MINUTES
UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE
September 18, 2000
Members Present: Others Present:
Richard Crosby, Chairperson Debra Abbott
Tom Serwatka, Vice Chairperson Joann Campbell
Zella Boulware Kathy Hughes
Larry Daniel Bob Jones
Andrew Farkas Scott Runnion
David Jaffee John Sharp
Bruce Kavan Lance Taylor
Jerry Merckel Tony Turrin
Jeff Michelman
Martha Rader
Diane Tanner
Chairperson Crosby convened the University Technology Committee (UTC) meeting at 10:30am in the COBA InTuition Conference Room.
1.
Welcome Back 2000-2001
Chairperson Crosby stated that this meeting begins the 6th year of the UTC and there’s a lot to accomplish this year. He welcomed the new committee members: Zella Boulware is back as a faculty at-large from the College of Education; Bruce Kavan is returning in a different role – he is no longer Chairperson of the Academic Technology & Support Services Committee, but will represent the committee; Martha Rader is back representing the College of Health; Diane Tanner is a new faculty at-large from the College of Business Administration.
2.
Announcements
a. Lance Taylor reported that Fall 2000 was the first term to utilize the web to register for classes. The stats for this term were as follows: 53% registered using the web; 36% registered by phone; and 11% registered in person. He stated that there would probably be an increase in web registrations, as the phone system will be phased out within a year.
b. Lance Taylor reported that Governor Bush has a new web page which tries to consolidate all Florida services into one location. The URL is www.myflorida.com.
c. Chairperson Crosby stated that the web site is up for the 2000 Campus Master Plan update. It is located at www.unf.edu/masterplan and he recommends that the UTC members review the 3 concept plans presented. He believes that there will be a Master Plan Open Hearing on October 13th.
3.
Distance Learning Action Team
a.
Final Report
Tom Serwatka reported that he had emailed a copy of the Final Distance Learning Action Team Report to the UTC members for review. Issues addressed by the Action Team included: Academic Affairs policy on distance learning; extent of the use of distance learning technology; support systems needed for effective use of distance learning; and selection of software and hardware for distance learning. There was discussion as to the degree UNF may utilize Distance Learning classes. Tom Serwatka reported the current administration recognizes the expense associated with Distance Learning and that our implementation would most likely be minimal. David Jaffee reported that the Florida Virtual Campus had contacted him regarding UNF’s interest in a Department of Defense effort to provide education to the military via distance learning. Based on the recommendation in the Final Report, David Jaffee will serve as chair of the Distance Learning Action Team for 2000-2001. He also recommended that Catherine Cavanaugh of the College of Education be added to the Action Team. Chairperson Crosby stated that Distance Learning will be an on-going agenda item for the UTC and requested that all members review the final report before the next meeting.
b. BlackBoard
David Jaffee reported that BlackBoard training began during the Summer 2000 term and there are currently 209 BlackBoard courses on the server (127 faculty members with 5,000 students). There have been problems with the 5.0 upgrade since it was probably released prematurely. Tony Turrin reported that he patched the software last weekend which fixed some bugs. There is still some instability that should be resolved soon. There was agreement that phone calls to BlackBoard administration is warranted.
c.
Lotus Notes
Bruce Kavan stated that a new release of Lotus Notes came out in the Spring; however, it was decided to remain with the current release until all glitches could be worked out. Several issues were discussed and Tom Serwatka suggested that USF or UCF be contacted to determine how they addressed the drop/add problem (in terms of notification to faculty members).
d.
WebCT 3.0
David Jaffee stated that the UTC agreed to support WebCT 1.3 for one year. WebCT 3.0 would be brought up on a test server for a select group of faculty to evaluate. Tony Turrin also stated that WebCT will drop support for version 1.3 in December.
The UTC discussed Computing Services support of the distance learning products and agreed that Tony Turrin should continue stabilizing BlackBoard before bringing up WebCT 3.0. Jeff Michelman raised his concern over the lack of support that Computing Services can supply to his college specifically since the COBA is doing their own thing. Chairperson Crosby stated that this would be on the next UTC agenda.
4.
Internet2 Action Team
Chairperson Crosby stated that he and Lance Taylor had discussed this earlier and suggested that the action team would be disbanded. It will cost at least $100,000 for the University to get into this and the reality is that it cannot be funded at this time. He also reported that Vice President Fagin had been discussing this issue with other internet providers (AOL and BellSouth) and VP Fagin would be reporting these discussions to Provost Kline. Following discussion, it was determined that the membership of the Internet2 Action Team would be reviewed and they will address issues as they come up.
5.
Mac Action Team
Chairperson Crosby reported that Stuart Chalk was chairing this action team and is no longer a member of the UTC. Kathy Hughes will contact Stuart to get a copy of his final report and Zella Boulware will be tasked with being the UTC representative for Mac support.
6.
Strategic Issues Action Team
Chairperson Crosby stated that he would like to form a new action team. It’s basic charge is to develop a concept for addressing concerns that the UTC needs to focus more on strategic issues now that the original Technology Plan has been implemented. The following were appointed: Richard Crosby, Jeff Michelman, Jerry Merckel, Tom Serwatka, Diane Tanner, Donna Mohr. Chairperson Crosby asked that if anyone else is interested, to email or call him.
7.
Standard Client
a.
Software Acquisition
Kathy Hughes has met with the Associate Deans and recommended Windows 98 & Microsoft Office as the standard software. If WordPerfect or Lotus are wanted in the individual colleges or departments, funding would be their responsibility. Chairperson Crosby spoke with Ricky Arjune in the Budget Office and they will be moving from Lotus to Excel. It was also agreed that since there is a currency budget for hardware, another separate currency budget should be considered for software.
At this point, Chairperson Crosby left the meeting to attend another meeting. Tom Serwatka took over as Vice Chairperson.
8.
Centralized vs. Decentralized Scanning Function
Kathy Hughes received a list of what each college is currently using and will forward it to the UTC. Following discussion, it was determined that John Sharp would get with the C-Techs to see what the faculty want in terms of criteria for scanning (e.g., list of “must haves” and “what would be nice to have.” Lance Taylor asked if the UTC members would have problems with students/OPS running a centralized scanning operation. They agreed that this would be fine so long as appropriate confidentiality training is given.
9.
Network Traffic Shaping
Kathy Hughes reported that CISCO corporation will be coming to campus next week to look at this. Napster is still blocked. Bruce Kavan reported problems at the beginning of the term with dial-up speed. Andrew Farkas expressed concern regarding slow response time on the campus network. We currently have a 6mbps Internet pipe at a cost of $100,000. Consideration must be given to both maximize network efficiencies as well as address needs for increases in speed.
10.
Currency
a.
Threshold for 2000-2001
b.
Status of Hardware Acquisition
Due to the lack of time, these items will be discussed at the next meeting.
11.
Osprey Net
Due to the lack of time, this item will be discussed at the next meeting.
Other Business
Jerry Merckel stated that you can get free textbooks at www.informit.com.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:05pm.