Office of Information Technology

Technology Appropriations Board
Minutes of the meeting February 18, 1998

Location: AHT 4th Floor Conference Room
Time: 2:00 - 3:00PM

In attendance:

Student representatives responded to questions previously raised, and presented four issues for discussion.

1. Identify areas for funding that would achieve a high impact for the monies spent. Hodges Library was selected as the location that is preferred for further upgrades. The Library is centrally located and is heavily used by students. The plans for providing network ports for laptop computer network access within the library were discussed. The building is fully wired, however many ports are not active because of a lack of the necessary electronic equipment. It may be possible to reallocate some of the equipment from Dougherty, Perkins, and the University Center, when upgrades are complete in these buildings. An additional issue is the technical difficulty of the IP assignment for portable machines plugged into active ports in different domains on campus, but the goal is to have this resolved by the fall semester. This IP address issue applies both to hardwired network ports as well as wireless network access.
2. Consider the possibility of making available computing laboratories on a fee for service basis. It was stated that students would support the use of computing labs by outside organizations if it could be done within legal restrictions, and that scheduling would take into account the academic calendar, e.g. the heavy student use of the computer labs near the end of each semester. Currently, labs may be reserved for instructional purposes on the UTK campus, and related educational organizations may also reserve the labs for a fee. Making the labs available to organizations not directly affiliated with UT poses a number of questions; competition with local providers, violation of educational software license agreements, tax implications for rental fees, etc. It was confirmed that all funds derived from usage fees for computing laboratories are returned to the Technology Fee account.
3. Suggest ways to expand opportunities for student computer training. The expansion of training for students is recognized as a major goal. The use of student trainers to augment the training staff was discussed and recommended where appropriate. It was emphasized that a serious impediment to expansion of the training program is a lack of a dedicated training laboratory. Alternate sources of training were mentioned, including videos available at the Library, and the computer based training courses (CBT) available on CD-ROM or via the campus network. Information about CBT courses may be obtained at the Aconda Court Service Center.
4. Specify preferred labs for evening and weekend staffing. Hodges, Communications, and Andy Holt Apartments were identified as top priority labs for evening and weekend staffing, based on location, availability of parking facilities, and installed equipment.

   A question was raised about the delay in availability of some of the labs in off-campus housing; Laurel, Golf Range, Sutherland, Taliwa, Kingston, and Woodlawn. Subsequent discussions with TNS and Housing Affairs indicate that the current status is as follows:

   • Laurel - Laurel is under renovation. Machines are in storage awaiting completion of the renovation work.
   • Sutherland and Golf Range - All machines are installed and on the network. Both labs are open.
   • Kingston - All machines are installed and on the network. The lab is not available - awaiting installation of a card reader.
   • Woodlawn and Taliwa - All machines are installed and on the network. The lab is not available - awaiting installation of security cabling.

   There was a discussion of future plans for Internet access. Currently four T1 lines are maintained which provide a total of 6 MB bandwidth. Two lines are leased from Sprint and two lines are leased from BBN Planet. An additional T1 will be added in the near future. It is of benefit to maintain multiple carriers, to take advantage of the different network topology implemented by each carrier, and also to maintain independence from a single carrier.