IT Change Freeze in Support of Instruction: Aug. 2-9 and Aug. 19-30

July 31, 2024

IT Colleagues and Campus Partners,

As we prepare to ramp up technical support for instruction during the summer sessions final exam period and the beginning of the fall semester, we are implementing our customary IT change freezes on production changes for UC Berkeley systems. These freezes enable us to provide optimal IT service and systems performance for our campus and minimize potential disruptions during peak periods of academic activity when our services are in greater demand.

Change Freeze Dates

The end-of-summer 2024 change freeze begins on Friday, Aug. 2 at 5 p.m. and ends on Friday, Aug. 9, at 5 p.m.The Fall 2024 change freeze begins on Monday, Aug. 19, at midnight and ends on Friday, Aug. 30, at 5 p.m.

Affected Systems*

The following systems or applications are included in the freeze because they support students directly, integrate with student systems, or are used by faculty and staff who support students:

Student Information Systems (SIS)

  • CalCentral 

  • Campus Solutions

  • GT eForms

  • HigherOne / CashNet

  • Schedule Planner

  • Series25 / 25Live 

  • Slate

Student Affairs IT (SAIT)

  • Cal1Card

  • Course Approval

  • Career Center

  • Housing / Dining

Productivity & Collaboration Tools

  • Adobe

  • Box

  • Google Workspace (Gmail, Calendars, Drive, etc.)

  • Imagine / Perceptive Content (previously ImageNow)

  • MS Office

  • Zoom

Research, Teaching and Learning (RTL) Services

  • Ally

  • bCourses

  • BOA (Berkeley Online Advising)

  • Course Capture

  • Course Evaluations

  • Gradescope

  • Kaltura

  • SuiteC

  • Turnitin

Information Security Office

  • CalNet, Grouper, Single Sign On

  • EDR, Socreg, DHCP Registration

Integration (IS) Services

  • API Central

  • iHub

Communications & Network Infrastructure 

  • Border (Internet and Off Campus Connectivity)

  • Core / Backbone (campus-wide connectivity)

  • Campus Network Access - all buildings

  • Wi-Fi (Core, campus-wide)

  • VPN Infrastructure

  • Warren Hall Data Center Network

  • DNS Infrastructure

  • Load Balancers

  • Campus Firewalls

  • Warren Hall Data Center Firewalls

  • Voice/PBX/ACD - all buildings

*Important: Other production environments that impact student systems may be added to this list, as needed.

IT Change Freeze Exception Process

Any changes to these systems during this time should be avoided. If an urgent situation arises that requires a change to the above systems during the Change Freezes, IT service owners must request a formal exception process via the IT Change Advisory Board (CAB). Contact one of these CAB Managers via email to start the exception process before submitting your change ticket: Lisa Hisson, Sarah Gonzales, Scott Nemes, or Laurie Graham. 

Please note that any disruption to these supportive academic systems during the Change Freezes will result in a major incident and require additional follow-up once all systems have been restored. Thank you for helping us ensure we provide the best IT services to students and the campus community as we start the academic year.


Kind regards,

Tracy Shinn

Associate Vice Chancellor for IT and Chief Information Officer