Office of Information Technology

Technology Advisory Board (TAB)
Minutes of Meeting of March 27, 2002

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

Attendance:

Members: Bill Britten, Allen Cain, Will Carver (Co-chair), Chris Cimino, Jim Gehlhar, Nathan Hammer, Matthew Johnson, Julie Little, Meghan Morgan, Marla Peterson, Stan Pinkleton, Phil Stimac.

Others: Nancy Gnilka, Robin McNeil, Judy Travis.

FY03 Departmental Lab Awards

Will Carver welcomed everyone to the meeting and opened with a discussion on the FY03 technology fee departmental lab awards. A spreadsheet detailing the awards was distributed. Nancy Gnilka explained requests to be referred to the facilities fee classroom upgrade fund have been noted on the spreadsheet. She also noted an attempt was made to fulfill at least a portion of all first priority requests from all of the colleges, except those that did not fall within the FY03 guidelines for the departmental awards process under the Technology Fee. She reminded everyone it is not a goal of the technology fee to act as an extension to college or departmental operating budgets. Will Carver said TAB has stressed for the last several years that colleges or departments should not request something for which they cannot provide on-going support.

After a short discussion and with no other questions, Will Carver asked for a motion to accept the awards as outlined. Jim Gehlhar made the motion that was seconded by Allen Cain. The proposed Technology Fee departmental lab funding recommendations for FY03 were approved by a unanimous vote of the members.

Library Laptop Check-Out Program

Bill Britten discussed the new laptop check-out program available in the Hodges Library as of March 1st. The Technology Fee provided funding for 20 laptops to jump start the project. The program is proving to be very popular. Bill remarked there have been approximately 400 check-outs in the first two weeks. A laptop may be checked out for a three-hour period and must remain in Hodges Library. Each unit is set up with an internet browser as well as Microsoft Office. There are four designated printers throughout the library for laptop use. Complete information regarding this program is available on the Web at http://www.lib.utk.edu/circ/laptops/ .

Student Membership for Academic Year 2004

Will Carver advised the Board this will be his last full meeting in his capacity as student co-chair. In consultation with the Board, the SGA President will appoint new student members of TAB as needed, which this year will include a new student co-chair. (Voting members serve a renewable two year term, except for the student co-chair position which is limited to one two-year term.)

Other Items of Interest

FY03 Budget: In response to a question from Allen Cain regarding the overall budget, Nancy Gnilka stated it will be an agenda item for next month's meeting.

Wireless Printing: Stan Pinkleton, Customer Technology Support (CTS), reported on the status of the wireless printing project in the public labs. CTS has ordered four new printers and is in the process of installing them at this time. Stan also said CTS would have some announcements and signs posted to make students aware of these new printers. The printers are located in the public labs in Ayres, Glocker, Hodges Library and Perkins.

PDA Symposium: In response to a question about the upcoming PDA Symposium, Julie Little responded it will be held on Tuesday, April 16, at the University Center in rooms 223-225. The day-long symposium will be from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and will have five academic teams from various universities around the country who will be doing two sessions each. The sessions will be Webcast live with the two concurrent sessions archived. For more detailed information reference the ITC web site at http://itc.utk.edu/pda .

Research Study: A group from the EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research (ECAR) will be coming to the University of Tennessee to do a case study on campus wireless implementation. This project will involve five universities around the country, three of which include: UT, Drexel and Carnegie Mellon. They will be on campus April 3rd through April 5th interviewing administrative, technical, faculty and student groups. For more information about ECAR visit the EDUCAUSE web site at: http://www.educause.edu and click on the link to ECAR.

Next Meeting: The next meeting will be held on April 17, 2002, in the Fourth Floor Conference Room, Andy Holt Tower at 2:00 PM.

Minutes Prepared By: Judy Travis