Northwestern University Information Technology Services: Empowering the University Community
Northwestern University Information Technology (NUIT) Services plays a vital role in supporting the academic, research, and administrative functions of the university. By providing a wide range of technology, tools, and support, NUIT empowers students, faculty, and staff to excel in their respective endeavors. This article delves into the various aspects of NUIT, highlighting its services, initiatives, and ongoing efforts to enhance the technological landscape of Northwestern University.
Providing Essential Technology and Support
The Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) provides the technology, tools, and support that power Northwestern State University’s academic, administrative, and student experiences. The University grants access to technology resources by the use of a University Account. Campus staff may use the links to the right to access Banner services. Below you will find resources designed to introduce you to the Banner interface.
Protecting University Data and Infrastructure
Information Security Governance and Risk Management
The Information Security Office (ISO) has established a new team to oversee security related to data risks and compliance. The Information Security Governance and Risk Management team is positioned to serve as a resource not only to Northwestern IT teams but also to distributed IT units across the schools, divisions, and research centers, as well as to faculty, staff, and administrative partners who require guidance on data protection and compliance expectations.
Strengthening Cybersecurity with 1Password
As part of Northwestern’s continued commitment to bolster cybersecurity across campuses, Northwestern Information Technology is introducing 1Password as a campus-wide password management service, with availability beginning October 9, 2025.
Guidance on the Use of Generative AI
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) offers the potential for new capabilities in research, education, and productivity. Understand what to look for when adopting these tools to ensure the intended use is met and University data is protected.
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Enhancing AI Skills with Copilot Chat
Microsoft’s Copilot Chat, available at no cost to all Northwestern students, faculty, and staff, offers a secure and intuitive AI assistant that can support learning, research, and administrative work across campus. Explore Northwestern‑specific examples and quick video resources to help you work more efficiently with AI.
Protecting Mobile Devices from Extreme Temperatures
Electronic devices are sensitive to environmental conditions, and exposure to harsh temperatures may lead to reduced battery life, malfunctioning screens, and even permanent hardware failure. The Northwestern Knowledge Base offers guidance and best practices to help you keep your cell phone, tablet, and laptop computer safe and functional.
Infrastructure and Maintenance
Network Infrastructure Updates
Northwestern Information Technology will be making a software configuration change to the wired network infrastructure at the location in the title. There will be a brief interruption, less than 1 minute as the change is made. This work is being performed to enable Network Authentication on the infrastructure. Devices that do not support Network Authentication will continue to operate normally. Additional information about the refresh project can be found at the following link.
Northwestern Information Technology will be updating hardware for the campus Domain Name System (DNS), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol(DHCP) and Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers.
Northwestern Information Technology will be performing maintenance on network infrastructure at the locations listed below This change is to apply vendor-recommended best practice configurations for network loop protection. Network connectivity for each site, including VoIP phone, wireless, and wired services, will have a brief outage of about 5-10 seconds during the given time frame.
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Two-Way Radio Maintenance
Our vendor will be performing Two-Way Radio Maintenance at the following locations; Schapiro Hall, Henry Crown Sports Complex, North Campus Parking ,Ryan Walter Athletics, EV tunnels, Simpson Querrey.
Power Shutdown for Electrical Maintenance
To support a Facilities capital project, and to provide safe conditions for electrical maintenance, the power will be shutdown for 1 hour, from 4:30am - 5:30am on Wednesday 3/4.This shutdown is specific to the areas listed below. It does not impact red receptacles or lights for animal rooms/suites. Please shutdown/unplug computers or any special equipment Tuesday end-of-shift.Ground Level-Passenger Elevator #9 (only serves Level 1 and Level 1M)-All of Slice pizza kitchen receptacle power, including the reach-in refrigerators/freezer and walk-in cooler.
NUFinancials Upgrade
The myHR system will undergo scheduled maintenance in order to apply Tax Update 26-A. What This Means • Functionality - The system components and capabilities you currently enjoy on myHR will continue to function after the upgrade as they do now. Your user experience will be unchanged. Before logging into myHR after the update, users will need to clear their cache. • Data Availability - During the downtime, data lookup will remain available to administrators in the myHR reporting database. on Saturday, March 14th, 2026.
As a reminder, the upgrade is part of a project to ensure NUFinancials is up-to-date with Oracle enhancements, patches, and fixes. This upgrade will make the process of identifying and solving new problems quicker and more efficient. And also, it will significantly accelerate the delivery of new capabilities into our business to stay current and improve the overall user experience. Upgrading to: PeopleTools environment 8.62.07, PUMs -52, 53, 54 Post-Upgrade Notes:• Before logging into NUFinancials after the upgrade, all users need to clear their browser cache.• If there are changes in the functionality/look & feel, training documents will get updated accordingly. Kindly check the NUFinancials training documents if in case of any questions.• Users may notice changes to the look and feel
SolarWinds Performance
Northwestern Information Technology has identified an issue causing degraded performance for SolarWinds (Server Management). Please be advised that SolarWinds will experience a brief period of unavailability as services are restarted to remediate ongoing performance degradation.
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Chicago Palo Alto Departmental Firewalls Upgrade
Northwestern Information Technology will be performing a software upgrade to the Chicago Palo Alto Departmental firewalls on the Chicago Campus listed below. The firewalls are being upgraded to install new software that brings them up to the latest vendor-recommended version and also protects us from recently released security vulnerabilities. Standalone firewalls will be down for around 5-10 minutes during the reboot.
Network Connectivity Issues at the Chicago Campus
Northwestern University IT has completed investigating the network connectivity issues at the Chicago campus.
Troubleshooting Errors on Connections Between Equipment
Northwestern Information Technology will be performing maintenance on network equipment which filters traffic between the internet and campus. This work is being performed to troubleshoot errors on connections between equipment.
High-Performance Computing
Northwestern University provides a high-performance computing cluster, Quest, for its researchers. The cluster is design…The documentation platform provides a single, user-friendly resource for in-depth information and tutorials on Quest, Research Data Storage Service, Globus, and more.
Events and Training
Quest Orientation (Virtual)
Northwestern University provides a high-performance computing cluster, Quest, for its researchers. The cluster is design…
Research Computing and Data Drop-in Support
Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G.
Addressing and Resolving Service Interruptions
Duo Multi-factor Authentication Issue
Northwestern is impacted by an issue affecting Duo Multi-factor Authentication. When attempting to authenticate with Duo, users are experiencing a 504 timeout message. Services that use WebSSO are not impacted. The vendor is working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.
Wired, Wireless, and Telephone Services Interruption
Northwestern Information Technology is monitoring the recovery of wired, wireless, and telephone services for the first floor E wing of the Technological Institute. Northwestern Information Technology is investigating an issue causing a service interruption to the wired, wireless, and telephone services on the first floor E wing of the Technological Institute.
Additional Resources
Clearing your browser cache and cookies is an important first step for almost any troubleshooting for internet browsing. The ‘cache’ is a tool used by your internet browser to speed up the page loading process. If you are using Internet Explorer, Edge, Google Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox you can quickly clear cache with a keyboard shortcut.
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