To the university community:

The loss of internet access and other business functions across the University of Michigan community cast an unfortunate cloud over an otherwise sunny and glorious start to the academic year.

Despite this setback, our campuses were alive Monday with a wide array of activities as students greeted each other, faculty members took their places in classrooms and researchers returned to their labs across our three-campus community.

I want to thank each and every one of you – students, faculty, staff, parents and visitors – for your diligence and your patience as we work to resolve this situation and restore access to online services and, ultimately, full internet access to our campus communities.

Faculty have adjusted their plans for their classrooms to account for the loss of internet access on our campuses.

Staff have seamlessly shifted to working remotely or come to campus to welcome and assist students as they make their way from one side of campus to another.

Our Information and Technology Services teams, working together with leading cybersecurity service providers, are working tirelessly to resolve this disruption and I want to personally thank them for their dedication to this critical effort. Already they have restored an impressive array of online tools that are accessible and functional through off-campus internet connections.

The investigative work into the security issue continues. As noted in Monday’s message to the community, our U-M Division of Public Safety and Security and federal law enforcement partners are involved in this investigation.

While we will continue to share as much information as possible as this work progresses, we are not able to share any information that might compromise the investigation. I appreciate your understanding as we move through the investigative process.

Thank you again for your patience and contributions.

Santa J. Ono
President