November 2025 CIO Updates
A compiled monthly view of Enterprise Technology work across operations, infrastructure, digital accessibility, modern identity services, Microsoft 365 adoption, and AI enablement. This recurring format is designed to help leaders scan meaningful progress quickly.
The CIO updates provide an overview of Enterprise Technology accomplishments and ongoing efforts, highlighting projects, services, and initiatives that demonstrate value and impact for university leaders and stakeholders.
November 2025 reflects a broad operational mix: enterprise delivery work, cross-campus coordination, accessibility and compliance improvements, Microsoft 365 enablement, and secure expansion of applied AI for instruction.
UT Works Delete Project successfully released
The release reduces manual intervention and improves operational efficiency for Facilities Services and Enterprise Platforms.
The work required coordination across ET teams, university partners, and external vendor AssetWorks.
The project also highlighted strong internal delivery support across leadership, proof-of-concept work, and CI/CD operations.
Winter Break Maintenance Coordination meeting strengthens cross-campus visibility
These sessions, paired with a summer coordination meeting each May, create a structured point for discussion when campus-impacting work is most concentrated.
Representatives from IT teams across campus typically include 40 to 50 stakeholders, improving awareness and reducing the chance that maintenance activity conflicts with other critical work.
The meeting complements, rather than replaces, formal change-management processes.
Strong engagement across digital channels and email campaigns in November
LinkedIn generated 4,842 impressions, 149 reactions, and 103 comments, while Instagram delivered more than 1,300 page views and over 790 in reach.
The tech website recorded more than 18,000 sessions and 13,300-plus unique users during the reporting period.
ET Informational emails delivered a 53 percent open rate and 7.8 percent click rate, and UT Works emails posted a 37.4 percent open rate.
ID Card Modernization reaches major workflow and deactivation milestone
The work establishes the foundation for a more secure, auditable, and efficient operating model for card issuance and replacement.
The project also introduced Self-Deactivation UI design work and continues building toward production-ready modernization of fragmented legacy processes.
Early development and pilot results suggest measurable gains across efficiency, quality, compliance, and user experience.
Accessibility in procurement improves compliance and reduces risk
The initiative aligns procurement guidance to HOP 3-3014, WCAG 2.1 Level AA, and ADA Title II requirements.
DAC is also developing an accessibility testing system to validate vendor accessibility reports, identify issues earlier, and improve recommendations for remediation.
The effort positions DAC as a central campus resource for digital accessibility standards, reviews, and testing.
SharePoint migration and training support expands across campus departments
Departments have already begun scaffolding SharePoint site designs with support from the Training Coordinator and have scheduled training for end users.
The work helps expand the university’s SharePoint ecosystem and improves downstream value for tools like Copilot and OneDrive.
The broader goal is to accelerate Microsoft 365 adoption so departments can collaborate more securely and effectively.
AI Studio supports McCombs course with secure large-model access at scale
Students gained practical experience with fine-tuning, supervised fine-tuning, direct preference optimization, retrieval-augmented generation, and broader large-language-model workflows.
The AI Gateway removed the need for individual API keys, lowered credential-exposure risk, and provided centralized monitoring and cost control.
This is the university’s first centralized infrastructure for secure, managed access to commercial AI services for coursework and establishes a scalable model for future academic use.