The University Technology Committee meeting was called to order at 10:05 a.m. in Bldg. 15 Room 1105 by Vice Chair David Jaffee.

Announcements

Vice Chair Jaffee announced that Lance Taylor was out of town and would not be attending today's meeting.

Kathy Hughes announced the Web Advisory Committee submitted CMS functional specs last week to vendors to get preliminary pricing. After the pricing is received, the committee will forward the information to the Administrative Systems Council. This will then be reviewed to ensure there are budget dollars allotted for the project before the release of an ITN (Invitation to Negotiate).

Approval of Minutes - September 11, 2006

Jaffee asked if the UTC members had any changes, additions or corrections to the Minutes from September 11, 2006. No changes were noted and the Minutes were approved as submitted.

Campus Technology Committee

Dale Clifford stated that CTC meetings are held on the third (3rd) Monday of each month at 10:30 a.m. A topic of discussion for the committee's next meeting will be the thirty (30) minute time-outs for desktops.

Classroom Response Systems

Clifford reported that the Campus Technology Committee recommends eInstruction for standardization of classroom response systems on campus. This recommendation to the UTC was based on evaluation and feedback, use of decimal points which is very important, lower costs for students to purchase the devices and more systemic support. The agreement will not prevent someone from using another product if they prefer. There is no cost for the software and free upgrades for the life are provided. Also, the CTC met with John Sharp and Decato Burke about adopting a change in the configuration of classrooms. A solution was found for being able to secure receivers and also discussed the accessibility in seminar rooms.

The eInstruction system works by displaying answers on screens, collecting answers to quizzes, etc. It was also found that there would be no problems with students and clickers going next to each other in different classrooms, and they can be used on pcs and macs without problems. Students can purchase these clickers at the bookstore for 15 - $20, activate each semester, up to 3 times, and clickers and receivers are completely portable.

There are currently pilot users of eInstruction system and it is expected that there will be several more in the Spring semester.

Jaffee made the motion to recommend the eInstruction for standardization of classroom response systems and the Committee approved.

Report: GOT

Jaffee stated that they would like to expand the GOT to the GOF "Gang of Four." After having discussions with Shirley Hallblade, Dean of the UNF Library, it was found that it would be useful to add an additional person to this group. This new member will be the new Director of Library Systems when the position is filled.

Jaffee made the motion to recommend expanding the GOT to the GOF and the Committee approved.

Deb Miller updated the group on GOT pending issues:

• The iPod Project is underway with no new developments to report.
• ITS and CIRT have put together resources to pilot an audio recording mobile solution for late Fall/early Spring. As part of that, the Accordent Building Blocks for BlackBoard will be installed which will allow for the publication of streaming media directly to the streaming server and automatically place a link in a BlackBoard course. This streamlines the process considerably for faculty.

Hughes stated the Model Technology Classroom project has been expanded to include additional rooms. Classroom Management Software (software that allows the instructor to display a student's computer in a lab setting) is being investigated. Other items that are being considered are Sympodiums, Smartboards, Airliner Tablets and T-Tables.

Jace Hargis asked if we have determined how faculty will be assigned to the technology classrooms. In several instances there may be a faculty member who would use the technology whereas another one scheduled in one of these classrooms might not have a need for the technology in place. He suggested maybe getting suggestions from Academic Affairs or the possibility of having faculty propose their plans for their use of the technology.

Hughes stated this decision would need to be taken to a higher level.

Katharine Brown pointed out Schedule 25 does the best it can with the data provided. If you need to change classrooms after an initial assignment, depending on the availability of technology classrooms, you may not be able to be accommodated.

Jaffee stated that currently scheduling is decentralized and processed by each college. He mentioned that there is a proposal to form a group that will address having strategic centralized scheduling and bringing all the colleges together. This would allow for centralized scheduling, settling disputes and tension and establishing principles that all departments would have to adhere to.

All issues voiced were noted by Vice Chair Jaffee.

Report: IT Security Action Team

Jeff Durfee stated that the team has been looking at desktop screen-saver time-outs for employees only. The Library, labs and kiosks have a time out of twenty (20) minutes and would not be impacted. The team would like to apply time-outs for employee desktops. After (30) minutes of no activity, a desktop screen-saver will pop up. The screen saver currently used by individual employees will not change and remain in place. If the user doesn't have a screen saver chosen, a blank screen will appear. No programs will be closed and when the employee types in their password, they can continue where they left off before the screen saver popped up.

Tony Turrin noted that the FRC and SRC recommend these changes. He reminded the group that the time-out for the MyWings portal would be changed to four (4) hours rather than the one (1) hour in place at this time. He advised that as soon as the employee performs any activity, the four (4) hours will start over again.

Durfee noted that the potential roll out of the time-outs project is hoped for the same weekend as the Banner 7 (November 17) roll out or shortly thereafter.

Clifford stated that a major information campaign needs to be provided to faculty/staff as soon as possible.

Terry Smith inquired if users with shorter than 30-minute screensaver time-outs would be forced by the domain policy to a 30-minute time-out. Durfee responded in the affirmative.

Jaffee made the motion to recommend the four (4) hour time-out for the MyWings portal and a thirty (30) minute time-out for desktop screen savers. The Committee approved the recommendation.

Report: Online Testing Facility Action Team

Rusty Smith thanked the Team for their commitment and help in getting the Online Proctored Testing Committee Report completed for the UTC. Their conclusions found that additional space is needed on campus for proctored testing, there are a significant number of early adopters, and as the university continues to grow there will be an increased need for the facility. He mentioned that the facility at UCF is very successful, but also challenged by growth and overload. The Team's general recommendation is that we need a testing lab; we need to begin developing pilots in the existing labs that we currently have and also properly identify some standards and practices. He noted with regard to eInstruction that we need to seriously consider adopting a campus standard student response system that could function in a testing lab.

The group inquired about different issues. Hughes asked about the use of hooded workstations and could the facility be used for general instruction? Smith noted that based on surveyed responses, this would need to be stand-alone testing facility not used for classes. It was also noted that this facility could free up class time for faculty and staff and would be convenient for students. Clifford questioned how much use a facility would have during the semester and if problems would occur over not having enough seats for end of semester time. The group suggested possibly appointments being needed, extended hours, etc.

Richard Crosby stated that although the AOL space is not on the agenda, he noted that there should not be a space issue if the administrative offices move over to the AOL building. He said it is also possible that a testing facility could be housed over in that building and potentially could be considered.

Jaffee proposed the motion that the UTC accept the general recommendations on the third 3rd page and take the issue further in future discussions with Academic Affairs and Information Technology Services. The Committee approved the recommendation.

Action Item: Currency Thresholds

Hughes reviewed the draft Currency Thresholds for 2006-2007 with the group. She stated there was an error under Labs & Technology Classrooms. It should be 2.7GHz, not 2.2. She stated that the first order of three hundred twenty-one (321) faculty/staff computers had arrived and the C-techs would be deploying these over the holidays.

Jaffee made the motion to recommend the Currency Thresholds for 2006-2007 and the Committee approved.

Update: Classroom Technology Inventory

Hughes stated that there were two (2) questions asked at the Faculty Association Meeting. The first question was in regard to the online technology instruction sheets for Bldg. 15/1104 and 15/1105 not being accurate. Hughes stated the instruction sheets contained an error and have been corrected. She also will ask that the instruction sheets contain a revision date. The second question related to reserving the technology classrooms. This was a miscommunication issue since ITS was asked to deliver technology to a room that already contained the items and so did not deliver.

Information Item: Content Management System

Hughes informed the group that the Content Management Subcommittee of the Web Advisory Committee put together a set of CMS Functional Specs. They are currently soliciting ballpark pricing from a number of vendors (similar to doing an RFI (Request for Information). The results of this effort will be taken to the Administrative Systems Council for further direction on this effort.

Next Meeting

The next UTC meeting will be held Monday, December 4, 2006 in Bldg. 15 / 1105.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:55 a.m.