Instructional Technology Committee
Minutes
May 12, 1998
Present: Alison Baker (chair), Lowell Ballard, Tom Butler for Laura McCullough, Jennifer Egan, Fran Emory, Dan Himes, Gail Kettlewell, Robert McGrory, Paul McVeigh for Barbara Wyles, Neil Reynolds, Dan Riley, Steven Sachs, Gen Sen Chu for Jeanne Guthrie-Morse, John Sener, Lionel Sylvas, Charlotte Wilhelmi

Absent: Max Bassett

Guests: Cathy Simpson

 
  1. Minutes Approved

    2. Minutes of the February 9, 1998, ITC Meeting were approved.

     

  2. Update from Technical Support Services - Mr. Ballard
  1. Cabling - The bids for a cabling contractor are out. A contract should be awarded in 6-8 weeks. The contract will provide for a set connection fee plus a cost per foot from the communication closet to the connection. Completion of all remaining cabling should be done by Fall. Requests for new cable drops will go through the Help Desk to TSS. With the exception of those projects already contemplated as required to complete the College's network infrastructure plan, the cost of adding to and changing the current network configuration will be charged to the unit requesting those changes.
  1. Help Desk - A new phone system with 23 extra lines has been installed to support Help Desk operations. As soon as a few logistical and procedural issues have been decided, the help desk will go into operation. Within the next few weeks, TSS will put labels with the phone number(s) on all PCs and phones going "live" with the help desk.
  1. Staffing - Three new TSS staff have begun work: Help Desk, Process Engineer and Database Engineer. Three additional positions are in process of being filled.
d. Student e-mail - The student e-mail system is now up and running. Decisions need to be made on how to advertise its availability to students and some final operational details. Most of the password and ID process are automated on the system. Student accounts will include space for a web home page, and will be saved as inactive for a year before being deleted if a student does not continue registration at the College. Mr. Ballard will work with a small committee to complete final implementation details. The committee will include Jim Reynolds (AL), Fran Emory or another teaching faculty member from Woodbridge, and Gen Chu (AN). The final plan will also be sent to the Deans of Student Development, coordinators of open labs and LRC Directors. Mrs. Wilhelmi will assist with promoting the availability of student e-mail. The student e-mail is for credit students only.

 
  1. Home Access to Internet
Dr. Sachs reported that the RFP for a dial-up Internet Service Provider is out and closes on May 19. A contract is expected to be awarded very shortly thereafter. The goal of this contract is to provide the lowest possible price for students and faculty who want to contract with the selected ISP. The College will not be involved in the transaction other than to provide a link between the College web site and the ISP for ease in establishing an account.

 
  1. Computer Inventory
Dr. Sachs distributed copies of the college-wide computer inventory (also distributed electronically with the agenda). He reported that this inventory process is being coordinated by Dr. Bradford and is in the final data clean-up stage. Provosts were asked to review the data and let Dr. Sachs know of any questions, problems or errors. Final corrections are due to Dr. Bradford by June 1. It was also pointed out that the inventory shows a total of approximately 3,600 computers in use at the College. However, the College Technology Plan only covers approximately 2,500 of these.

 
  1. Proposed 1998-99 Technology Plan Budget
A proposed 1998-99 College Technology Plan budget was presented and discussed. The plan was developed based on mandates from the VCCS, input from the campuses (see the February 9 ITC meeting minutes), and discussions with the Technology Plan Steering Committee. A number of suggested changes were introduced including the following:

1. Remove the specific allocations for Mentoring Funds, Discipline Software and Ancillary Equipment, putting all the funds into one category. Each campus would be required to develop a plan for using the funds from that total fund to achieve the VCCS requirement for utilizing the new technology. It was also suggested that

2. Reduce the number of new computers being purchased by calculating the four-year replacement on last year's total in the plan. Do not include the 29 additional PCs and 168 Macs as proposed in the draft budget.

Committee members should submit suggested revisions to Dr. Sachs to be included on the agenda for the June ITC meeting. A final plan needs to be developed for VCCS approval by late Summer or early-Fall.

 

 
  1. College Web Page Report
Dr. Sachs and Dean Baker reported that a company from Georgetown University, Keybridge.Net, has been hired to help redesign the College's home page. This company will prepare a basic linking organization for the home page and one or two levels below the home page. This will be forwarded throughout the College for review and comment. The College Web Steering Committee will coordinate issues that arise during the re-design. After the basic organizational strategy is completed, Keybridge will be able to do the graphics to put the plan into effect. It is expected that the new home page will be in place by mid-Summer. Mr. Ballard's staff at Technical Support Services will continue to run the Web server. Dr. Sachs is adding a webmaster position and will be responsible for processing content and e-mail to the web-site. The transition to the new organizational structure for handling web issues is in process and should be completed after the new webmaster is hired.

 
  1. Summer Computer Purchases
A brief discussion on Summer computer purchases was held. Final decisions cannot be made until the initial Technology Plan budget is approved by the ITC and Administrative Council. There was some sentiment that it would be easier to deploy the new computers during the Summer. The current plan is to outsource full installation, including loading of all software and connecting the computers to the network, instead of relying solely on in-house staff.

 

 8. Training Update Mr. McGrory distributed materials that reported on the participation and extent of training during the past year. He also discussed the VCCS Technology Certificate. A plan for distributing the last $11,584 of 1997-98 training funds was handed out and discussed. This plan included retaining one CCS&T trainer for the rest of the fiscal year, a computer security training conference for TSS staff, and some requested software. The plan was approved as presented with the correction noted that the Macromedia Authorware software was for Alexandria and not other campuses.
  1. Future Items
Discussion of ITC Member Terms and a Summer meeting Schedule were postponed until a future meeting. 10. Next Meeting The next meeting of the ITC will be June 8, 1998, at 2:00 p.m. in the Brault Building Board Room.

 

 Notes prepared by:

 

 ___________________________________ Steven G. Sachs

Associate Dean for Information Technology

Committee Chair:

 

 ___________________________________ Alison Baker

Dean of Financial and Administrative Services

 Attachments

pc: Dr. Ernst


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