know Adobe Creative Cloud is available to all CSU, Chico employees and students? This suite of software includes Photoshop, Acrobat Pro, Illustrator, and more. You can request access to Adobe Creative Cloud in the Service Catalog. For the request, you will need to attach a class roster with the Full Name and Email of all students needing access through the 'New Analytics' tool on Canvas. We recommend that faculty requiring Adobe Creative Cloud software for their classes request their class roster be assigned Creative Cloud access as soon as possible. This will allow students to have access to the software without delay.

KnowBe4: Empowering Users to be the Last Line of Defense Against Ongoing Email Threats 

The Chico State Information Security (ISEC) Team in the Division of IT is committed to training end-users to intuitively protect themselves from cyberattacks as phishing attempts evolve to challenge security mechanisms. To prepare our users, a robust suite of information security solutions for campus debut this fall, brought to you by the Division of IT and our partnership with the KnowBe4 (KB4) platform.

The new Phish Alert Button will forward user-reported threats to a security triage console where AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (machine Learning) tools will be used to quickly analyze the threat and take the appropriate action. Messages identified to as being threat will be automatically quarantined. In addition, DoIT will be updating our security awareness training library to prepare our campus community as cybersecurity threats become more sophisticated and difficult to detect.

During the user-testing phase, the integration of KnowBe4 into our email environment enabled DoIT to substantially reduce the time between the first report of a high-threat phishing or scam message and the automated recovery of these messages by KB4 from our users' inboxes. As a next stage, the ISEC team intends to deploy the Phish Alert Button to all campus email users; it will be made available for all Microsoft Outlook Desktop, Web, and mobile email clients by the beginning of the fall semester.

Sign up for an $11 tablet at the Affordable Connectivity Program Event 

The Mark your calendars! On September 18-19, the Center for Technology Equity (CTE) in the Division of IT will be hosting an Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) event in the Bell Memorial Union to assist students who could benefit from reliable internet access. The ACP is a government-funded program that provides low-cost tablets and internet connectivity to families who need them, for as little as $11.  

The Division of IT helped over 200 students with the ACP event last April and continues to sponsor this event in support of Chico State’s enduring commitment to technology equity for all, and providing students with the resources they need to succeed. To be eligible, applicants must be receiving a Pell Grant or be enrolled in a government assistance program such as Cal-Fresh. Through a grant from our university’s foundation, the $11 cost will be underwritten by the University and eligible students will receive the tablets at no cost to them. 

BCSSE Survey For Incoming Students

Beginning on August 15th, a survey supported by the Chancellor’s Office will open for first-year students, transfer students, and students returning to academia after a long break to collect data about the needs of new students and help define expectations on how to best support them. Chico State is administering the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) survey online between August 15th and September 1st to uphold the university’s enduring commitment to supporting diversity, technology equity, and inclusion. The goal of BCSSE is to help institutions make data-informed decision about the following initiatives:  

• Better understand new student expectations of their college experience to build relevant programming and academic experiences.  
• Assess how likely students are to engage in help-seeking, collaboration, and other important academic behaviors, which will inform us on how to plan appropriate interventions to improve retention and success.  
• Generate detailed, individual advising resources for each student respondent to facilitate targeted outreach.  

The department of Institutional Research and Strategic Analytics (IRSA) will handle the intake and processing of survey results and post them here when they are available.

Canvas is the Official Learning Management System for Chico State

Canvas is the new official Learning Management System for Chico State as of Fall 2023. This semester will be the first time that all 23 CSU campuses will use the same LMS. Blackboard content will remain available until the end of the year, but no classes will be taught in Blackboard this semester. More information about migrated course content and student data archives will be shared later in the fall.

In the In the Spring of 2023, 40% of faculty transitioned to Canvas. There are many Canvas resources available including web pages for Start-of-Semester tasks, videos, in-person events, and training sessions so faculty can learn at their own pace.

Students can access Canvas resources for how to get started and watch tutorials about the various capabilities within the Canvas environment. Alternately, in-person support is available for students needing help with Canvas on the 2nd floor of the library in the Center for Tech Equity.

The Print Shop is now taking orders for Fall Semester

University Print Services is actively taking orders in preparation for Fall Semester and would like to remind faculty and campus organizers that any course packets you will need printed, bound, and ready-to-go by the first day of fall classes should be ordered soon. Ordering printed deliverables internally is the most cost-effective way to stretch your operating budget for promotional items including (but not limited to) buttons, posters, business cards, and flyers etc. that are typically needed for start-of-term activities. For questions or advice, please reach out to University Print Services: [email protected].