August 22, 2023 1:45 p.m.

Umpqua Community College experienced an unforeseen closure Tuesday, due to technical difficulties that affected phones and computers.

Communications and Marketing Director Suzi Pritchard said as those are critical systems that impact communication networks and learning, the decision was made to close the campus to employees and students.

Pritchard said shortly after 6:00 a.m. the UCC IT department noticed suspicious activity on its technology systems. Out of an abundance of caution, the team immediately began information security protocols which included taking all phones, network and computer systems offline. UCC promptly began investigating the root cause and putting a plan in place to restore technical operations.

UCC President Dr. Rachel Pokrandt said, “We regret having to close campus for the day, however, we take our online safety seriously and it is essential that we address the technical issues and mitigate the impact to the students and staff.”. Pokrandt said ample time will be given to make up any missed work as a result of the outage.