MINUTES
UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE
FEBRUARY 21, 2000
Members Present: Others Present:
Richard Crosby, Chairperson Tom Serwatka, Vice Chairperson Kathy Hughes Zella Boulware Bob Jones Stuart Chalk John Sharp Tom Erdal (rep. Judy Perkin) Lance Taylor Andrew Farkas David Jaffee Bruce Kavan Jeff Michelman Donna Mohr Jerry Merckel Tom Robertson John Venn
Chairperson Crosby convened the University Technology Committee (UTC) meeting at 10:35 a.m.
1. Minutes
The Minutes from the January 10, 2000 meeting were approved as distributed.
a. Lance Taylor handed out the final Conference Announcement for the Eleventh International Conference on College Teaching & Learning to be held on April 12-15 at the Radisson Riverwalk Hotel.
b. Because of Spring Break, it was decided that the March 6th UTC meeting would be cancelled.
c. Bruce Kavan requested that UTC handouts be distributed earlier so that members will have ample time to review before discussion at the next meeting
Chairperson Crosby stated that currency issues have been discussed for a couple of months at UTC meetings. Last week, Kathy Hughes emailed the current currency policies for discussion at today's meeting. Chairperson Crosby stated that Bruce Kavan had raised the issue of faculty not having enough involvement/input in the development of currency policies. It was discussed that the college representatives/ faculty-at-large should be taking this information back to their respective colleges/constituents and had been in most cases. Dr. Kavan also stated that he would like to take these policies before the Academic Technology and Support Services Committee of the Faculty Association. Other modes of information sharing will be discussed in future meetings. Chairperson Crosby stated that these currency policies would be discussed at the March 20th UTC meeting. Prior to the March 20th meeting, Kathy Hughes will distribute detailed currency spreadsheets. Kathy Hughes also reported that a replacement-level list would be distributed today.
Tom Serwatka handed out issues related to "How do we build the technology and related support needed for distance learning?" as well as a summary of distance learning course projections for 2000-2001. He stated that the College of Arts & Sciences numbers will be included as soon as the data is received. The UTC expressed surprise that the numbers are so low. It was also noted that most of these are graduate classes and are probably more elective courses rather than required ones. David Jaffee stated that he is planning distance learning demos this semester and anticipates interest will increase on this issue. Bruce Kavan stated that the Academic Technology and Support Services Committee of the Faculty Association has passed a draft Distance Learning Policy to the Faculty Association's Executive Committee for review. He will email a copy of this policy to the UTC members today. Stuart Chalk also suggested that there could possibly be opportunities for release time (in terms of the promotion and tenure process) for development of distance learning courses.
Stuart Chalk stated that the Mac Action Team had met and stated that the following might be issues for this Action Team: (1) how many Macs on campus; (2) is current Mac support sufficient; (3) currency; (4) Mac software needs in labs; (5) improvement on level of communication between Mac users on campus; and (6) interest in introducing Mac technology on campus (i.e., Quick Time). After the next Action Team meeting, Stuart will put together a report and email it to the UTC members.
Lance Taylor handed out a DRAFT memo to Department Chairs on an Internet2 Survey. It was suggested that responses to the survey might be posted on the Computing Services web site and that although the survey is addressed to Department Chairs, it should be forwarded to anyone with an interest. The results of this survey will be discussed at the next UTC meeting.
Lance Taylor reported that the University has temporarily blocked access to Napster due to concerns about slowdowns on the campus network. Napster allows the sharing of music (mp3) files which, in most cases, are quite large thus causing the slowdowns. There were questions raised regarding whether students are being required to download these types of files for class projects. Following discussion, the UTC supports the temporary block pending further review of the short and long-term impacts on the campus network. Chairperson Crosby stated that we may want to consider an Action Team to discuss this and other issues regarding legitimate Internet access. This will be discussed again at the next UTC meeting.
Lance Taylor reported that there have been two recent employee terminations which have immediate impact on Computing Services resources. Stephen Brown (Unix administrator) and Robin Weitzel (Help Desk member) have recently left the University. Areas affected include: email for all students, the University's web page and associated web pages, and Help Desk assistance.
Beginning with either the Summer or Fall terms, the meeting schedule for the UTC will be the First and Third Monday's of the month (instead of every other Monday).
Lance Taylor reported that the COCSE labs on the 3rd floor of the Mathews Building no longer utilize pay for print. It is now going to be managed directly by COCSE. The pay for print unit has been moved to the new PC classroom in Founders Hall.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m.