Summer Training Opportunities are Plentiful with UFIT

UF Information Technology (UFIT) is offering a robust training schedule this summer. Commit to enhancing your skillset over the quieter summer months! From May 13 through August 9, 2024, faculty and staff can select from many instructor-led, self-paced, and virtual workshops. There are options for using AI tools, improving Zoom meetings, understanding how DocuSign works, and learning Microsoft collaboration tools and applications. All UFIT training is free.

On the schedule this summer are three self-paced, introductory AI trainings:

  • AI in the Workplace
  • Introduction to AI Image Generator Tools
  • Prompt Engineering: Working with AI Text Generators and AI Image Generators

A two-part Qualtrics workshop series will also be offered twice, with participants who complete the series earning a Qualtrics certificate. For those looking to use non-research survey tools for administrative needs, registration is also open for Google Forms and Microsoft Forms web training.

UFIT Training provides year-round training on numerous topics to enhance the academic and professional skills and academic needs. Plan your summer training by starting with the IT service catalog listing: https://it.ufl.edu/services/it-training. Anyone with questions about our training or would like to discuss a custom training for their department is welcome to email ufit-training@ufl.edu.

Learn R Programming This Summer

UF Information Technology’s (UFIT) free eight-module introductory R Programming course returns this Summer. The online, self-paced course will run from May 13 to July 19. UF faculty, staff, postdocs, graduate students, and teaching assistants are welcome to enroll.

The Summer 2024 course syllabus is available for review for anyone considering taking the course. Registration is open through 5:00 p.m. on May 10. Participants can sign up for any of the eight sessions, but beginners are strongly encouraged to attend the first three sessions that cover the basics. The eight modules of the course are:

  • Introduction to R
  • Data Preparation
  • Exploratory Data Analysis
  • Mean and Median Comparison
  • ANOVA, Correlation, and Bivariate Linear Regression
  • Multiple Linear Regression
  • Proportion Comparison
  • Logistic Regression

All registrants must have completed at least one graduate-level course in statistics prior to the May 13 start date. Anyone with questions about UFIT’s R Programming training can email the instructor, Dr. Jose Silva-Lugo.

Data Parallelism: How to Train Deep Learning Models on Multiple GPUs

The NVIDIA AI Technology Center at the University of Florida is offering an instructor-led, deep learning institute workshop in April: Data Parallelism: How to Train Deep Learning Models on Multiple GPUs.

Workshop Dates: April 11-12, 2024 (Thursday and Friday), from 1:00-5:00 p.m.

Registration Link: https://forms.gle/KiNxdjqxJ7AZCZFk6

The workshop will be held over two days (four hours each day) in Malachowsky Hall’s NVIDIA Auditorium. Its focus is on techniques for data-parallel deep learning training on multiple GPUs to shorten the training time required for data-intensive applications. Working with deep learning tools, frameworks, and workflows to perform neural network training, attendees will learn how to decrease model training time by distributing data to multiple GPUs, while retaining the accuracy of training on a single GPU. The full course outline may be found on this NVIDIA website page.

The course is FREE and open to the university community, but pre-registration is required. Also required is experience with Python. Technologies used in the workshop are PyTorch, PyTorch Distributed Data Parallel, and NCCL.

If you have any questions about this workshop, please email the instructor, NVIDIA Data Scientist Yungchao Yang (yunchaoyang@ufl.edu).

 

Learn to Navigate UF’s New T4 Web Template

The University of Florida employs TERMINALFOUR (T4) as the campus’s central content management system for website hosting. UFIT collaborated with the Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing and a vendor (Stamats) to create UF’s new template. The template is called the Mercury Theme and aligns with the refreshed UF branding effort, providing a modernized look and feel for UF’s web environment. Colleges, administrative units, and academic and research centers are encouraged to adopt the new template for their website.

UFIT is sponsoring a T4 training for power users to assist campus web managers with the new Mercury Theme template. Register for this two-hour class through myTraining. Seating is limited so interested staff are encouraged to register ASAP:

Date:  Thursday, Oct. 19

Time:  1:00 – 3:00 p.m.

Location:  Weil Hall 408-A

More information about the new T4 theme is available on: https://webservices.it.ufl.edu/mercury-theme/about/. Anyone with questions about this class is welcome to contact the UFIT Training team.

Survey Tools: New Options

Researchers at UF often need to survey large populations, utilize advanced survey distribution strategies, and implement specialized survey question types. For these complex needs, UFIT recommends using Qualtrics, available campus-wide. But sometimes faculty and staff need a lighter tool for quick surveys or to create administrative forms. UFIT created a new training–Survey Tools for Non-Research Use–to introduce Google Forms and Microsoft Forms, two easy-to-use applications for creating and distributing surveys and forms. UFIT’s next 1-hour Survey Tools for Non-Research Use training will be held on:

Wednesday, August 30
10:00-11:00 a.m.

Register here

This class will be taught monthly over Zoom. Visit the class homepage for more details, and check out UFIT’s Survey Tools webpage for a comparison of Microsoft Forms, Google Forms, and Qualtrics. Anyone with questions about this class or other IT training offered is welcome to email the UFIT Training team.

Work Safely with Restricted Data

Restricted data refers to data collected, maintained, or managed by the university or through any university activities that are restricted by special protections from federal or state laws, regulatory mandates, or contractual obligations. Improperly working with, storing of, or transmitting restricted data could result in the revocation of research certifications, university business partnerships, and federal and state grants. In addition to the legal liabilities and financial obligations placed on individual employees and the university, a breach or misuse of restricted data would negatively impact UF’s reputation.

Types of restricted data are listed here. They include, but are not limited to, student records (FERPA), protected health information (HIPAA), Social Security numbers and credit card information, and export controlled data (ITAR).

All faculty and staff are required to annually complete the Information Security Awareness training, which includes a section on working with restricted data. UF’s Mobile Computing and Storage Devices Policy explains security and encryption standards required for devices operating with restricted data. UFIT’s Integrated Risk Management team is available to help clarify data classifications and the technologies and tools cleared for use with restricted data. Anyone in the UF community with questions is welcome to email irm-uf@ufl.edu.

Spring 2023 HiPerGator Training

UFIT Research Computing is hosting a variety of trainings and workshops throughout the Spring 2023 semester. The options include HiPerGator user training, panel events, in-person training, and networking opportunities for UF’s research community.

The robust schedule features multiple virtual NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute (DLI) workshops on the fundamentals for deep learning and for accelerated computing with CUDA Python. The always popular Birds-of-a-Feather sessions (BOF), facilitated by Research Computing staff, are for current and potential HiPerGator users to introduce high performance computing and AI resources and services available, such as accelerated genomics and MLFlow. There are also two AI panels scheduled. The first panel is for promoting women in HPC&AI, and the second will discuss the use of AI in arts and humanities research.

All UFIT Research Computing training, panels, and BOF sessions are free. To register for any of the offerings, visit https://rc.ufl.edu/calendar/. Faculty and staff can also request group, department, or 1-on-1 training consultations. For assistance with custom training needs, please contact UFIT’s Training and Biocomputing Specialist, Dr. Matt Gitzendanner.

SPSS Training Offered This Spring

UFIT is offering its SPSS Statistics & Sample Power 3 this spring.  The online course begins January 9, and ends on March 10, 2023.  This free certificate earning, self-paced course includes seven modules that focus on the latest statistical procedures.  All modules must be completed by March 10 for the participant to earn the certificate.

This course has been designed for faculty, TAs, graduate students, postdoctoral candidates, and staff.  Potential participants can review the course syllabus prior to registering.

Participants must have completed a graduate course in statistics and the “SPSS Statistics Essential Training” in LinkedIn Learning prior to January 9.  To register, visit https://training.it.ufl.edu/training and use the keyword: SPSS. Anyone with questions about UFIT’s SPSS certificate program is welcome to contact instructor Dr. Jose Silva-Lugo.

Learn to Use the Campus-Wide Calendar

UF’s Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing (SCM) manages the campus-wide calendar. The URL is https://calendar.ufl.edu/ and available as a direct-link on the UF homepage. The calendar is a great promotional option available for departments and organizations to broadly advertise events.

Free training is being offered so faculty and staff can learn to manage event submissions, request a departmental calendar, and leverage all the features of the calendaring tool. The live, instructor-led webinar training will be held on:

Wednesday, Oct. 5, from 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Course Number: UF_ITT369_ILT

Register here

The university’s calendar provides a central system where events can be submitted for inclusion to maximize exposure. (Events will be reviewed for approval every one to two weeks by SCM.) Visit https://ufl.lwcal.com/submit/ to request an event be added. For questions about this training, please contact the UFIT Training team.

Introduction to Data Analysis and Graphics

UF Information Technology is again offering its extremely popular R Programming course this fall. This online, self-paced training is offered free for faculty, postdocs, staff, and graduate students.

The fall 2022 course dates are August 29 to October 29. To register, visit UFIT Training’s R Programming page. Pre-registration is required by August 26.

The eight modules in the course are: Introduction to R, Data Preparation, Exploratory Data Analysis, Mean and Median Comparison, ANOVA, Correlation, and Linear Regression, Multiple Linear Regression, Proportion Comparison, and Logistic Regression. A detailed syllabus is available on the R Programming page. Enrollees must have successfully completed at least one graduate-level course in statistics prior to the start of the training.

Anyone with questions about UFIT’s R Programming training is welcome to reach out to instructor Dr. Jose Silva-Lugo.