In a message to the university community, Rutgers health care leadership notes that “we are closely monitoring reports from national and regional health agencies concerning the coronavirus.”

Following the creation of a COVID-19 Task Force under the Office of Emergency Management, an IT working group held its first meeting about IT steps and strategy related to the pandemic. The group would continue to meet in coming weeks and months, with subgroups charged with IT areas related to working from home, remote teaching and learning, and IT systems and tools.

Rutgers announced that classes would be canceled through the end of spring break and instruction would move remote for at least the first two weeks after spring break.

Shifting to a fully remote operational status, the OIT Help Desk stayed available for standard operating hours and after-hours support through its toll-free number (833-OIT-HELP) and email.

As instructors moved to videoconferencing for class sessions, the use of BigBlueButton—a service for videoconferencing within Rutgers learning tools—increased from an average of five concurrent sessions, pre-pandemic, to as many as 130 concurrent sessions. Capacity for BigBlueButton was increased to accommodate the surge in use.

Remote teaching resources such as webinars, self-paced tutorials, and consultations were made available to faculty to ease the burden of moving to fully online instruction. Topics included instructional technologies, pedagogical best practices for teaching online, and individualized coaching for faculty.

OIT secures licenses to temporarily provide members of the university community with free, remote access to a number of important software applications, including Maple, SAS, SPSS Statistics, and others.

President Barchi announced that all in-person classes and events at Rutgers would be suspended through the end of May.

Faced with the prospect of greatly increased VPN usage from faculty and staff working remotely, OIT moved quickly to increase capacity for the Rutgers VPN more than tenfold.

IT staff provides essential guidance on when community members should use cloud-based tools (Box, Rutgers Connect, Webex) vs. the Rutgers VPN or Rutgers Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) Gateway Service to “remote control” an office computer.

In order to make remote learning possible for all students, Rutgers puts into place a number of options and programs for students in need of internet access.

The sudden move to remote work created a surge in support requests as members of the Rutgers community grappled with the new world of remote work and learning. A special channel for IT staff on the Slack messaging service helped IT staff members across Rutgers route and resolve support requests efficiently.

Due to changes in university operating status and the state “Stay at Home” order, all OIT-operated computer labs closed.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed an executive order that banned social gatherings and closed establishments in the state for in-person service.

With a reported increase in cyber threats during the pandemic, OIT offered tips to avoid scams like unemployment fraud, phishing, social media exploits, and others.

The university secures free software licenses for Adobe Creative Cloud for Rutgers students, faculty, and staff through May 31, 2020.

When the pandemic spurred the transition to remote work, many staff members needed laptops to work from home. Rutgers quickly procured and distributed more than 800 devices despite a global shortage.

The shift to cloud technologies and tools in recent years, for everything from videoconferencing to file storage and collaboration, played a considerable role in allowing the university to pivot to remote work so quickly.

With computers in on-campus computer labs and other locations left unused, IT staff members connected the devices to a research consortium testing potential COVID-19 treatments.

Computers, smartphones, and tablets replaced the doctor’s office for many patients at Rutgers health care locations, as telemedicine is used as a way to keep patients at home.

More than 36,000 participants used Webex on this day, at the height of the spring COVID-19 surge in New Jersey, whereas fewer than 1,000 used Webex on a comparable pre-pandemic day.

Governor Murphy unveiled a multi-stage coronavirus reopening plan and announced that the state was entering the initial stage, which relaxed restrictions on low-risk activities.

With computer labs closed under COVID-19 restrictions, OIT introduced virtual computer labs with access to lab software from anywhere, anytime.

A major effort to pivot from original in-person plans, completed in a matter of weeks, allowed Rutgers graduates to be celebrated with a virtual commencement.

The Rutgers IT website showcases technology resources like web conferencing, cloud storage, and free software to provide an easily accessed spot to help with continued remote learning, instruction, and work.

President Holloway announced plans for most classes to be delivered remotely, with limited in-person instruction, for fall 2020.

To many, Zoom is a central part of the pandemic experience, and Rutgers launched Zoom for the university community to provide free accounts to students, faculty, and staff.

OIT upgraded wireless services in several locations and installed wireless services in outdoor campus locations and parking lots to facilitate COVID testing.

In an effort to help first-year students with the challenges of largely remote learning, Rutgers–Newark and Rutgers–New Brunswick distributed more than 8,000 customized iPads.

Webex and Zoom were integrated within Canvas to provide new options of synchronous meeting applications for Rutgers instructors.

A guide for repopulating OIT workspaces that complements the universitywide plan is introduced. The OIT Return to Rutgers plan covers a variety of issues, including enacting operational plans, controlling building access and circulation, and preparing staff.

Curbside printing allows faculty, staff, and students to send documents remotely to print, with pickup available in select locations.

Instructors are offered resources and guidance for handling Zoombombing and other class disruptions.

In collaboration with the university’s medical experts, OIT created My Campus Pass and Rutgers Visitors Log to allow self-screening of health symptoms and to gather data for contact tracing of those on campus.

Moderna, which conducted some of its COVID-19 vaccine trials at New Jersey Medical School and University Hospital, said that early data indicates the vaccine is 94.5 percent effective. Pfizer also released data from COVID-19 vaccine trials a week earlier that suggest its vaccine is 90 percent effective.

The Pfizer vaccine first became available for healthcare workers, while the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines would be issued shortly after.

Rutgers was instrumental in medical research group Folding@Home’s work in finding COVID treatments, providing processor power from student computer labs, an OARC supercomputer, and other departments.

Rutgers University announced it will require the COVID-19 vaccine for students who are enrolled for the 2021 fall semester.

Rutgers Today told the story of how the university’s essential workers, including some who work in IT, played a crucial role in keeping Rutgers running during the pandemic.

Community members could receive the COVID-19 vaccine at clinics in Camden, Newark, and Piscataway.

The Class of 2021 was celebrated virtually, marking the second consecutive commencement that required a pivot from the usual in-person celebration.

President Holloway wrote a letter to the Rutgers community announcing plans for employees to start returning to in-person work on July 6 after more than a year of remote operations.

To facilitate a return to in-person work, Rutgers IT provided a checklist that included important technology-related reminders and tips for employees to keep in mind when heading back to campus.