The University of Texas at San Antonio pushed back the start of its fall semester to Monday, August 24, following an attempted cybersecurity breach that hit its network over the weekend. Classes had originally been scheduled to begin Wednesday, August 19.
Network Intrusion Blocked at the Edge
The unauthorized activity was intercepted at the edge of the university’s network before it could reach core systems. That detail came via a notice issued by Andrea Marks, senior executive vice president of enterprise operations and strategy, alongside Michael Schnabel, chief technology officer.
University Technology Solutions moved fast, teaming up with expert partners to contain the threat and secure the campus technology environment. Leadership confirmed that ongoing investigations have turned up no evidence that any data was accessed or stolen.
Services Offline and Academic Deadlines Adjusted
As a precaution, UTSA pulled several online services offline over the weekend. Students, faculty, and staff faced limited access to accounts, and phone systems suffered outages on Monday.
To offset the disruption, the administration reworked key academic deadlines:
- Tuition and Fees: Payment deadlines were extended to Friday, August 21, at 5 p.m., according to university announcements.
- Class Waitlists: Waitlisting concluded at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, August 19. Students who received notifications to register on August 14 or August 15 were automatically re-added to the waitlist in their original order, according to KSAT.
- Registration: Registration remained open through myUTSA while technical teams worked to restore full functionality.
Staff Keep Regular Hours as President Defends Delay
Faculty and staff maintained regular work hours to support incoming students, keeping university operations running on a normal schedule.
UTSA President Taylor Eighmy addressed the school community directly, explaining that the scheduling shift guarantees systems and technology will operate at peak performance.
"Starting classes on Monday gives our teams the necessary time to restore services carefully and position our university community for a strong start," Eighmy said.
Phased Password Resets and Ongoing Monitoring
University Technology Solutions instructed students, faculty, and staff to hold off on resetting their university account passphrases until they receive official communications. As classes resume, the university continues to monitor its systems closely.
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