Release 2026.04

What’s New: Your ITS Update for the 2026.04 Release

2026.04 is the release in which a multi-year effort came together. In April the Responsible Secure Computing Policy was formally approved, and ITS moved from writing policy to running a partnership program: an IT Steering Committee, an information security lead in every department, and a shared approach to classifying institutional data.

It was also the cycle in which the college built the identity and computing foundation for the next several years, evaluated a networking platform with a twenty-five-year horizon, and delivered a demanding athletics project on a very short timeline.

Key Initiatives for the Campus Community

1. Governance, Approved and Operating

• The policy passed: The Responsible Secure Computing Policy was approved in April, completing work that began with the college’s first formal security assessment. The rollout is deliberate: establish the steering committee, meet with each department, then work through data classification together.
• Designed to be light: Committee participation was scoped at two to three hours per month. ITS carries the logistics — scheduling, preparing business cases, and framing decisions — so members can spend their time on judgment rather than paperwork.
• A conversation with every department: Department sessions run through July. Each one covers the policy, identifies a security lead, and then turns to the more interesting part: a workflow conversation about where that department wants to go and how technology can get it there.
• How to reach us, simply put: If it has a circuit, connects to our network, or uses our data, let ITS consult with you to help you reach your goal. That is an invitation, not a gate — the earlier we are in the conversation, the more we can do.

2. Identity and a Modern Workplace

• A managed Google tenant: A dedicated Google Workspace environment was stood up alongside Microsoft 365, with single sign-on through both existing and cloud identity providers. Because the college holds the agreement, institutional work can be done in it with appropriate protections — something personal accounts cannot offer. Roughly 470 seats are available, rolled out to ITS first, then Advancement and Strategic Communications.
• Gemini with a support path: Accounts ship with documentation covering Gemini, AI Studio, and NotebookLM, and ITS works with each team to match the right tool to the actual task.
• Identity direction set: CMC is consolidating on cloud identity, aligned with the consortium’s direction, simplifying sign-in and strengthening protection at the same time.
• A clear path for requests: ITS built a straightforward review for language-model tools and agents — understand the use case, check the data involved against our classification standard, and find a supported way to say yes. The first request through it became the template for those that followed.
• Tested on our own work first: Before recommending these tools to anyone, ITS set a goal of using them in at least 20% of its own daily operations, always with a person reviewing the output. That started with deployment documentation and included help auditing the CLAC conference site for accessibility.

3. Academic Systems

• Continuity for the student information system: With the consortium’s platform project paused, CMC extended its current student information system for another academic year, working with the vendor and campus partners so there was no need to move mid-cycle and campus operations continued uninterrupted.
• VIA went live: The international student services platform launched in February after more than a year of work, supporting visa compliance and study requirements.
• Pathify and Interfolio kicked off: Pathify implementation began for a fall launch, starting with student focus groups. Interfolio began modernizing faculty search, replacing a custom application.
• Exam platforms, side by side: The spring electronic blue book cohort reached 160–170 students across 21 classes, while a Respondus LockDown Browser pilot ran in parallel. The two platforms suit different teaching styles, and ITS is working with faculty on which fits each course best.
• Registration support: When a vendor issue affected how paired lecture and lab sections were flagged, ITS worked with the Registrar to identify every affected student individually and set up a weekly outreach so no one missed a required section while the fix was prepared.

4. Athletics and Capital Projects

• A fast-turnaround delivery for CMS Tennis: An electronic line-calling system was required in place for the tournament season on a very short timeline. ITS delivered it — power to the court, wireless coverage, a dedicated network, and firewall configuration — coordinating an international vendor and drawing on spare inventory to hold the date. The faculty sponsor called the result “a game changer,” and the system has run without issue since. It is a good example of what the team can do when a partner brings us a hard deadline.
• Sports Bowl moved to construction: The purchase order was released and the base network ordered. A wireless coverage survey was completed across the site, and the scope includes a full fiber build across 77 acres. Camera placement was refined to suit the parking structure’s construction, and emergency phone integration was coordinated with Public Safety and the architects. Roof pours began in April against a July 1 target.
• Door locks and credentials: A vendor quote was secured for the door lock replacement, summer installation scheduling began with Facilities, and the Dean of Students requested integration between the new locks and the housing system. Radio spectrum planning was carried out with the consortium so the new readers and campus wireless coexist cleanly.

Behind the Scenes: A More Resilient & Secure CMC

1. Next-Generation Networking

• A platform decision with a long horizon: ITS ran a proof of concept on a next-generation wireless platform and put it head-to-head with our incumbent, who responded with new direct-fiber access point designs. Both were asked to requote for a genuine like-for-like comparison, with lead times and total cost modeled for leadership. The decision is expected to shape campus wireless for many years.
• Better cellular coverage: A proof of concept was run for technology that carries cellular service over campus Wi-Fi in areas where signal is weak, tested with community members who know those spots best.
• Simpler wireless for everyone: The consortium is consolidating on eduroam and Claremont Guest — and eduroam now delivers full campus speeds, so there is no longer any reason to use anything else.
• Continuity work: Campus certificates were renewed ahead of expiry and network performance was tuned to improve conferencing quality across campus.

2. Platform Modernization

• A staging environment and a delivery pipeline: CMC’s web application architecture is being modernized onto a continuous integration and deployment pipeline, with a dedicated staging environment so changes are proven before they reach the community — architected so that containerization is available as the platform grows.
• Virtualization options: ITS invested in hands-on experience with an alternative virtualization platform, keeping CMC’s options open as the market continues to shift.
• Endpoint management evaluated: A modern endpoint management platform is under evaluation, with the assessment doubling as our review against current NIST guidance for endpoint detection and response.
• Storage and recovery: Storage systems were assessed for consolidation to reduce cost, and a disaster recovery direction was set using existing storage with cloud-hosted failover.

3. Security and Compliance

• A HIPAA-compliant workstation, and a template: A compliant workstation was delivered for a research institute, with device management, layered authentication, full logging, and a clear user agreement. The configuration was captured as a reusable template so future HIPAA workstations can be built to the same standard quickly.
• Rapid response to industry advisories: When a widely used developer tool was the subject of a security advisory, ITS scoped the campus impact, confirmed it was limited, and issued clear version guidance the same week.
• Impersonation protection extended: Additional protection was configured for senior leadership addresses across the consortium, making impersonation attempts easier to catch.
• Change review that catches things early: ITS review of proposed web and DNS changes during the cycle prevented service interruptions before they reached the community — the quiet value of having ITS in the loop.
• Account lifecycle: A storage usage review led to a cleaner provisioning model and a lifecycle approach for accounts as people move from student to alumni.
• Mail routing corrected: A mail routing issue affecting a subset of student addresses was identified, corrected, and communicated ahead of thesis and finals.
• Emerging regulatory requirements: ITS began cataloging hardware to meet new California materials-disclosure requirements, working from vendor documentation.

4. Looking Over the Horizon

• Watching how capability shifts change security: ITS is tracking how rapidly advancing machine capability changes the security landscape — phishing that reads as genuine, synthetic voice and video — and is reviewing our own dependencies and contingency planning accordingly.
• Supporting exam integrity: As wearable technology becomes more capable, ITS is working with academic leadership on practical options for supporting faculty in exam environments.

Looking Ahead: ITS Priorities for the 2026.08 Release Cycle

2026.08 is a delivery-and-transition cycle: a new athletics complex opens, a new president arrives, the governance program meets the whole campus, and CMC hosts the consortium’s annual conference.

• Open the Sports Bowl: Complete the fiber, wireless, camera, and access infrastructure against a July 1 opening.
• Launch the IT Steering Committee: Confirm membership, hold the inaugural meeting, and complete the department-by-department engagement cycle.
• Support the presidential transition: Deliver technology onboarding for the incoming president and any associated data migration.
• Ship the service platforms: Pathify student hub beta, Interfolio launch, a knowledge base in early access, and the physical asset inventory.
• Host CLAC 2026: Welcome the consortium’s annual conference to our campus in June.