In a recent open letter to faculty, students and staff, Vice Provost Pete Siegel expressed gratitude for their support of the Davis Campus Data Center shutdown in December.

Siegel, who heads Information and Educational Technology, also recognized the registrar’s office and the Academic Senate for their work in December with IET on a technical audit of SmartSite’s GradeBook feature.

The audit dealt with an issue that, under very specific conditions, appeared to be a rounding error in the equal weighting option in GradeBook. “After a careful assessment, we were able to inform instructors who used the equal weighting option fall quarter that no grades were affected,” Siegel said.

The Data Center shutdown, for a power upgrade, occurred the day after Christmas, amid winter break, at a time when fewer people would be relying on Data Center service.

Nevertheless, in a three-week campaign leading up to Christmas, University Communications alerted the campus community to the impending shutdown. Siegel said he appreciated the assistance “in getting the word out so effectively at such a busy time.”

IET had said the shutdown could last up to 48 hours — though officials expected the work to take far less time. Indeed, UC Davis personnel started the project on time at 7 a.m. Dec. 26 and finished it successfully 12 hours later — which Siegel attributed to “carefully coordinated planning” by Facilities Management and Data Center specialists.

Read Dateline's follow-up story from Dec. 28.

“I especially want to thank the 45 people, including those from outside of IET, who participated in this critical operation, for their great professionalism and efficiency,” Siegel wrote in his open letter dated Jan. 14.

This year, he said, IET will continue its work with faculty, the research community and the UC Davis Health System in exploring alternatives to “our aging and space-deprived Data Center.”

Siegel described the Dec. 26 power upgrade as an interim step that enabled IET to add 20 server racks, and which will help save money, including energy costs.

Read Siegel’s letter.