IT Newsletter

Issue 1 - June 2026

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the first IT newsletter! We’re excited to launch this new communication channel to keep everyone informed about all the dynamic work happening across IT. Each issue will highlight important updates for our campus community, including the latest on technology, AI, digital accessibility, the network and much more. You’ll find helpful tech tips from our talented team, security advice to keep your accounts safe, and stories about innovation that drive our mission forward.  

Thank you for reading and being part of our tech journey! 

Kind regards,

Ed Aractingi
Chief Information Officer

On Tuesday, May 12, W&M IT launched a new ticketing system, Team Dynamix (TDX). You will continue to receive the same high quality support as you always have by calling 757-221-HELP, emailing support@wm.edu, and using the online chat, but beginning May 12, tickets will be created in TeamDynamix and the new support portal will be gethelp.wm.edu.

The Department of Justice has extended the ADA Title II digital accessibility compliance deadline to April 2027 for William & Mary. While we are evaluating how this may affect Virginia’s timeline, expectations remain unchanged and work towards meeting WCAG 2.1 AA standards continues as planned. This extension provides additional time to strengthen accessibility efforts thoughtfully, with a focus on sustainable, long-term improvements that better support individuals with disabilities. Updates, including any new state guidance, will be shared as they become available. Learn more on the digital accessibility website. 

William & Mary is modernizing its campus network infrastructure through major redundancy and resiliency projects designed to improve reliability and reduce outages. Recent upgrades, including new fiber pathways and plans for a redesigned network architecture, will help create a stronger, more dependable digital foundation for the university community. Read the full story. 

Teaching & Learning Applications Specialist Tanner Sirstins joined IT in April of 2025 and has already made a strong impact. In his first year, he contributed to many key initiatives across W&M, including his support with Workday training and leading the roll-out of the TeamDynamix Knowledge Base. Sirstins was recently recognized with an Inclusive Excellence Champion award for his involvement in the Digital Accessibility Working Group, reflecting his commitment to ensuring Blackboard course materials are accessible to students.  

“This summer we will be focusing on conducting a review of our tools like Panopto, planning for new and refreshed services, such as the next phase of Poll Everywhere, and developing the next academic term’s training programs to support faculty,” Sirstins explained. It’s clear that Tanner’s dedication and leadership are already making a lasting impression across IT and beyond. 

This past spring semester, IT welcomed six interns to the Student Technology Innovation Lab, W&M’s internal technology consulting team built in collaboration with the Entrepreneurship Hub and TribeCareers, where students solve real-world university challenges and turn campus into a living laboratory. 

The spring 2026 cohort included the following students: 

W&M BillTracker is a legislative intelligence dashboard that syncs with the Virginia Legislative Information System (LIS) to automatically track, classify, and prioritize bills affecting William & Mary. It delivers real-time alerts, impact assessments, and executive summaries — replacing hours of manual research and helping university leadership respond proactively to legislative developments.

PDF Accessibility Reviewer is a web-based tool that scans PDF documents for WCAG 2.1 AA compliance, flags issues, and suggests automated fixes. Its batch processing capability allows the team to audit entire document repositories at once, dramatically cutting the time spent on manual accessibility reviews across thousands of university PDFs.

Have a project you would like to partner with students to develop or want to get involved with the innovation lab? Contact ai@wm.edu for more information.  

More information regarding W&M’s policies & procedures regarding AI use at William & Mary is found on the AI website.

Introducing My AI App, a new in-house tool built with Power BI. Use it to view the AI licenses available to you, check your current access, and request additional tools as needed.  

Explore what’s available and learn how to get started.

Tell us where you are with generative AI—your input will directly guide training, tools, and support across campus. 

Learn how to efficiently set up a collaborative meeting agenda workspace within Microsoft Loop. This guide shows you how to integrate templates, manage workspace members, and share content directly into your daily workflow. 

Phishing attempts are becoming more sophisticated and no longer arrive only by email. Threat actors may also use text messages, Teams chats, phone calls, and other channels to try to trick you into sharing information or taking action. With AI making these messages more polished and convincing, it’s important to pause before responding to unexpected or urgent requests. Always verify the legitimacy of the sender through a trusted method, avoid clicking suspicious links, and report anything that seems unusual. Strong passwords and good judgment remain two of your best defenses.  

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