Dear Colleagues:
This month, we're highlighting a major milestone in UCLA's Network Unification program, an important step toward building a more modern, reliable and resilient campus network for our community.
As technology continues to evolve across our campus, I remain committed to sharing updates on the initiatives and partnerships that support UCLA's digital priorities. This issue also includes progress on several efforts underway to strengthen the technology environment that serves our campus community.
Thank you for your continued partnership as we advance UCLA's digital priorities and support the success of our campus community.
Best,
Lucy Avetisyan, Associate Vice Chancellor & Chief Information Officer
Featured Update
UCLA Marks Major Milestone in Campus Network Unification
UCLA just laid the groundwork for its network of the future. The Network Unification project successfully completed the build of a new network core and pilot of campus deployment. This marks a major milestone toward a more modern, reliable and resilient campus network. Approximately 75% of the new network backbone is now live and nine telecommunications rooms have connected campus spaces to the new network. This pilot upgraded 21 general academic classrooms across four campus buildings just in time for Fall, including next-generation Wi-Fi, with minimal impact to campus operations.
Key Initiatives
Advancing One IT
As the Discovery phase concludes, One IT is entering the Design phase, marking the next step in UCLA's technology transformation. Over the past year, IT Unit Leads (ITULs), IT Consolidation Leads (ITCLs), Working Groups and campus partners have worked together to build a comprehensive understanding of UCLA's technology landscape and identify opportunities to improve service delivery, strengthen cybersecurity, and enhance the digital experience across campus. Building on this foundation, the Design phase will focus on developing a future-state operating model, in partnership with campus stakeholders, that supports a more unified, secure, and efficient technology environment.
Safeguarding Our Technology Environment
In alignment with UC Office of the President requirements, UCLA Information Security is launching an effort to replace the current campus endpoint detection and response (EDR) product. Beginning in August, a campuswide project will kick off to transition the current EDR product, Trellix HX, with Crowdstrike Falcon. Crowdstrike is an industry leader in the cybersecurity space and will provide greater detection and protection capabilities, helping to ensure the security of all university-owned systems. A phased rollout will be introduced in partnership with campus IT organizations to pilot and replace Trellix with Crowdstrike through June 2027.
Building a Unified Network
UCLA's Network Unification (NU) program hit three major milestones in July 2026 — completing the core infrastructure build, representing 75% of all backbone upgrades, executing Telecommunications Room (TR) Pilot migrations and next-generation wireless upgrades across four campus buildings, and launching the first phase of the Device Registration Portal — all accelerating progress toward a modern, reliable, and resilient campus network.
Supporting Digital Accessibility
Digital accessibility efforts continue to advance across UCLA, with several important milestones achieved this month. The Digital Accessibility Steering Committee is welcoming new co-chairs, nominations are being accepted for IT Accessibility Policy (ITAPP) roles, and the Action Risk Teams have launched office hours while continuing to evaluate PDF remediation tools.
Strengthening Financial Aid and Student Support
Bruin Financial Aid (BFA) has reached its one-year milestone since launch and continues to strengthen the systems, processes, and partnerships that support students throughout their financial aid journey at UCLA. As the program moves from implementation into a long-term operating model, teams are focused on stabilizing operations, addressing aid-year processing challenges, supporting summer 2026 awarding and disbursement activities, and preparing for evolving federal requirements.