UIC Spring Tech Talk: Student guide to technology tools, resources and campus news

Welcome to the spring 2026 semester. Technology Solutions, UIC's central IT department, would like to share important campus technology news, along with information about valuable tech services, resources and support available to you.

Technology essentials

Browse the IT resources available to students, including technology and desktop support, IT services and resources, and campus tech news on the IT@UIC Services page. Find information on UIC email, Duo 2FA, printing, equipment lending and more.

New to UIC? Review the New Student Checklist.

UIC Tech Quick Guide

Find all the Technology Solutions tools and resources available to you. Download the Tech Quick Guide (PDF).

Campus tech news

Learning management system transition

UIC continues to transition our learning management system from Blackboard to Canvas.

As of December 2025, students have access to Canvas and can find training and help resources on the Canvas Dashboard. You can also visit the Student Guide to Using Canvas page for tutorials, FAQs and support. Read more about the transition.

Upcoming changes to Duo 2FA

To strengthen account security across campus, the University of Illinois will be phasing out SMS (text message) passcodes for Duo multi-factor authentication over the coming months.

If you are impacted by this change, you will receive direct communication with specific timelines and next steps.

What you need to do now:

• If you currently use Duo SMS, plan to switch to the Duo Mobile app or request a hardware token.
• To continue using the Duo Mobile app, your registered phone must be running the following by the end of March:
  • Android 12 or later, or
  • iOS 17 or later.

Making this change now will help ensure uninterrupted access to university systems. Learn more about Duo 2FA.

Research and innovation

Advanced Cyberinfrastructure for Education and Research, part of Technology Solutions, empowers researchers with essential tools and techniques in computational research and data science.

Advanced Cyberinfrastructure for Education and Research hosts informative sessions covering a wide range of topics relevant to the research community, from introductory programming in R and Python to advanced subjects such as parallel computing and GPU programming.

This spring, we're excited to introduce a new two-part tutorial focused on developing best practices for writing reproducible, sustainable and collaborative research code.

Learn more about services and events from Advanced Cyberinfrastructure for Education and Research.

Top 5 cyber threats at UIC

Awareness can be your best defense. Instructors and staff should be aware of common scams they may encounter online, in their inboxes and on their phones. The top five scams you should be aware of include:

1. Phishing
   Emails or texts pretending to be from IT, human resources, the State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS), a supervisor or other service provider with links to fake webpages, hoping you share or enter sensitive information.
2. Social engineering
   Emails, calls or texts from impostors posing as UIC staff, officials or other business entities to manipulate you into taking an action.
3. Password reuse
   Using the same password for university accounts and personal websites increases the risk of account compromise.
4. Multi-factor authentication fatigue
   Receiving repeated Duo push requests you did not initiate, with the intent to trick or annoy you into approving the request.
5. Using public Wi-Fi
   Logging in on unsecured public Wi-Fi networks poses security risks. Always use a VPN when working on public Wi-Fi.

Remember to report suspicious emails to [email protected]. To learn more about scams targeting students, visit the cyber scams webpage.

For more information, please contact:
Technology Solutions
[email protected]