Information Technology / en Safety first: Relaunched 茄子直播 safety abroad website to streamline travel abroad process /bulletin/safety-first-relaunched-u-t-safety-abroad-website-streamline-travel-abroad-process <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Safety first: Relaunched 茄子直播 safety abroad website to streamline travel abroad process</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sungjimi</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2019-10-08T17:10:18-04:00" title="Tuesday, October 8, 2019 - 17:10" class="datetime">Tue, 10/08/2019 - 17:10</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Robust international collaboration is one reason why many students and researchers choose&nbsp;the University&nbsp;of Toronto. For students, studying abroad can open their minds. For researchers, global engagement can expand the scope and impact of their work.</p> <p>To support international travel and ensure their safety, the university has redesigned a more streamlined online registry for traveling students and relaunched its <a href="http://safetyabroad.utoronto.ca/">safety abroad website</a> which will be a one-stop-shop for faculty, staff and students seeking information about 茄子直播鈥檚 safety abroad policies.</p> <p>The self-serve registration is a requirement for those traveling abroad for university-related work, according to 茄子直播 policy. Students must register online and fill out the&nbsp;form while faculty members who are sponsoring the trip must also do their part by becoming familiar with their responsibilities as a trip sponsor and contacting the Centre for International Experience (CIE) for specifics&nbsp;on a student鈥檚 trip.</p> <p>If a country鈥檚 risk level increases according to Global Affairs Canada (GAC), the online registry will help staff quickly identify where students are located in a country, state or municipality. Details such as emergency contact information and passport information is now mandatory when students register on the database, so that administrators can easily intervene in the event of an emergency.</p> <p>鈥淚t鈥檚 important to have nuanced data so that we can make quick and accurate decisions,鈥 says <strong>Jocelyn Ma</strong>, safety abroad adviser with the Centre for International Experience. 鈥淭his revamped registry eliminates a lot of manual work, so if there鈥檚 an emergency we can quickly contact students and offer 24-hour support.鈥</p> <p>The registry follows a self-serve model, allowing students to register for travel in lower risk countries and regions. If they are travelling to higher risk areas, they are prompted in the system to work with the CIE鈥檚 safety abroad staff for specific preparation.</p> <p>鈥淭hroughout the process we鈥檝e removed a lot of paperwork 鈥 students can submit their trip details, complete waivers and confirm training,鈥 said<strong> Evan Moir</strong>, a user experience designer with 茄子直播's enterprise applications and solutions integration department.</p> <p>In addition to the updated registry, the relaunched safety abroad website will offer information about<a href="http://safetyabroad.utoronto.ca/in-an-emergency/"> International SOS</a>, a resource that 茄子直播 recently signed on with. The service lets travellers type in questions such as 鈥淐an I drink tap water in this city?鈥 and offer 24-7 telephone access to a nurse.</p> <p>More than 4,000 students travel abroad each year for university activity. The revamped website will serve them and the more than 165 different programs and institutes on 茄子直播鈥檚 three campuses.</p> <p>In the past,&nbsp;CIE has contacted students about political unrest in Kenya, water scarcity in&nbsp;South Africa&nbsp;and emergency drills in South Korea and Japan.</p> <p>鈥淲hile South Korea and Japan remained as low risk, according to GAC, it was foreseeable that students may feel unsafe,鈥 says Ma. 鈥淲e sent messages to let them know we were monitoring the situation and we provided advice on how to proceed.鈥</p> <p>Trip sponsors, including professors, are notified about students鈥 request to travel and can contact CIE for further information.</p> <p>A previous travel sponsor, <strong>David Montemurro</strong>, an associate professor, teaching stream, with the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, runs a regular study abroad program for his students.&nbsp;His students have completed internships in Colombia, Costa Rica, Hong Kong and China.</p> <p>鈥淚nternational education helps our students connect education policy with teaching practice, while also developing global citizenship 鈥 it really opens doors on both sides,鈥 says Montemurro. 鈥淪afety is a key priority, along with academic, legal and health considerations, and the safety abroad office is an integral resource for us.鈥</p> <p>Woodsworth College also offers an undergraduate Summer Abroad program, and CIE helps graduate students travel to more than 140 partner institutions in more than 40 countries. In addition, 茄子直播 Mississauga and 茄子直播 Scarborough run similar programs.</p> <p>鈥淎s the first point of contact for travel abroad, we want to be responsive in making sure we鈥檙e helping students, and this registry helps us accomplish this goal,鈥 says Ma. 鈥淥ne of 茄子直播鈥檚 missions is to help our students study abroad and become global scholars 鈥 and helping students do this safely is our top priority.鈥</p> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-caption field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Safety first: Relaunched 茄子直播 safety abroad website to streamline travel abroad process</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/UofT17720_IMG_5224-resized.jpg?h=620233f6&amp;itok=BbNKe6Ci 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/UofT17720_IMG_5224-resized.jpg?h=620233f6&amp;itok=KIOCL8Yl 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/UofT17720_IMG_5224-resized.jpg?h=620233f6&amp;itok=9tQpF1Rb 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/UofT17720_IMG_5224-resized.jpg?h=620233f6&amp;itok=BbNKe6Ci" alt="A group of students in the ICM program pose on a hilltop overlooking Tibilisi"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-cutline field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">茄子直播 students participating in the International/Indigenous Course Modules (ICM) program pose in Tbilisi, Georgia. Photo by Tami Piovesan</div> <div class="field field--name-field-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden clearfix"> <ul class="links field__items"> <li><a href="/news/tags/centre-international-experience" hreflang="en">Centre for International Experience</a></li> <li><a href="/news/tags/study-abroad" hreflang="en">Study Abroad</a></li> <li><a href="/news/tags/international" hreflang="en">International</a></li> <li><a href="/news/tags/safety-abroad" hreflang="en">Safety Abroad</a></li> <li><a href="/news/tags/information-technology" hreflang="en">Information Technology</a></li> <li><a href="/news/tags/enterprise-applications-and-solutions-integration" hreflang="en">Enterprise Applications and Solutions Integration</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-hide field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> Tue, 08 Oct 2019 21:10:18 +0000 sungjimi 159603 at 茄子直播 staff (ethically) hack CERN, world鈥檚 largest particle physics lab /news/u-t-staff-ethically-hack-cern-world-s-largest-particle-physics-lab <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">茄子直播 staff (ethically) hack CERN, world鈥檚 largest particle physics lab</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2018-04-04-cern-main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=xdpDJkvs 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2018-04-04-cern-main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=TB-ogLde 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2018-04-04-cern-main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=N53Ai2Jc 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2018-04-04-cern-main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=xdpDJkvs" alt="Photo of inside CERN"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>noreen.rasbach</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2018-04-04T12:27:39-04:00" title="Wednesday, April 4, 2018 - 12:27" class="datetime">Wed, 04/04/2018 - 12:27</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">CERN, the international lab near Geneva, is home to the Large Hadron Collider, the world鈥檚 largest particle accelerator (photo by Claudia Marcelloni/CERN)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/chloe-payne" hreflang="en">Chloe Payne</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cyber-security-0" hreflang="en">Cyber Security</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/information-technology" hreflang="en">Information Technology</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>It takes 22 member states, more than 10,000 scientists and state-of-the-art technology for CERN&nbsp;to investigate the mysteries of the universe. But no matter how cutting-edge a system is, it can have vulnerabilities&nbsp;鈥 and last year University of Toronto employees helped CERN find theirs.</p> <p>CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research,&nbsp;asked for help to hack its digital infrastructure last year, organizing&nbsp;<a href="https://security.web.cern.ch/security/services/en/whitehats.shtml">the White Hat Challenge</a>.<strong>&nbsp;Allan Stojanovic</strong> and <strong>David Auclair</strong> from 茄子直播鈥檚 ITS Information Security Enterprise and Architecture department, along with a group of security professionals, were more than willing to answer the call.</p> <p>Passionate advocates for information security, Stojanovic and Auclair say&nbsp;regular testing is essential for any organization.</p> <p>鈥淰ulnerabilities are not created, they are discovered,鈥 says Stojanovic. 鈥淛ust because something has been working, doesn鈥檛 mean there wasn鈥檛 a flaw in it all along.鈥</p> <p>Their director, <strong>Mike Wiseman</strong>, supported their participation in the challenge. 鈥淭his competition was an opportunity to bring experts together to exercise their skill as well as give CERN a&nbsp;valuable&nbsp;test of their infrastructure.鈥</p> <p>Stojanovic first heard about the challenge during a presentation at a Black Hat digital security conference. He&nbsp;jumped at the opportunity,&nbsp; immediately approaching the presenter, Stefan L眉ders, CERN鈥檚 security manager.</p> <p>Stojanovic put together a group of eight industry professionals (pen testers, consultants, Computer Information Systems&nbsp;administrators&nbsp;and programmers), set goals for the test and created a ten-day timeline.&nbsp;</p> <p>Any penetration test involves three main stages: scoping, reconnaissance and scanning. Before the scanning stage begins, testers are not allowed to interact with the system directly, but&nbsp;try to learn everything they can about it.</p> <p>During the 鈥渟coping鈥 stage, testers define what is 鈥渋n scope鈥 and specify what IP spaces and domains they can and cannot probe during the testing. The 鈥渞econ鈥 stage is exactly what it sounds like: reconnaissance. The testers try to find out everything they can about the domains that are in scope, helping guide them towards potential weaknesses.</p> <p>With scoping and recon complete, the team was able to officially begin the scanning stage. Scanning is like a huge treasure hunt, beginning with a broad search and gradually narrowing it down,&nbsp; burrowing deeper and deeper into the most interesting areas and letting go of the others.</p> <p>This went on for nine days. It was a gruelling process 鈥 the team&nbsp;would find a tiny foothold, investigate it, but nothing significant would emerge. This happened again and again.</p> <h3><a href="/news/geneva-where-u-t-scientists-are-frontier-physics-world-s-largest-particle-accelerator">Read&nbsp;about 茄子直播 scientists at CERN</a></h3> <p>Finally, Stojanovic was woken up one day by a short message, 鈥淚 got it!鈥 One of his team members,<strong> Jamie Baxter</strong>, had solved the puzzle 鈥 a breakthrough generated by multiple late nights of patient analysis.</p> <p>Details of the breakthrough are kept secret due to a confidentiality agreement with CERN. But after more than&nbsp;two weeks of work, <a href="https://security.web.cern.ch/security/home/en/kudos.shtml">the team revealed&nbsp;weaknesses in CERN鈥檚 security infrastructure </a>and provided important recommendations on how to improve it.</p> <p>CERN's security group was then able to roll out fixes and address the identified vulnerabilities before 茄子直播's formal report even hit their desks.</p> <p>Stojanovic hopes that his team鈥檚 success will encourage educators to use penetration testing as a pedagogical tool.</p> <p>鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot of really fantastic experience,鈥 he says, adding that these are the hands-on skills that new security professionals are going to need in the fast-growing information security industry.</p> <p>Stojanovic also hopes that other institutions, including 茄子直播, will follow CERN鈥檚 lead in opening themselves up to testing of this nature.</p> <p>And this won鈥檛 be the last CERN will see of 茄子直播&nbsp;鈥 L眉ders has already asked for round two.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 04 Apr 2018 16:27:39 +0000 noreen.rasbach 132766 at Farewell to ROSI, 茄子直播's student web service /news/farewell-rosi-u-t-s-student-web-service <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Farewell to ROSI, 茄子直播's student web service</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2018-02-05-ROSI-RESIZED.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=ICu2xhBe 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2018-02-05-ROSI-RESIZED.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=4sMRuyRs 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2018-02-05-ROSI-RESIZED.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=8UpaKE-- 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2018-02-05-ROSI-RESIZED.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=ICu2xhBe" alt="Photo of ROSI mascot"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>noreen.rasbach</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2018-02-05T12:40:04-05:00" title="Monday, February 5, 2018 - 12:40" class="datetime">Mon, 02/05/2018 - 12:40</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">The ROSI mascot from orientation in 2004 (photo by Katie Babcock)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/katie-babcock" hreflang="en">Katie Babcock</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/information-technology" hreflang="en">Information Technology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/innis-college" hreflang="en">Innis College</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/ontario-institute-studies-education" hreflang="en">Ontario Institute for Studies in Education</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>After 19 years, ROSI Student Web Service&nbsp;will officially be retired on Feb.&nbsp;15. In its place, ACORN has now become the primary student web service since launching in 2015 鈥 with more than&nbsp;12 million logins in the past year.</p> <p>茄子直播鈥檚 Enterprise Applications and Solutions Integration (EASI) kept the two systems running concurrently to help students make the transition. Now,&nbsp;ACORN is ready to take over.</p> <p>But how did we make the leap from long lineups and paper-based registration to technology that revolutionizes the student experience?</p> <p>When ROSI was nearing the end of its lifecycle, the project team decided to rewrite the code with contemporary best practices and student expectations in mind. These included using inclusive design principles for accessibility, improving mobile usability, and making the process of planning and enrolling in courses more helpful and personalized to each student.</p> <p>The team engaged hundreds of students through interviews, usability tests and other research activities.</p> <p>鈥淥ur goal was to improve the student experience using the web service in a number of different ways: planning for and conducting course enrolment, understanding and accessing financial information, as well as increasing the visibility and engagement with student life services,鈥 says <strong>Michael Clark</strong>, manager of user experience and process design with EASI.</p> <p>鈥淎CORN provides a cohesive experience that helps students navigate an otherwise complicated network of resources across the university.鈥</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__7498 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" height="453" src="/sites/default/files/2018-02-05-scarborough-lineup_0.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="451" loading="lazy"></p> <p><em>Students register for classes, using paper, at 茄子直播 Scarborough in 1969 (photo courtesy of University of Toronto Scarborough Library, UTSC Archives Legacy Collection)</em></p> <p>The ACORN project team within EASI partnered with Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions and with Information Security and Enterprise Architecture to launch the service.</p> <p>鈥淎CORN is a more highly polished and functional website than ROSI could be during its time. Students can see if there鈥檚 room in a course and how long a wait list is 鈥 there鈥檚 much more transparency to the process,鈥 says <strong>Karel Swift</strong>, who was 茄子直播鈥檚 university registrar and led the functional development and implementation of ROSI. 鈥淔ees can also be paid in the same place as course and program selection 鈥 it truly is a one-stop shop.鈥</p> <h2>The past</h2> <p>Before 1974, students registered through an entirely paper-based system.</p> <p>The university moved from this system in 1974 to enter students鈥 paper-based course selections into computers. In 1978, staff transcribed 31,400 students鈥 selections.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__7492 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" height="453" src="/sites/default/files/2018-02-05-other-lineup-resized.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="603" loading="lazy"></p> <p><i>&nbsp;Students waiting in line outside of Woodsworth College, formerly the Drill Hall, to register for classes in 1988 (photo courtesy of Richard Chow)</i></p> <p>鈥淚n the 1980s, students used to wait in long lineups to have their paper course selections processed in the computer system,鈥 says <strong>Rodney Branch</strong>, who worked in college registrars鈥 offices at the time and is currently manager of client services and process integration with EASI. 鈥淭hey would then have to line up separately to pay their fees. The lineups would go out the door, down the hall and onto the sidewalk.鈥</p> <p><strong>Donald Boere</strong>, registrar of Innis College, remembers ACCESS, the Assisted by Computer Course Enrolment and Scheduling System used by the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science starting in the late 1980s.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__7491 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" src="/sites/default/files/2018-02-05-IBM-resized.jpg" style="width: 350px; height: 389px; margin: 10px; float: left;" typeof="foaf:Image">鈥淚n the summer, students wrote their options for timetable scenarios on paper forms, and all these requests would be typed into IBM dedicated terminals (pictured left) by staff, though in later years, students with touch-tone 鈥 not rotary&nbsp;鈥 phones could enter their own requests through the Student Telephone Service. Resulting timetables were mailed to every student. For changes, there was a second round, called Mini-ACCESS, and students got new timetables during Registration Week. It was pretty cutting-edge for its time.鈥</p> <p><strong>Anil Purandar茅 </strong>was one of those students. 鈥淒uring my first year, I was anxious and pretty naive about the process. New College had a large sign that said, 鈥楧on鈥檛 Worry 鈥 We鈥檒l Help You.鈥 It was lovely to meet people, but increasingly complex registration required a more effective process,鈥 says Purandar茅, now a doctoral registration specialist at the Office of the Registrar and Student Services at 茄子直播's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE).</p> <p>鈥淎CORN has made the registration process much more student-friendly. When you鈥檙e anxious, and perhaps naive about the process, that helps a lot.鈥</p> <p>ROSI was introduced in 1999 and was used, along with the ROSI telephone service, to enable 54,132 students to register in real time.</p> <h2>The future</h2> <p>In 2016-17, 88,766 students enrolled at 茄子直播. To accommodate increasing numbers and enrolment complexity in the future, Information Technology Services will implement a new computing platform in 2018. This upgrade will improve system performance and capacity, allowing up to 15,000 students to register simultaneously for classes during peak registration times.</p> <p>ROSI, now called ROSI 茄子直播 Transcripts, will continue to exist in a simplified form for alumni to view their academic history, request transcripts and reset their PIN. Staff will still use the administrator-facing ROSI to manage and maintain students鈥 records, and ACORN will evolve to serve students鈥 needs.</p> <p>鈥淎CORN will continue to be timely, personalized and helpful 鈥 with improved accessibility, mobile optimizations, financial tools and additional complementary tools, including the Grant Application, GPA Calculator and Financial Planning Calculator,鈥 says Clark. 鈥淲e鈥檙e the hub in the wheel of student services and we鈥檒l be strengthening that core to consistently improve the student experience.鈥</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 05 Feb 2018 17:40:04 +0000 noreen.rasbach 128857 at Financial planning calculator helps 茄子直播 students to easily and accurately predict their living costs /news/financial-planning-calculator-helps-u-t-students-easily-and-accurately-predict-their-living <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Financial planning calculator helps 茄子直播 students to easily and accurately predict their living costs</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-10-27-budgeting-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=zC---jqq 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-10-27-budgeting-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=Noq-m53G 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-10-27-budgeting-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=JaBTVh1z 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-10-27-budgeting-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=zC---jqq" alt="Photo of woman budgeting"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>rasbachn</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-10-27T16:38:30-04:00" title="Friday, October 27, 2017 - 16:38" class="datetime">Fri, 10/27/2017 - 16:38</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Since its launch in February 2016, the financial calculator has helped more than 14,152 undergraduate students. Now the application is available to all graduate and second-entry students (photo by iStock)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/katie-babcock" hreflang="en">Katie Babcock</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/information-technology" hreflang="en">Information Technology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/students" hreflang="en">Students</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item"> </div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Tuition is just the beginning. Housing, utilities, food, textbooks, transit and recreation costs all add up, and managing expenses can often become an overwhelming task for busy students. But the <a href="https://planningcalc.utoronto.ca/financialPlanner/#/">financial planning calculator</a>, now available to all 茄子直播 students, is helping them easily and accurately predict their living costs for a year 鈥 setting them up for academic and future success.</p> <p>鈥淲hen we interviewed students before developing this application, we discovered that they didn鈥檛 know how to budget, how much to budget or didn鈥檛 have effective tools, aside from calculating everything manually using a spreadsheet,鈥 says <strong>Laura Klamot</strong>, a user experience designer with 茄子直播鈥檚 <a href="https://main.its.utoronto.ca/its-units/easi/">Enterprise Applications and Solutions Integration department</a>&nbsp;(EASI). 鈥淣ow students have a simple, customizable tool they can use each year to plan ahead.鈥</p> <p>鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to predict what everything will cost 鈥 especially food and recreation,鈥 says <strong>Yanna Ding</strong>, a first-year student in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science. 鈥淲hen I graduate I don鈥檛 want to have a lot of debt, so I want to manage my finances closely. I鈥檒l also need to develop economic independence, and a tool like this could really help in my future planning.鈥</p> <h3><a href="http://planningcalc.utoronto.ca/financialPlanner/#/">Use the financial planning calculator</a></h3> <h3><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjp8cBVjG_c&amp;feature=youtu.be">Tutorial shows how the calculator works</a></h3> <p>The tool helps students quickly predict how much it will cost to live in Toronto, an often difficult task for those who are unfamiliar with the area. It is also highly customizable for each individual depending on their program, year of study, residency status and campus. The application will suggest specific resources for awards and financial aid to help them save money and manage expenses.</p> <p>鈥淚f you鈥檙e spending more money on meals, compared to your peers, then the application will notify you and offer resources such as 茄子直播鈥檚 Food Services, and there鈥檚 also information about cooking for yourself,鈥 says <strong>Michael Clark</strong>, manager of user experience and process design at EASI.</p> <p>The team is planning to solicit feedback and make improvements for future releases.</p> <p>鈥淚鈥檓 happy we鈥檙e providing this tool to students as it will help them make informed decisions about their finances,鈥 says Clark. 鈥淲e鈥檙e focused on improving the student experience, and this tool is an example of how we can approach that objective from a different direction and offer value to our community.鈥</p> <h3>&nbsp;</h3> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 27 Oct 2017 20:38:30 +0000 rasbachn 120162 at Experts take on the latest hacks and leaks at 茄子直播's upcoming McLuhan Salon /news/experts-take-latest-hacks-and-leaks-u-t-s-upcoming-mcluhan-salon <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Experts take on the latest hacks and leaks at 茄子直播's upcoming McLuhan Salon</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/surman%20main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=z4e9AZVU 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/surman%20main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=kFS_2DCC 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/surman%20main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=FD7s2P_K 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/surman%20main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=z4e9AZVU" alt="Photo of Mark Surman"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Romi Levine</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-01-19T15:30:26-05:00" title="Thursday, January 19, 2017 - 15:30" class="datetime">Thu, 01/19/2017 - 15:30</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">茄子直播 alumnus and Mozilla Foundation Executive Director Mark Surman will be participating in Thursday's McLuhan Salon (photo by Joi Ito via Flickr)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/romi-levine" hreflang="en">Romi Levine</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Romi Levine</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cyber-security-0" hreflang="en">Cyber Security</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/us-politics-0" hreflang="en">U.S. politics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/mcluhan-centre-culture-technology" hreflang="en">McLuhan Centre for Culture &amp; Technology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cities" hreflang="en">Cities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/information-technology" hreflang="en">Information Technology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/alumni" hreflang="en">茄子直播</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The leak of an alleged intelligence memo about U.S. president-elect&nbsp;Donald Trump&nbsp;divided the media on whether or not to publish its details or acknowledge its legitimacy. &nbsp;</p> <p>On Tuesday, President Barack Obama commuted the prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. army intelligence analyst who leaked classified documents to WikiLeaks 鈥 a move that was praised by many but received harsh criticism from Republicans.</p> <p>Tonight, the McLuhan Salon is taking on its most timely and contested topic yet. Ripped straight from the headlines,&nbsp;鈥<a href="https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/mcluhan-salon-hacks-leaks-and-breaches-tickets-29828476777?aff=es2">Hacks, Leaks, and Breaches: Chronicles from the Cybervillage</a>鈥 will dissect the latest news and address hotly debated issues around cyber security.</p> <p>Participants include <strong>Mark Surman</strong>, a 茄子直播 alumnus and executive director of the Mozilla Foundation, McGill University's Gabriella Coleman, an expert on Anonymous, and Mathew Ingram, a senior writer at <em>Fortune Magazine</em>.</p> <p>The salons, inspired by the late 茄子直播 professor and influential media theorist <strong>Marshall McLuhan</strong>, are hosted by 茄子直播鈥檚 <a href="http://www.chi.utoronto.ca/about-us/">McLuhan Centre for Culture and Technology</a>&nbsp;and are <a href="/news/u-t-mcluhan-salons-take-classroom-city">held at different Toronto venues</a> every month.&nbsp;Tonight's salon&nbsp;takes place at the Toronto Reference Library.</p> <p>鈥淭he role played by WikiLeaks, Anonymous or trolling in recent years is no longer a niche cultural phenomena,鈥 says <strong>Paolo Granata</strong>, visiting professor, McLuhan Centenary fellow and salon organizer.</p> <p>These organizations, often called 鈥渉acktivists,鈥 have been a game changer in their ability to influence global politics, says Granata.</p> <p>鈥淔or this reason, we need to understand what is at stake in a networked society in terms of security and privacy, rights and freedom,鈥 he says.</p> <p>High profile government operatives-turned-leakers such as&nbsp;Manning and Edward Snowden have been central to shedding light on these issues, making them a hero to some and an enemy to others.</p> <p>鈥淲e certainly benefited from people having the courage to leak information,鈥 says Surman. 鈥淚t helps us understand what's really going on, on the Internet. I personally think of Snowden as a hero as many do.鈥</p> <p>Ingram is interested in discussing the thorny ethics surrounding hacks and leaks.</p> <p>鈥淲hen is it okay to report on and when is it not? It's a difficult question 鈥 and the goalposts keep moving,鈥 he says.</p> <p>Coleman will explore the ways digital leaks came into being.</p> <p>鈥淲hat's really interesting is that its history is remarkably recent even though the technical possibilities to engage in this form of hacking to leak has existed for 25 years,鈥 she says.</p> <p>The spate of hacks and leaks has&nbsp;forced companies and governments to learn hard lessons, but they still aren鈥檛 going far enough to protect themselves, says Coleman.</p> <p>鈥淭his is a perennial issue, and you'd think with each new hack and leak and breach, that organizations would get their security act together. So far, there have been small steps in that direction, but it's very slow going.鈥</p> <p>The salon provides a unique opportunity to have a public discussion outside of the Internet echo chambers 鈥 something Ingram and Coleman are looking forward to.</p> <p>鈥淚've never seen so many shows about hacking and so much news media, but it's hard to understand what the public thinks,鈥 says Coleman. 鈥淸The salon] will provide an interesting barometer for how people are receiving this news, what they think about security, and whether they find value in some of these leaks 鈥 some of them are very, very controversial.鈥</p> <p>Ingram wants salon participants to weigh in.</p> <p>鈥淚 would like to hear their thoughts about whether they feel less secure, and whether they think the media should be publishing things like people's personal emails just because they can,鈥 he says.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 19 Jan 2017 20:30:26 +0000 Romi Levine 103388 at