Nearly 500 faculty and staff members took the UC system’s new online course on computer security in August — and everyone else is encouraged to take it, too.

Not only can you learn about protecting sensitive information, but you could also receive a $50 gift card courtesy of the Office of the President.

Information and Educational Technology is giving away four gift cards monthly through December.

Here are the first recipients, from the August drawing: Alyse Defazio, accountant, Accounting and Financial Services; Donald Orr, assistant 1, Temporary Employment Services; Kyle Rutledge, teaching assistant; and Heather Spaulding, junior specialist, Department of Land, Air and Water Resources.

Didn’t win? No worries, all the names roll over to the subsequent drawings.

The Information Security Awareness course, designed for nontechnologists, describes best security practices for preventing compromises of sensitive personal and university data. Completing the course takes about 30 to 40 minutes.

Theft and leaks of sensitive information can create major security breaches that damage work, careers and reputations, and are expensive to repair. The university encourages employees to know and follow good cybersecurity practices to protect UC and themselves.

"This is a good, useful course," said Robert Ono, the campus’s IT security coordinator, in early August. "It offers practical ways to protect personal data, which should concern everyone."

The course is available in the UC Learning Management System; search for “Information Security Awareness” (code DAC-TT0900). The LMS will record your name for the drawings.

Here is the course announcement. Questions should be directed to Ono, raono@ucdavis.edu.

New for fall: TxMx breakfast at 7, later closing times for MU

New for fall quarter at the Memorial Union: made-to-order breakfast burritos starting at 7 a.m. at the CoHo’s TxMx Grill, and later closing times for the entire building.

The Coffee House also announced that Ciao (pizza and hot sandwiches) and Swirlz Bakery will stay open an hour later, until 6 p.m., on Fridays.

The change in hours for the TxMx Grill, Ciao and Swirlz take effect Thursday (Sept. 27), the first day of fall instruction. Fall hours for everything at the CoHo.

The new schedule for the MU as a whole takes effect Saturday (Sept. 22). Closing time will be two hours later seven days a week:

• Monday-Thursday — 7 a.m.-midnight
• Friday — 7 a.m.-10 p.m.
• Saturday — 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
• Sunday — 10 a.m.-midnight

Retiree Center open house, workshop

The Retiree Center, which recently moved to the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center, is inviting the campus community to an open house, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4. No need for RSVPs.

Immediately afterward, the center is hosting a consumer fraud workshop, 1 to 2 p.m., and people planning to attend are asked to sign up by Oct. 2. Registration is being taken online.

The workshop presenter, Elaine Roberts Musser, is a volunteer attorney for Yolo County Adult Protective Services' Multidisciplinary Team. She is chair of the Triad Task Force, an action arm of the county Commission on Aging and Adult Services. She is vice chair of the county commission and chair of the Davis Senior Citizens Commission.

The Retiree Center is on the first floor of the alumni and visitors center, and the consumer fraud workshop will be just down the hall, in the AGR Room.

The center offers programs and services to UC Davis retirees and to employees who are preparing to retire. People within five years of retirement are invited to pick up a copy of the Steps to Retirement brochure, which will be available during the open house.

In addition, representatives from Fidelity Retirement Services are due to set up a help desk to answer general questions.

Light refreshments will be served, the organizers said.

Follow Dateline UC Davis on Twitter.