September 2025

IT News for All of Notre Dame

Important Adobe Announcements
Introducing Zoom AI Companion
AI, Information Security & Change Managements Classes
What's new with Canvas and Google

Adobe Announcements

🔁 Adobe CC Pro Access: Renew by Oct. 1

REMINDER:

If you use Adobe Creative Cloud Pro apps like InDesign, Premiere Pro, Illustrator, or Audition for your work at Notre Dame, you must renew your license by Oct. 1 to keep access.

What to do:

🎨 Submit your renewal using this form

💳 Include a FOAPAL (cost: $120 annually)

⏳ Deadline: Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2025

Why it matters:

Without renewal, your access to specialized Adobe apps will be paused—interrupting your creative work.

What happens next:

Once your request is processed, you’ll retain uninterrupted access to all Creative Cloud Pro tools and files—no reinstall or migration needed.

🔁 Remember: This license must be renewed annually.

✨ Free Adobe Tools You Can Use

All active faculty and staff have free access to Adobe Acrobat Pro and Adobe Express—two powerful tools that cover most document, design, and media needs at Notre Dame. (Students get Express, too!)

What's included:

🖋️ Adobe Acrobat Pro

The full-featured PDF solution for:

Creating and editing forms
Securing and signing documents
Collaborating and commenting on PDFs

🎨 Adobe Express

An all-in-one design tool for:

Creating flyers, social graphics, and videos
Using built-in templates and AI-powered tools
Sharing visual content with ease—no design degree required

Why it matters:

If you don’t need apps like InDesign or Premiere Pro, Acrobat Pro and Express likely provide everything you need—at no cost to you or your department.

To use Acrobat Pro or Express, you must first activate each tool:

You will have access upon activation
Any existing files stored in your Adobe account stay right where they are

🤖 Use the Built-in Zoom AI Companion for Smarter Meetings

Zoom AI Companion is now available to help you take notes, track action items, and recap meetings—without needing third-party tools.

Using built-in Zoom AI is the preferred alternative to using unapproved services like Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai—which pose serious data privacy and security risks.

Zoom AI Companion features

📝 Real-time transcriptions: Follow the conversation with live captions.
🧠 Smart summaries: Get a post-meeting recap with decisions and to-dos.
📊 Participation insights: See how engaged the group was.
❓ Catch up fast: Ask questions to get clarity—without interrupting.

How to use it

With AI Companion is enabled, you’ll see a small AI icon in your Zoom meeting.
Click it to activate features (if you're the host), or to view what's active as a participant.

Learn more about Zoom AI Companion.

💡 You Control Your ND Directory Info

🕵️‍♂️ Did You Know...

You can review and update your privacy settings in the ND Directory anytime to reflect their personal preferences.

The public-facing People Search on search.nd.edu shows basic directory info—like name and department. Clicking “Details” routes visitors to your full profile on directory.nd.edu.

What you can do

✅ Log in at directory.nd.edu

✅ Review your visibility settings

✅ Choose what’s shown publicly (or not shown)

AI for the ND Community Course

AI for the Notre Dame Community is a new on-demand, non-credit course developed at Notre Dame. It is aimed at helping students navigate tools like Google Gemini, ChatGPT, and Dall-E responsibly and effectively.

This course is consistent with Notre Dame’s Generative AI Policy for Students and instructors’ ability to set AI policies for their own courses and assignments. It also is designed to help students understand:

The distinction between using AI to support academic work
How they can rely on AI to complete academic work
The pedagogical and disciplinary reasons why instructors may set boundaries around AI use

Notre Dame instructors are welcome to access the course at any time and draw on its content as they see fit. View Class Details.

🌊 Change Management Beneath the Waves - Lessons from the Submarine Fleet

Change is rarely smooth sailing, but it can be navigated with clarity, resilience, and relentless communication. In this session, Kyle Evanchuck, PhD, will share lessons from his time in the U.S. Navy Submarine Service to show how awareness, trust, and consistent communication can guide teams through transformation.

Wednesday, October 8, 2025
10:00 A.M. - 10:45 A.M.
Join - CM CoP

🛠️ Mac & Windows OS Patches:
Keep Your Computer On Overnight Oct. 3

Some University-managed Windows devices will receive a major update early Saturday, Oct. 4. This patch supports upcoming changes to Windows 10 and 11 support.

Why it matters:

Microsoft will end support for Windows 10 on Oct. 14. Some versions of Windows 11 will no longer be supported after Nov. 11.

To stay secure, machines flagged for these updates will begin patching at 2 a.m. on Oct. 4 and may take forty-five minutes to two hours to complete.

What to do:

Keep your device powered on overnight Friday, Oct. 3
Check with the Service Desk if you're unsure whether your device is affected
Plan around this timing if you're typically working late or traveling
Run the update at any time that’s convenient by following these instructions.

Heads up: This is part of our regular Patch Saturday cycle—with extra updates added to make things easier for you. If you have an updated Windows or MacOS machine, it's still a good idea to keep your device powered on for the regular patches that take place during this maintenance.

📞 Need help or want to verify your status?

Contact the Service Desk:

servicenow.nd.edu | 574-631-8111 | servicedesk@nd.edu

Thanks for doing your part to help keep the University more secure.

Get Ready for Annual Cybersecurity Awareness Training!

As National Cybersecurity Awareness Month nears, the Information Security team is gearing up for the annual rollout of Cybersecurity Awareness training.

This year's training will cover several topics, including phishing, password hygiene, MFA, social engineering, AI and PII data handling. Watch for a message from Information Security in early October to access your training assignment!

🎉 New Account Security Standard Has Been Published

The new Account Security Standard has been published. It consolidates guidance and replaces the Strong Password Standard, Privileged Account Standard, and netID Standard. Learn More.

Canvas News

Does Your Canvas Grade Scale Match Your Syllabus?

Canvas assumes a basic grade scale that may not match the one used in your department or class. If you use letter grades or display total grades in your course, make sure the little variances between an A- and B+ have been accounted for so you display an accurate grade to your students. View Guide.

Respondus LockDown Browser Available for Canvas Tests

Respondus LockDown Browser is a tool that prevents students from accessing outside websites, and chats a computer's built-in tools while taking a test in Canvas. Instructors can schedule time in computer classrooms where this browser has been installed, or have students install the browser on their personal devices.

While Respondus can take away temptations for outside help during a test, its use brings additional considerations when designing and delivering a test. Schedule some time with the Teaching & Learning Technologies team for help getting started. Contact the Teaching
& Learning Team.

Google Tips

Google Slides:

Finally, the "nudge" tool really just nudges! Now, when using the arrow keys to “nudge” an object, it will only move by 1 pixel. If you want to move the object a larger distance, use “Shift” + arrow key. Learn more.

Google Sheets:

Get more accurate data in Google Sheets! The ISURL and ISEMAIL functions are now better at identifying valid website links and email addresses, making it easier to clean up and organize your contact lists and web resources with fewer errors. Learn more.