DRAFT

Information Technology Committee

Minutes

June 19, 2000

Present: Steve Mahood for Alison Baker, Lowell Ballard, Max Bassett, Tom Butler, Gen Chu, Kevin Kelley, Gail Kettlewell, Dan Riley, Steven Sachs (acting-chair), John Sartorius, John Sener, Lionel Sylvas, Tony Tardd, Peter Tharp, Barbara Wyles

Absent: Sue Hintz, Judd Sage, Charlotte Wilhelmi

Visitors: Stacy Pendleton, Cathy Sabol, Cathy Simpson

 
  1. Minutes Approved

    2. Minutes of the May 1, 2000, ITC Meeting were approved.

  2. 2000-2001 Technology Plan

Dr. Sachs led a discussion of the Technology Plan for final approval by the ITC. The changes from the March draft were reviewed. These were as follows:
  1. Page 6 - additional narrative on distance education and on our support of the new VCCS Student Information System.
  2. Page 7 - two major categories were combined, but the total dollars remain unchanged. Quite a few individuals asked for more flexibility, and based on implementation of this year's plan that seems appropriate. The objectives of the two prior categories "Campus-based Technical Applications Support" and "Web Page Maintenance and Technology Support". Some campuses, though are using other funds or other positions to meet these objectives, so the original categories in the plan would have made things more complex than necessary. However, this draft of the Technology Plan still requires that at least the stated minimum Technical Applications Support be provided, along with the web page maintenance requirement as specified. Any funds not needed to accomplish these two objectives are available for other technology support at the campus or unit.
  3. Page 8 - SIS Servers were carried forward from the 1999-2000 plan and the amount was increased slightly to account for the latest information on what will be required. Instead of purchasing these servers during 1999-2000, the funds were used toward the purchase of the 2000-2001 PCs. It was too early to purchase the servers based on the latest schedule from the VCCS.
  4. Page 9 - Replacement of SNA printers was carried forward from the 1999-2000 plan and the amount was increased slightly to account for the latest information on what will be required. Instead of purchasing these printers during 1999-2000, the funds were used toward the purchase of the 2000-2001 PCs. It was too early to purchase the printers since we still are not sure of what we will need to support the new VCCS Student Information System. Also, the Terminal Server Project was put on hold until we are sure sufficient ETF funds are available.
  5. Page 10 - Academic and Advanced Technical Support was reduced slightly to match the total funds actually available for infrastructure support.
  6. Page 12 - The amount for the high speed Ethernet equipment upgrade was reduced slightly to match the total ETF funds actually available.

 

An increase in the amount of the cabling line item was considered. The ITC decided to make no change since other categories of funds or other campus funds could be used to fund additional cabling costs if needed. Increasing the cabling line item would have required reducing some other line item.

The amount of ETF funds included in the plan was considered since it actually exceeded the minimum amount required by the VCCS (when the amount of "early" spending at the end of Spring 2000 was considered) by approximately $306,000. However, the total amount for 2000-2001 was approximately $209,000 less than the ETF funds spent in the 1999-2000 Technology Plan. This leaves more money for allocation by the individual campuses. Even with the amount of ETF spending proposed in the 2000-2001 Technology Plan, there will be significant ETF funds for other uses on the campuses. The ITC decided to leave the proposed ETF spending in the 2000-2001 Technology Plan as indicated in the June draft.

Including the Dogwood Project in the Technology Plan was considered. The ITC decided that Dogwood could be considered, along with other projects, under the current plan without guaranteeing it funds or creating a special line item for it. Dr. Sachs will periodically bring proposals for use of Advanced Technology Funds to the ITC for approval. (This category is used to fund large scale College projects for which other funds may not be available such as the scanning and document management project for Annandale A&R and Human Resources.)

Providing laptops for faculty checkout was discussed. All the campuses indicated that they already have laptops available for faculty check-out through their LRCs. Increasing the number of laptops and upgrading them was left up to the campuses from funds allocated to them from the Technology Plan, ETF, or other sources as they choose.

It appears that there is approximately $3,000 additional technology fee available than included in the June draft of the Technology Plan. The ITC decided that this would be added to the Campus Based Technology Support category on page 7. This will increase slightly the amounts available to each unit.

The ITC approved the Technology Plan as presented in the June draft with the addition of additional technology fee revenue to the Campus Based Technology Support Category. Just as in past years, the ITC will have a chance to review and amend the plan if there are changes from the VCCS or if other budget adjustments are necessary. Dr. Sachs will distribute an updated summary of the plan showing the campus requirements, available funds, and appropriate accounts and spending procedures. Each campus must submit a plan indicating how they will accomplish the objectives and how will use the available funds to Dr. Sachs prior to spending any of the funds.
  1. Training Plan

    2. Stacey Pendleton, Cathy Simpson and Fran McDonald have put together a detailed training plan showing how all the various components fit together. Now that the ITC has approved a final budget for training in the 2000-2001 Technology Plan, they can finish the plan by allocating budgets to the various categories. As an interim measure, the ITC approved Ms. Pendleton to spend up to $50,000 for an outside training contract they can use for Fall faculty orientation activities for desktop application training for classified and faculty.

  2. Next Meeting

An attempt will be made to schedule a late-Summer meeting to consider the final Technology Training Plan. The plan will be distributed to all members as soon as it is ready.

Acting Chair and Notes prepared by:

 

___________________________________

Steven G. Sachs

Dean of Information Technology

 

pc: Dr. Wheelan