Office of Information Technology

Technology Advisory Board (TAB)
Minutes of Meeting of September 15, 2004

Attendance:

Members: Bill Britten, Steve Dolgner, Stephen Esposito, Jim Gehlhar, Julie Little, Anne Mayhew, Mike McNeil, Chaz Molder, Faye Muly, Stan Pinkleton, Jelena Pjesivac-Grbovic, James Price, Rita Smith, Gretchen Whitney (for Wes Hines).

Others: Bruce Delaney, Nancy Gnilka, Judy Huddleston, Robin McNeil, and Judy Travis.

Steve Dolgner opened the meeting by welcoming the new members.

Update on E-Mail Project:

Mike McNeil, Executive Director of OIT Systems, provided an update of the E-mail project. Mr. McNeil is chairing a committee to study the university requirements for collaborative tools, including e-mail. OIT is currently supporting four E-mail systems and it would be more efficient to consolidate on one E-mail system. In addition, there are a variety of new technologies to be considered for unified messaging and communication. This migration would have an impact on the entire campus community, and thus there is concern about satisfying the diverse needs. Currently, Bruce Delaney is leading the effort to develop a survey of needs and wants. Among the functions of interest are calendaring, E-mail, instant messaging, forums, etc. The survey will be distributed to all students, faculty and staff. It is important to have broad input on this issue, and thus the survey will be advertised in Beacon and via e-mail. Mr. Bob Muenchen, Manager of the OIT Statistical Consulting Center, will assist in the analysis of the results. The committee will then develop a report of the findings and make recommendations about further action.

Proposed Changes in the Technology Advisory Board Bylaws:

Nancy Gnilka distributed the proposed bylaws changes, which had been distributed to the TAB members via a URL prior to the meeting. The recommendation is for a simplification of the titles of administrative members, that will preserve the functional representation of the administrative offices. The modification of the schedule of meetings was approved a year ago; however had not been posted in the online version, so this change was also noted. A motion was made and seconded to vote on the changes at the next TAB meeting, as stipulated in the bylaws. Mr. Stephen Esposito proposed additional changes in the bylaws to add three more students to the committee: SGA Webmaster, Student Technology Chairperson, and one other student appointed by the SGA President. Ms. Nancy Gnilka explained that quite a bit of thought went into the makeup of the committee eight years ago. There are five administrators, five students, and three faculty members. This number was felt to achieve a good balance. Mr. Esposito expressed a desire to have more student voting members and still retain the five ex officio student members. Ms. Muly suggested going forward with the advertised changes and then to discuss further revision in the coming year.

Change of Meeting Times:

There was a discussion of the time of the meetings, as the 2:30 PM time conflicts with the fall class schedule for several of the student members. It was suggested that we try to find a time for the remaining two meetings of this semester that will work for all the students. All members will be contacted to collect schedules.

Proposed Special Project: The Student Guide to Evaluating Information Technology on Campus:

Ms. Muly stated that since the student technology fee is in its eighth year, it is an appropriate time to evaluate accomplishments and determine future goals. In addition, this will be an opportunity to coordinate IT initiatives with the strategic plans of the new chancellor. Educause, the primary professional organization for IT in higher education, has recently updated a student guide to Information Technology. This guide was distributed and discussed. Dr. Anne Mayhew spoke of the improvements which will be implemented with the current upgrade to the Student Information System (SIS). As Phase I is completed, the administration seeks input from students about additional services or functions that would enhance the academic experience of students. Dr. Mayhew would like to present this question to the Board in order to get more views to make the classroom setting and the whole academic experience better. Ms. Muly stated the student technology fee has effectively enhanced the IT experience on campus by supporting the upgrade of the network, computing labs, support services, and instructional technology. The project for TAB this year is to evaluate our current status and determine directions for the future, using the Educause student guide as a basis for discussion. Steve Dolgner said he would take this issue to the Technology Services Committee to have them review the guide and provide a report at the next TAB meeting in October.

Library Loaner Laptops:

Ms. Nancy Gnilka discussed the library laptop program, which is now in its third year. Ms. Gnilka proposed that TAB consider funding requests for support of this very popular project. David Atkins, who administers this program in Hodges Library, has provided a list of requests for continuation of the program. Among these needs are refreshing of the existing computers as well as expansion of the program. This is a very useful tool for the students and frequently there is a waiting list of students to use the laptops. Ms. Faye Muly said this is a difficult project to manage, and the Library is to be congratulated for taking on this responsibility and administering it very well. Since the students are the only users, Ms. Muly requested their input about this plan.

Campus Calendar:

Mr. Chaz Molder attended the President’s Roundtable meeting where Bob Hillhouse of OIT Web Services discussed the campus calendar. The calendar is ready to be implemented when the Dean of Students office has resolved all administrative issues. Mr. Ron Laffite, Associate Dean of Students, will administer the calendar. The calendar will be sent to the general campus community on the “news and events” notifications and will have a link on the UT homepage. Mr. Stephen Dolgner, who initiated this project, expressed his appreciation for the calendar and stated that he is pleased with the results of the project.

Volprint:

Mr. Dolgner asked if there were any concerns or questions about the new VolPrint program. Ms. Robin McNeil reported that usage of printers in the OIT Labs is down about 75% from the fall semester 2003. Mr. Bill Britten reported that there was a similar downturn in printing in the library. However, departmental labs which are not running Volprint have seen an increase in their printing. For instance, the Honors Lab printing figures went up about 42%. Volprint has clearly reduced the abuse of printing in the labs and library, but to some extent has diverted the printing to departmental labs. It was reported that many students have requested the installation of a Dart machine in Hodges Library to allow cash payments for VolCard credit. These machines are expensive but the issue will be investigated.

Ongoing Issues:

• At the October TAB meeting, a vote will be taken to finalize the bylaw changes regarding the titles of administrative members.
• During the year there will be a general review of the bylaws.
• The Educause Student Guide to Information Technology will be reviewed by the SGA Technical Services Committee

With no further business, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting of the Technology Advisory Board will be determined by availability of the members. Judy Travis will notify the members in advance of the date and time.

Minutes by: Judy Travis