IT Insight Newsletter – May 2025

Information Technology Services (ITS) has received questions about Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Generative AI. Some of those questions are: Can we use it? What can we use it for? Is it safe?

ITS has examined the technical and legal aspects of this technology to see where and how it fits into our technology stack. To provide a bit more guidance, ITS has created  a new AI webpage  on the ITS website to help guide users through this exciting new journey.

Read more…

Spoofing is a tool used by scammers that changes their caller ID information to appear like a familiar phone number. The goal of the scammers is to gain information that they can use or sell.

The scammers have recently started using some UMSL numbers when making these sorts of calls.

To address this issue, ITS requests the following:

• If you receive a call from someone who is being scammed with an UMSL number, please be patient with individuals that may call you. Explain to them that UMSL is not the cause of the calls and suggest they block the number. If they have questions, please advise them to call Telephone Services at 314-516-3253 and ask them to leave a message.
  
• Telephone Services asks that you also report it by submitting a ticket to help.umsl.edu
  
• ITS will report the issue to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This may not stop the behavior, as there is no control if the scammers are offshore, but it is a good first step in dealing with the issue.

To learn more about Caller ID Spoofing and tips on how to avoid it, the Federal Communications Commission has created this FCC guide on spoofing.

You may recall receiving an email in February 2025 on behalf of the UMSL Digital Accessibility Taskforce alerting you to updates to regulations impacting ADA Title II, which states that public universities must meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA digital accessibility standards by April 2026. Colleagues across the UMSL campus have joined to form the UMSL Digital Accessibility Taskforce in collaboration with our partners at the other UM campuses. There is much work ahead for the task force to ensure that the requirements of the updated regulations are met by the compliance deadline.

Read more…

Happy Retirement to Loy Harvey

After nearly 28 years of dedication, commitment, and devoted service to UMSL, Loy Harvey is retiring on May 16.

During her time at the institution, Loy has held positions in Executive Events for 10 years and in the Faculty Senate and University Assembly Office for 14 years.

Loy started her career at UMSL in 1996 in Campus Computing, now Information Technology Services (ITS).  In 2023, she returned to ITS as the Strategic Communications Associate, bringing her career full circle. Since returning to ITS, Loy has been an excellent addition to the Campus Relations and Communications (CRC) team and the department. Loy put a tremendous amount of work into redesigning the ITS website and IT Insight newsletter, two valuable resources the department utilizes to strengthen communications with campus partners.

ITS would like to congratulate Loy on her well-earned retirement and thank her for her unwavering contributions to UMSL and ITS. Cheers to a job well done!

How do I use the accessibility checker to improve accessibility?

Use these instructions to run the Accessibility Checker to make your content easier for people to read.

How do I write effective alternative text to improve accessibility?

See this article to read more about effective alternative text.

The IT Insight newsletter will be taking a break over the summer, but will return in the Fall.

Have a great summer!