Minutes of the June 19, 2000, ITC Meeting were approved.
The VCCS approved the 2000-2001 Technology Plan, but asked that
additional narrative be added dealing with student support services for
distance education students. The ITC approved the following addition to
the Technology Plan:
Students have access to a wide variety of support services that range
from academic advising to tutoring to assistance with library research
to career counseling. Traditionally, these services were readily available
to on-campus student through the appropriate campus offices. As email and
Web use at the college grew, many of these same support services were also
made available, in varying degrees, electronically. Sometimes access to
the services is provided electronically--as with on-line library materials.
At other times, access to the staff is provided--as with advising by email.
In other cases, we electronically provide a description of the service
and information on accessing it--as with placement testing. The issue is
especially important to distance education students. The specials needs
of students who are either only taking courses through distance education
or who primarily want to deal with the college electronically are also
being given greater attention in the plans and activities of support service
units. Over the past year, we have combined links to the various electronic
information services under a single "Virtual Campus" heading. During 2000-2001
the College will work at further streamlining electronic access to support
services to make them easier to identify and find; and will work on making
more of these services fully accessible electronically for those who cannot
or choose not to come to campus.
The following requests for special funding from the Advanced Technology
Funds in the Technology Plan were approved:
Compressed Video Upgrade to H.323
$15,000
Woodbridge Photography Building Cabling $14,000
Annandale A&R Scanning Project
$9,000
Dogwood Project
$11,000
The remaining $5,000 will be held in reserve.
Four corrections were made to the draft plan that was distributed.
Under A.2. (Outsourced Off-site Technology Training), the amount was reduced
from $62,000 to 52,000. A new item, A.6. (Training Materials), $10,000
was added. Item B.4. (Cost Assistance for Attendance at Conferences.) was
deleted. The term "Classified Staff" was substituted for the term "Faculty"
in Item B.5. (Cost Assistance for Attendance.through HRD Plan). Ms. Pendelton
reported that the Outsourced training contract negotiating had begun with
a planned contract start date of October 1. The entire contracting process
has taken 6 months, much longer than initially expected. The Draft Training
Plan was linked to college goals and objectives and was also reviewed by
the College TLTR. The plan as corrected above was approved.
The ITC discussed a process for soliciting and reviewing proposals
for the Instructional Software Support Funds provided in the Technology
Plan. Priorities are established in the Plan. Dr. Sachs will issue a call
for proposals to faculty. Faculty at the January discipline cluster meetings
will have the opportunity to consider and develop proposals. Proposals
will be submitted to the College TLTR by February 1. The College TLTR will
consult with the LRCs and Student Development staff as part of the selection
process. Proposals should have the approval of the relevant division chairs.
Recommendations from the College TLTR will be sent to the ITC for final
approval. This process was approved by the ITC.
Dr. Sachs described the plan, timeline and the use of additional
staff for installation support. Due to the poor conditions of the PBXs
at Manassas and Woodbridge, they will be moved up in the project timetable.
The new system will allow the College to control some features. Campus
staff will have responsibility for operating any equipment on the campuses,
though improved monitoring and troubleshooting will be possible centrally.
The new system should not require extensive campus involvement, and should
be much less effort to deal with telephone-related issues than the current
system.
Dr. Sachs reported on the implementation of the new Student Information
System. Committees have been appointed to work on various aspects of the
implementation process. The College is entering the training phase of the
implementation process. Actual implementation will begin during Fall 2001,
with full conversion by January 1, 2002. Information on the new SIS and
implementation progress will be provided through Intercom and through the
Web.
The ITC approved removing the template for photos on the Web Phone
Directory pages since so few people made use of photos.
The ITC approved the following policy on the storage of audio and
video files on college servers. "MP3 or other audio or video files may
not be stored on college servers unless specifically for instructional
purposes or have the approval of a division chair or unit administrator."
This policy will be forwarded to the Administrative Council and will appear
in appropriate handouts.
The new Administrative Information System may not be implemented until July 1, 2003. Committees are just beginning work on adapting the software from PeopleSoft.
Dave Williams asked if we could coordinate purchases under ETF to get
better quantity prices. Dean Baker agreed to check with Fred Marks, Director
of Material Management. She noted that this could slow up procurement since
larger quantities could require the college to solicit bids due to the
total cost. It was suggested that the Purchasing Office notify campuses
of good prices they have negotiated on items frequently purchased by multiple
units.
The next meeting of the ITC is scheduled for November 2 at 9:30 A.M.
_______________________________
Max Bassett
Dean of Academic and Student Services
Notes prepared by:
__________________________________
Steven G. Sachs
Dean of Information Technology