Projects
DIT has numerous projects to improve services and processes within the division and at UMD. These are some of the major ones that are currently ongoing.
Current Projects
IT-20 Security Standard Compliance
The IT-20 Operation of Networking Devices and Identity Management Systems (Interim) security standard was launched in February 2025. The standard requires that all authentication and networking systems are run/managed by the Division of Information Technology. Over the coming months, DIT staff and campus IT staff will need to address the management of systems affected by this standard. All campus community members need to work with their local IT groups to understand if they have items that fall under this standard.
This project is part of the process to ensure that the University of Maryland meets the tenants of cybersecurity and obligations imposed by federal grants and contracts to ensure that access to the networking and computing resources is limited to authorized users. This applies to computing and networking devices operated in support of official activities of UMD (e.g., teaching, research, administration, and service) regardless of the location (on UMD property or in leased spaces) or technical modality (physical computer, virtual machine, cloud computing service, Software as a Service product). This standard does not apply to residential networks used for telecommuting.
Elevate Program
The Elevate Program will transition our Student Information System from from its older mainframe systems to a modern cloud-based solution, Workday. (In November 2024, our Human Resource/Human Capital Management, Finance systems went live in Workday.)
This modernization of our administrative systems will benefit our partners at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, and the University of Maryland System Office.
The university's new, integrated enterprise solution will modernize and transform the way the university does business with a focus on improving the user experience for students, staff and faculty.
Campus Network Refresh Initiative
In order to meet the increasing demands for reliable and high-speed connectivity, DIT is leading an initiative to replace and upgrade our campus network. This initiative aims to modernize our network infrastructure, unify the wired and wireless network experience, improve coverage on campus, and enhance security to protect us from cyber-threats.
This upgrade will provide these exciting network service enhancements:
- Increase indoor wireless coverage density across UMD’s 250 academic, administrative, and residential buildings through the installation of 2,500 new wired switches, and 18,000 new wireless access points, an increase of more than 6,000 over the current count.
- Deploy the new Wi-Fi 6E technology, which enables faster, more reliable Wi-Fi connectivity and better supports bandwidth-intensive activities.
- Expand outdoor wireless in key locations such as McKeldin Mall and Hornbake Plaza.
- Deliver seamless “at home” experiences for students who live on campus. This will allow students to set up their devices to interact with each other for things like wireless printing and casting a video from their phone to their smart TV while maintaining security.
Data Inventory
In order to comply with the State of Maryland’s Higher Education Data Privacy Act, USM Cyber Security Standards, and NIST Cyber Security guidelines, UMD must maintain a centralized comprehensive inventory of all “Systems of Record” that store information about living human beings. In order to meet this requirement, DIT's Data Privacy team is working with IT staff, business officers, and others across campus to gather details about UMD Systems of Record. The inventory will include information about what is stored and where, but not any of the actual data stored in the Systems of Record.
Insights Data Warehouse
As the university prepares to move all of its operations related to HR and Finance to Workday as part of the Elevate project, it is critical that ad hoc, institutional, and operational reporting continue to be supported. In order to accomplish this, the Insights Data Warehouse project will extract data from Workday and model this data into structures that are primed for reporting and analytics. The end goal is a fully integrated data warehouse that melds Workday and historical, non-Workday data in as seamless a manner as possible.
Non-Capital Computing Asset Process Management
The non-capital computer asset process management project seeks to improve the University of Maryland’s management of its non-capital computing assets (laptops, desktops, tablets, smartphones and servers under $5,000). In order to accomplish this, the project will update UMD’s non-capital asset procedures and identify and implement a third-party system to provide a central source of inventory data. Combined, updated procedures and a third-party system will provide more accurate data about UMD’s non-capital computing assets, which will enable the university to better track inventory, limit loss of equipment, and meet compliance and audit requirements.
Project Dashboard
The DIT Project Dashboard provides a real-time snapshot of projects that are ongoing in DIT along with some status information.