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Features, News

Course evaluations explored

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By Olivia Krauth–

As the semester ends, every student receives emails reminding them to fill out their course evaluations. While every student is alerted of them, few understand the process behind the evaluations.

According to Becky Patterson, executive director of the Office of Institutional Research and Planning, the process begins 14 to 17 days prior to reading day. Students begin to receive emails about filling out their evaluations, and are able to do so via Blackboard.

Evaluations close on reading day and are available to faculty seven to 10 days after they have posted their final grades. Faculty can see responses from students, but are unable to see any identifying information.  In situations where classes have less than five students, all classes will be pooled to create a faculty report to prevent linking.

All results are confidential, with limited reports available to the program chairs. Deans and other authoritative members of the colleges are also able to see some of the reports.

The course evaluations allow professors to receive specific feedback from students. “Real changes have been made based on comments,” said Bob Goldstein, vice provost for institutional research. “Faculty take them seriously.”

Patterson says there is a 55 to 60 percent response rate, with higher response rates coming from the Kent School of Social Work and professional schools.

Goldstein believes that the timing of course evaluations does not help increase the response rate, citing the end of the semester crunch for the issues.

“It is hard on all of us to be honest with you,” said Goldstein on the end of the semester timing.

News

Grawemeyer Award winners visit campus

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By Nick Miller–

Four months after the winners were announced, four of the Grawemeyer Award winners spoke on campus this past week, each discussing their winning topics.

The Grawemeyer Awards are given in five fields: psychology, improving world order, musical composition, education and religion. Each award comes with $100,000 prize.

The winners for musical composition, education, improving world order and psychology spoke on campus, while religion winner Tanya Luhrmann presented at the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Here’s the rundown on the four on-campus speakers:

Djuro Zivkovic – Musical Composition

Djuro Zivkovic was the first award winner to speak. He discussed his award-winning chamber orchestra piece, “On the Guarding of the Heart.”

“The piano acts as a guide for the confused thoughts and soul represented in the orchestra,” said Zivkovic. “I also like to start with a non-musical idea and then paint it with sound.”

Zivkovic says his two previous compositions inspired him to compose the winning piece.

“These awards are worth so much, you know the person getting it really deserves it,” said freshman attendee Travis Baker.

Diane Ravitch – Education 

Diane Ravitch talked about her winning book, “The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choices are Undermining Education,” when she gave her 2014 Grawemeyer Award lecture on education.

Ravitch served in the US Department of Education during the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations. After realizing her reforms weren’t working, she humbly admitted she was wrong, and authored the winning book.

“I saw what was happening. I saw that the ideas that I had previously supported weren’t working,” said Ravitch.

“Diane has showed us all that the word reform just no longer holds any meaning, that we should stop seeking reform, this meaningless shell of a word, and now seek improvement,” said a co-speaker at the lecture.

Antonio Damasio – Psychology

Antonio Damasio won the 2014 Grawemeyer Award for psychology for his research and insight into the somatic marker.

“[Damasio] has directly contributed to the study of emotion, communication, and even drug addiction,” said award director Woody Petry.

Damasio, a professor of psychology, is heavily involved in the international community of psychology, and continues offering his experience into his field.

“I’m pleased to see my ideas recognized by this award,” said Damasio. “This award has been given to some of my colleagues that I admire most.”

“I have actually wrote a paper on the somatic marker hypothesis before,” said senior psychology major Alexander Bowman. “It is really exciting to actually be this close to something I have invested myself in.”

Jacques Hymans – Improving World Order

Jacques Hymans, winner of the 2014 Grawemeyer Award for improving world order, discussed the problem of international nuclear policy during his April 15 lecture. He received the award for his 2012 book, “Achieving Nuclear Ambitions: Scientists, Politicians, and Proliferation.”

“What’s interesting, is to look at the states that try to get nuclear weapons,” said Hymans, an associate professor of international relations at the University of Southern California. “They are, more often than not, the states that are completely unprepared to handle a major, big science project.”

“Some people just can’t be controlled, you know? Some people just kind of have no limit. And then, sometimes, those people lead a country. That’s when things can get bad,” said economics major Brian Yap.

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News

IT audit finds holes in disaster recovery plan

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By Simon Isham—

One flood on U of L’s campus could erase your academic career. A recent university audit of IT’s disaster recovery plan raised serious questions about how recoverable the university’s data is in the event of an emergency.

U of L performs regular offsite data backups. But opinions differ on how long it would take to restore the information.

A current U of L IT employee familiar with the data center in Miller IT Center said there are flaws in the university’s disaster recovery program. Because the employee fears retaliation from IT leadership and is not legally protected from such retaliation, the Cardinal has chosen not to publish the employee’s name. Earlier this year, current and former IT employees accused the department of discrimination.

“If there is flooding (in the data center), certain software will not be able to be restored,” the employee said. “If there were a fire tomorrow, it would take a month at best to get your services running again.”

Blackboard and ULink, the employee said, could be back up and running in one week’s time. PeopleSoft, a human resources management system, would take a month minimum. There are also several other programs on these computers that would require restoration.

“Imagine if something happened in the middle of final exams. Wouldn’t you, as a student, be angry?” the employee said.

Vice President for IT Dr. Priscilla Hancock refuted this information.

“Since all university systems are replicated offsite, they are recoverable and will be recovered in the event of a disaster. The length of time depends upon the amount of data to be restored. We anticipate Blackboard and PeopleSoft to be restored within 72 hours. Student email would not be impacted because it is stored offsite so there would be no loss of service,” she said.

“I’d say (72 hours) is fairly typical for a full disaster recovery situation when a hot site strategy is not affordable. As I understand it, U of L contracts with a vendor to provide off-site (disaster recovery) services. This approach leverages the expertise of DR specialists and utilizes their backup data centers at a lower cost than maintaining our own hot site somewhere. This plan would only be executed under major disaster circumstances, however,” said Dr. Andrew Wright, assistant professor of computer information systems at U of L.

The university has a contract with IBM in Sterling Park, N. Y. to provide off-site disaster recovery services. “All servers and systems located in the Miller IT Data Center can take advantage of these disaster recovery capabilities,” the U of L disaster recovery site reports.

The last audit of IT’s disaster recovery plan was completed November  2013. A report of the findings was submitted to IT and university administration in March.  It was filed by Senior Auditor Barry Scott and Director of Audit Services Cheri Jones. The Cardinal obtained a copy of the report via FOIA request.

The audit says a member of IT staff present at the IBM backup facility could not access any of the data backups over the facility’s network. Scott noted that “This issue was addressed by alternative procedures, but will require resolution prior to the next recovery exercise.”

Of this issue, Hancock said, “The problem was fixed during the disaster recovery test. This is why we do the test.”

Scott identified two issues which he marked as “high priority” in the audit report.

The report said that in December of 2009, a prior audit noted the department was not reviewing and updating its disaster recovery plan on a regular, scheduled basis. In response, at the time, IT agreed to perform a review of the disaster recovery plan four times per year.

The 2013 audit found that the plan still included:

  • Mentions of a former backup facility, but no mention of the current IBM backup facility
  • References to technologies that the university no longer uses
  • No references to application upgrades or changes since 2009
  • Administrative contact lists containing the names and contact details of people who no longer work for the university, including the tax-evading former Dean of Education Robert Felner

“The lack of updated documentation suggests that a periodic review of the disaster recovery strategy and plan is not being performed as recommended in the December 2009 audit report,” Scott wrote.

When asked why the plan was not updated as scheduled, Hancock said, “Portions of the plan have been updated on a regular basis. However, there were areas that were not updated and should have been. We are currently updating those areas and expect to have this completed by September.”

The IT department responded in the report that it would update the information and review the disaster recovery plan by Sept. 30, 2014.

Scott also found that the tests performed in November were not extensive enough to ensure reliable data recovery.

“While it appears the exercise did achieve the objectives of the test plan,” Scott wrote, “the limited scope does not provide attestation to successful recovery of the university’s critical enterprise systems and applications during a disaster event.”

He recommended that disaster recovery testing strategy be expanded to include the most critical systems and applications, and should include a double-check by data-users to make sure the backup worked. The IT department should also prioritize the systems and applications that are most vital to the operations of the university.

The IT department responded that it would also address this issue by Sept. 30.

“This was an adequate test for it being the first disaster recovery test at a new site with a new vendor. We are expanding the number of systems that will be tested in our next annual disaster recovery exercise. Priorities were already in place and are now being reviewed on an annual basis,” Hancock said when asked about this issue.

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Ramsey holds budget forum

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By Jacob Abrahamson–

Students may have a five percent tuition increase next year due to the statewide budget cuts to higher education.

President James Ramsey discussed the potential increase and the cuts at an open forum on U of L’s budget on April 17.

“It is not a good budget, it is a bad budget,” said Ramsey, referring to the cuts that the university is forced to make.

Ramsey said that the budget cuts have been handled in order to minimize harm to the university. “We want to avoid layoffs to the maximum degree possible,” he said.

“We do not disagree with them,” said Provost Shirley Willihnganz of those who say tuition increases are unsustainable.  “This just cannot keep happening every year.”

Ramsey said that despite the cuts, the U of L budget will be balanced.

“Unlike the Commonwealth of Kentucky, we are structurally balanced,” said Ramsey.

The Floyd Theater was nearly full of students for the discussion.

One representative of the medical school expressed concern over a lack of need-based scholarships in graduate schools, saying that the amount of debt held by students contributed to the medical school’s recent probation.

“It is hard to raise money,” responded Ramsey.  “Undergraduate scholarships are much easier to raise than graduate scholarships.”

Other questions discussed the process of cutting academic units going forward.

“We will work together to figure out how to get this over time,” said Willihnganz, encouraging academic unit leaders to take their time in cutting their budgets.

Going forward, the university is still in the process of finalizing the budget and tuition increases.

“We want to be open and transparent,” said Ramsey.  “We want to try and answer whatever question and have whatever discussion.”

 

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Micro-factory coming to campus

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By Olivia Krauth–

U of L announced that a micro-factory will be opening on campus this summer.

The FirstBuild micro-factory will using manufacturing capabilities to “accelerate the introduction of the products consumers want, when they want them,” according to a press release.

“The micro-factory will be a place where engineers, researchers, design experts, students and members of the community can work together to create and refine appliances,” said John Karman. “The process is designed to be quicker and more cost-effective than typical mass production.”

The project will be co-funded by General Electrics, U of L and Local Motors.

“GE developed this micro-factory concept and is partnering with Local Motors and U of L,” said Karman. “Products developed at the micro-factory will be sold there. If those products find a market, they could be reproduced at Appliance Park.”

Taking over what used to be a university warehouse on Brandeis Ave., the micro-factory will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Anyone, including students, can sign up to be involved in the project by visiting Firstbuild.com.

“It is really good for the school,” said junior mechanical engineering major Drew Miller. “Not only does it get our name out to GE, but it gets our name out to other big businesses as a reputable school.”

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News

Incoming CEHD dean talks about the future

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By Olivia Krauth–

After multiple rounds of interviews and approval from the U of L Board of Trustees, Ann Larson has been selected to be the next dean of the College of Education and Human Development.

Starting as an assistant professor at U of L in 1996, Larson has worked her way to her current position of Vice Dean of CEHD, which she has held for six years. Larson believes her experience at the university and as vice dean will benefit her when she starts as dean.

“I’ve learned a great deal about the academic affairs and programs side of the work,” said Larson. “I’ve learned a lot about working with central administration and the other associate deans on campus.” Larson says she also plans on using her knowledge of U of L’s strategic vision in her new role.

The CEHD is home to more than 3,000 students and six departments, which include the teacher education and health and sports science programs.

“We have a very good reputation with community engagement working in schools and community venues,” said Larson. “Our students get a lot of applied experiences with internships, practicum, and critical work. We’ll continue to build on that, that good work, that reputation that we’ve built.”

Larson will begin in the position on July 1. She says that having a strategic vision is important, and that she will work to develop one as one of her first acts as dean.

“We’ll be doing some strategic planning, building upon what we’ve been doing that has been working well, but adding some new priority areas.”

Specifically, Larson says that the CEHD will work on, “continuing to build our high-quality teacher and student service areas; working in authentic and engaged research; working in areas of diversity, sustainability, collaboration; and building on international opportunities for students.” She will also work with training new faculty and replacing retiring professors.

Larson cites nationwide budget cuts to higher education as the biggest challenge facing the CEHD.

“That can be a threat, but it can also be an opportunity to look carefully at what you’re doing and make sure that your programs are very strategic – that they fit in with the mission of the university, that they serve the community and the commonwealth,” said Larson, adding that the programs should be made “efficient and effective.

“With tuition increases, students want to know their program will be high quality. They want to know that they will be employed. They want to know that they will be successful in their employment and be able to compete for jobs.”

The strategic layout of the college is evident in the majors’ flight plans. Some education majors expressed discontent about not having a lot of room for electives due to their strict requirements for their majors. Larson cited both national and state accreditation standards for the lack of leeway.

“The reason for having a pretty prescribed curriculum is that it’s similar to medical school,” said Larson. “If you’re going to work in practice…there’s a certain knowledge base that you have to have. But we don’t see that as a negative.” Larson said that the college tries to assist students that feel like they need additional experience outside of their major.

Larson says that no immediate, drastic curriculum changes are planned, although the college is “always about continuous improvement.”

“The answer is, you’re always doing some of that, and that’s just part of the natural evolution of a unit,” Larson said on curriculum changes. “We want to do more with distance education. We want to do more with international experiences. We want to continue our focus on diversity equity, inclusion and access.

“It takes a little bit of time for a new dean to listen, and learn, and lead and so I look forward to doing that. In good time, I’m sure we’ll be making some changes, but not anything drastic at this point.”

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Health, News

Construction at HSC to proceed despite funding cuts

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By Simon Isham—

U of L’s medical school was recently denied funding for a new medical instructional building on the Health Sciences Campus, but Dean Toni Ganzel said this will not prevent the school from complying with the Liaison Committee on Medical Education’s verdict that the instructional facilities are inadequate.

“We didn’t depend on that to address our issue, because, quite honestly, when the LCME representatives left, they didn’t think our facilities were adequate to support a contemporary curriculum. And at that point, I said to our leadership group, ‘We are not going to get a new building in two years. It’s just physically impossible, even if they approved it today. So we really need to take a different approach. Let’s get our architects back in here and see if they can take a look at our existing building and see if we can do a major renovation in that building and accomplish the goals that we need to accomplish to really be able to support that kind of program,’” she said.

“It turned out that the whole north half of the building didn’t contain those load-bearing walls, and that allowed us to basically completely gut that on each floor, and build a wonderful new, contemporary educational space … The students had input into the design, and faculty had input, administration had input, and it was really a wonderful collaborative project. I think we are still going to need the other educational building, but I really see that now repurposed into an interprofessional educational building and conference center. But in order to meet the LCME requirements, the current renovation plan will do that.”

Ganzel said that the current renovation will be finished before students return to campus in August. The official timeline for the project has it finished by the end of July.

In March, the LCME informed the medical school that it would be placed on probation as a result of a visit by LCME reviewers in April 2013. The reviewers noted the following problems pertaining to the facilities:

  • “There were concerns with the student lounge and the library study environment. Upgrades to the student lounge were in progress at the time of the survey visit. There are plans to increase study space in the library.”
  • “… 22 percent of all students are dissatisfied with the library hours.”
  • “Both faculty and students note problems with the educational facilities. A significant proportion of the student body is dissatisfied with the lecture hall facilities due to the number of seats, an insufficient number of electrical outlets to support laptops, intermittent technology failures during educational sessions and environmental room control. Current auditoria seat 160 for (a first-year medical student) class of 164 … Faculty expressed concern about the adequacy of small group rooms.”
  • “… over 25 percent of third- and fourth-year medical students express dissatisfaction with storage space, with only 44 percent satisfied.”
  • “… only 57 percent of students were satisfied with the student lounge.”
  • “The main instructional building for the school was built in 1970 and last renovated in 2003. The team toured the facilities and concluded that the education facilities may not be adequate … The library was built in 1970 and has not been renovated since the initial construction.”
  • “The main instructional facilities for first- and second-year medical students are dated and do not provide adequate space to accommodate the entire current class size … Specific mention is made of crowding during examination situations and failed electronic facilities during class sessions. The ventilation of the anatomy laboratories is described as ‘substandard’ … The current audiovisual system frequently malfunctions.”
  • “The greatest collective concern, noted in the free text comments, regarding facilities, was the overall lack of cleanliness and maintenance, which includes excessive garbage, in study areas and restrooms, and poor maintenance of the hallways, labs, lecture halls and restrooms.”
  • “Several students expressed a desire that security surveillance cameras be placed in the instructional buildings for times of late-night studying.”

The Cardinal did not receive any of the many appendices to the report.

The Cardinal also placed an open records request with the university for any and all construction-related request for proposals for the Health Sciences Campus made the visit. An RFP is used to invite bids from contracting companies to complete specific jobs. The request yielded nine documents, two of which were related to classroom and study facilities.

HSC leadership plan to renovate the study rooms in Kornhauser Library and to construct classrooms in the School of Medicine Instructional Building. The Kornhauser RFP is dated Jan. 3, 2014. The Instructional Building RFP is undated.

In Kornhauser, the plan is to develop ”five new small group study rooms within the existing Kornhauser Health Sciences Library.” Prefabricated walls will be used to turn an open study area into the five rooms. Plans for electrical work for an 4,000 square foot open study area are also mentioned.

In the Instructional Building, the plan is to renovate “a portion” of the building. “This project will construct lecture halls and small group teaching space on the north half of the first and second floors. The total project is approximately 1,100 (net square feet) per floor.”

The RFP notes that the construction must operate on a tight timeline, from mid-May to the end of July, so that it coincides with summer class break.

Constructing an entirely new, 51,000-square foot instructional building on the HSC has been a high priority for the university for years. In its 2010-2012 plan submitted to the state legislature, the building was listed as the fourth priority and was estimated to cost $42.4 million, the full amount of which would come out of the state’s budget. The plan was denied that year, and the support requested from the general fund has only increased since.

In U of L’s 2012-2014 plan,  the building was listed as the second priority, and was estimated to cost $67 million. The size of the building had increased to 81,000 square feet, and the reason given for the increase in price was the addition of these 30,000 square feet and “inflation.” The summary of the construction, provided by the university, included:

  • The construction of two large lecture halls seating approximately 200 students
  • A series of smaller seminar rooms
  • Computer testing facilities
  • A new Gross Anatomy Instructional Laboratory, which will support an increase in class size in both the Medical and Dental schools, and will allow the display of MRI, computer tomography and x-ray images
  • An expansion of the existing instructional space, and renovation of smaller group spaces
  • “Modernization” of the Kornhauser Library

One planned renovation to the Kornhauser Library has already been completed.

Earlier this month, the most recent General Fund request said the project had grown to $71. 7 million, of which half would be provided from the General Fund and half would be provided by U of L. It was one of the first items cut from the budget by the Senate, though 166 other U of L-specific projects will be funded.

One of these projects was a new classroom building on the Belknap campus, the university’s top priority for funding. Ganzel hopes that the new HSC building will now be the top priority at the next biennial general fund budget session.

If built, the new building will be located between the current instructional building and Kornhauser Library. The building will replace some of the courtyard, with the fountain being removed.

Dr. Peter Hasselbacher, a former member of the U of L School of Medicine faculty, and a former member of its accreditation board, said he thought that the construction plans sounded as if they were heading in the right direction.

“The trend in medical education is going away from lectures to small group learning and self-instruction. And they just didn’t have the facilities for that. They need more places for students to study together, like law students do.  There’s a trend for that in medicine, and that’s another reason why the old facilities were inadequate, not just having enough seats for the behinds, not just having enough plugs for the computers. It’s a change in the way that medicine is being taught now,” he said.

Here are the links to the documents that the Cardinal obtained via FOIA request from the university, pertaining to the LCME’s decision to place the medical school on probation:

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SGA President talks of year’s achievements

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By Jacob Abrahamson–

Carrie Mattingly, SGA Student Body President, delivered this year’s state of the student body address on April 15. The address, which took place before a small crowd in the University Club, focused on the accomplishments of this year’s student government.

“Serving as SGA President has been both the greatest honor and the most valuable learning experience of my career as a student at the University of Louisville,” stated Mattingly, saying that the end of her term is “bittersweet.”

Mattingly stated that she began her term as President by revising the 2020 Plan in order to provide a “road map to accomplish student-friendly initiatives through 2020.”

After thanking those who worked with her over the past year, she discussed accomplishments including the opening of the Student Recreation Center. Mattingly thanked the students and administration for their role in the development of the SRC.

“Because they thought big, we now play host to the most state of the art recreational facility in Kentucky,” said Mattingly. “More and more students will get involved outside of the classroom as we continue to invest in infrastructure to benefit student life at the University of Louisville.” The SRC has an average of 2,000 swipes per day and 108 intramural basketball teams in its first six months on campus.

She also expressed pride in accomplishing the “number one goal:” the approved renovation of the old SAC gym. The renovated product will include meeting rooms and a convocation space which will seat 1,700 people. She says the renovation will allow big events, such as orientation and Greek recruitment, to remain on campus.

Mattingly also applauded increased student advocacy and involvement, including the Cards in Action program, which lobbied against statewide budget cuts to higher education, and the student committee on the University of the 21st Century Initiative.

Two executive SGA members received applause for their work. Grant Ford helped expand the 24-hour section of Ekstrom Library, while Morgan Jenny worked to create the taxi service coming to campus in 2015.

“We had the goal of expanding 24-hour space in Ekstrom Library to accommodate a larger off-campus population,” said Mattingly, encouraging students to advocate for the inclusion of a student library fee in next year’s budget.

Mattingly expressed excitement for U of L’s entry into the ACC, as well as hope for SGA’s future.

“The official Year of the Cardinal may have come to an end, but there is still so much to look forward to at U of L.”

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Brief: SGA holds final meeting

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By Jacob Abrahamson–

The SGA Student Senate held its annual banquet and final meeting of the year on April 15.

The evening began with the presentation of awards to various SGA members for their services this year.  Winners include Albin George as the best undergraduate Senator, Benjamin Leamon as best graduate Sentor, Brandon McReynolds for the Dean Mardis Award of Excellence, Drew Shever for Staff Member of the Year and Reachel Croley for the “Spirit of SGA Award.”

Graduating seniors were also recognized for serving with SGA.

At the end of the banquet, Chief Justice Ben Shepard swore the new Top 4 and the new SGA Senators into their positions for the 2014-2015 school year.

At the Senate meeting, held immediately after the banquet, the outgoing Top 4 shared their final updates.

“We have a lot to be proud of,” said Carrie Mattingly, the outgoing president, citing accomplishments mentioned in her state of the student body address.

Services Vice President Morgan Jenny also spoke about the launch of a student taxi service in 2015 and the gown recycling program which will be available at graduation.  This will allow students to return gowns to be reused next year.

Appropriations committee chair and Business President Albin George also spoke about the payment of SGA members, saying that members have an obligation to work hard because they are getting student money as tuition remission.  As a total, about $200,000 of the SGA budget goes towards tuition remission and stipend for senators and officers.

“At the last meeting, attendance was awful,” said George, to reinforce his point.

Other Senate business included the approval of six new RSOs and the approval of Arts and Sciences President Victoria Allen as next year’s Senate Speaker.  The next Senate meeting will be at their retreat on Aug. 23.

Full disclosure:  Albin George is a member of the board for the Cardinal.

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Getting to the heart of Heartbleed

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By Olivia Krauth–

A new bug called Heartbleed was discovered this past week, and it may have been in computer software for two years. However, professionals are unsure if it has affected anyone yet.

“Heartbleed is a recently discovered vulnerability in a common software toolkit used by many web servers to encrypt sessions between the website and the end user,” explained Andrew Wright, a computer information systems assistant professor at U of L.

Wright said that Heartbleed “creates a serious vulnerability” in sites that do not have the most current version of OpenSSL project software. Attackers can have access to user data on the affected sites.

“This data could include user ids, passwords, and even the server’s own keys that could be used to impersonate the web site or potentially decrypt sessions with end users that are supposed to be secure,” said Wright. “While the bug has existed for two years, it is not thought that hackers knew of its existence until earlier this week. Attacks are very likely against unpatched servers in the coming days and weeks.”

U of L’s IT department sent students an alert email about the issue on April 10. The email warned about the power of Heartbleed, and suggested students change all passwords to online accounts. The email also said that IT had “identified and patched the affected enterprise systems” prior to the sending of the email. Wright noted this, saying, “Most of the major web sites on the internet are moving quickly to install updates, as well.”

As the bug may be found in sites that use the open source toolkit in OpenSSL project software, anyone can be a target. Several popular sites, including Facebook and YouTube, use the software. Some sites, including Amazon, do not use the software, therefore not affecting users. Wright suggests that students check out lists online to see which sites have protected themselves and their users against the bug.
Wright does not believe that college students will be more affected by the bug than the general community.

“This vulnerability affected so many popular sites, it is likely that most of us will have to take action to protect ourselves after these sites have been patched,” said Wright.

“Heartbleed is a vulnerability in web server software, so end users won’t have to install any updates on their own computers to address it,” said Wright when asked about prevention of Heartbleed. “However, once a vulnerable site that you’ve logged into in the last two years is fully patched, you should change your password on that system. If you’d used that same password on other systems, you should consider them at risk and change those, as well.”

Wright believes that fake emails will be sent out in attempt to “prey” on users. “This may be confusing to users because they will also be receiving legitimate requests from affected sites asking them to reset their passwords after the sites have patched their web servers,” said Wright. He recommends going straight to the site to change your password as opposed to following links in emails.