Office of Information Technology

Technology Advisory Board (TAB)
Minutes of Meeting of September 19, 2001

Location: 4th Floor Conference Room, Andy Holt Tower
Time: 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Attendance:

Members: Doug Birdwell, Allen Cain, Will Carver, Jim Gehlhar, Ray Hamilton, Nathan Hammer, Matthew Johnson, Steve Keys, Dewitt Latimer, Sandy Lindsey, Susan Metros, Meghan Morgan, Josh Morrison, John Mount, Faye Muly, Stan Pinkleton, Phil Stimac

Others: Ashley Jarrell, Rachel Kline, Julie Little, Linda Painter, and Judy Travis.

Announcement - Susan Metros Leaving UT

Faye Muly informed the Board that Susan Metros, Assistant Vice President for Educational Technologies, has resigned her position at UT. Professor Metros announced she has accepted a position as Deputy Chief Information Officer and Executive Director of Educational Technology and Distributive Education at Ohio State University. This will include distance education. After 17 years as a faculty member and administrator at UTK, Professor Metros said it will be difficult to leave, but it is a good opportunity for both myself and my husband.

FY 02 Principal Payment - Faye Muly

Faye Muly proposed the Board support an additional one-time principal payment on the tech fee debt, made possible by a carry-over from the previous year. The carryover funds were created by a delay in intra-building network upgrades, due to construction delays and the primary focus on the backbone upgrade during the past two years. This principal reduction will reduce the amount each year that must be budgeted for debt repayment. Some of the carry-over funds will be used for a second-round of proposed applications for equipment from departments with the remainder going to the principal.

The Board voted unanimously to support this one-time principal payment.

VolNet and Wireless Status - Dewitt Latimer

Dewitt Latimer distributed an update on the progress of the wireless networking access project. This can be reviewed on the website: http://wireless.utk.edu/buildings1.html .

In response to a question regarding wireless security, Dr. Latimer explained we have a safe solution. For example, each time someone logs in, they will get a unique encryption key for the length of that session only.

In response to a question regarding a charge for wireless access in the future, Dr. Latimer said the goal is to develop a broad user base for this new technology, and maintenance of the wireless network can be funded without a direct user fee. Currently there are about 1,000 wireless cards being used on campus.

VolNet: The cut-over of buildings continues at the rate of two per week. We have passed the 60% point. We have about 63 buildings cut-over and have touched roughly 13,000 desktops. Most of the academic buildings will be cut-over by the end of this semester with the last building scheduled to be cut-over in April. At that time, Phase I of the project will be officially complete. So far, everything seems to be working well, and the inherent redundancy of the design limits the impact of individual access point failure.

ITC WISH Program - Julie Little

Julie Little said fourteen faculty members are participating in the ITC WISH program. Currently they are using laptops on carts in the Humanities Building and logistics are difficult. As more faculty members acquire wireless laptops, the program can be expanded.

The participants are coming up with very innovative strategies for learning.

Telephone System Upgrade - Steve Keys

Phase I: All residence halls and rental properties have been upgraded to the new telephone system. This completes Phase I. Seven thousand telephones have been replaced this summer, and we have about eleven thousand more to go.

Phase II: This phase of the project will consist of replacing all administrative systems.

Before starting Phase II, an assessment of the implementation of Phase I will be conducted. At this time, approximately 900 people have signed up for caller ID and 1,200 for call waiting.

DSL is now available at all rental properties. Since DSL became available two weeks ago, about 50 users have signed up for it. At this time, the fee is $30 per month, with no installation fee, and the modem rental is free. This is about $20 per month cheaper than BellSouth. Information will soon be available at http://oit.utk.edu/ecommerce . Information may also be obtained by calling the Vol Connection or Telephone Services. This service will not be offered in Residence Halls since they already have Ethernet connections.

The University has entered into a contract with BellSouth for running wire to the Fraternity Houses, and the target date set for DSL connection availability is January 2002.

Graduate Student Lab - Nathan Hammer

Nathan Hammer, GSA President, announced the new Graduate Student Lab in Hodges Library will be open within the next week or so. A date for the ribbon-cutting ceremony will be announced this week. This lab will contain five computers, one printer, and one scanner. A UTK ID card reader will be installed on the door to limit access to only graduate students.

Customer Technology Support Report - Stan Pinkleton & Ashley Jarrell

Will Carver congratulated the Customer Technology Support Group, SGA, and volunteers from other departments who participated in the residential halls move-in. It was a concerted effort on the part of many and went extremely well. Ashley Jarrell, who has been leading this effort for the last 5 years, distributed a copy of the "Recap of Dorm Storm" covering the period from 8/13/01 to 9/7/01.

Ms. Jarrell stated the ratio of desktops to laptops was approximately 60:40.

As a result of inquiries regarding public access to printing from a laptop, Stan Pinkleton has set a meeting later in the week with students and others. They hope to find suitable solutions for technical issues and logistics.

There is also concern regarding paper costs of printing in the labs. Faye Muly suggested SGA and other student groups could assist by promoting a "good citizen policy" to conserve the use of consumable resources.

Stan Pinkleton also mentioned the Office of Information Technology has purchased "Desk-top Screening" from a firm called Expert City with Tech Fee funds. This will be received within the next 4-6 weeks. This web-based software will provide improved and more efficient support for desktop computer problems. The software will enable the support person to actually assume control of the machine without physically touching it. It will be particularly helpful in diagnosing operating system problems and applications. The support person (helpdesk or other computer support person) and the user would each connect to the web site. The user can disconnect from the site at any time. This will be available to all faculty, staff and students.

Other Items

Dewitt Latimer reminded everyone of the virus outbreak on campus and urged everyone to update their Norton Anti-Virus.

Please send e-mail to Faye Muly at muly@utk.edu or to Will Carver at wcarver@utk.edu with any agenda items or issues before the next meeting on October 17.

Minutes prepared by: Judy Travis