Wright State University University Technology Committee

UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE

MEETING MINUTES

January 12, 2006

Attendees:   Bonnie Mathies, Paul Hernandez, Chuck Taylor, Mark Anderson (for Greg Kojola), Phil Neff, Jeff Vernooy, Mill Miller, Carol Rader, Dan DeStephen, Terri Klaus, Sean Kleefeld and Stephen Foster

Approval of Minutes

Minutes of the October meeting were approved as written.

CTL Update

Dan DeStephen noted that in the past, on-line classes have been created with the idea students would be using modem lines to observe those classes. However, because of quality limitations, CTL is considering changing the minimum standard to at least DSL instead of modems.  Dan requested the committee members discuss this possible change with various members of their colleges, how it might affect those areas, and then review the results at the next UTC meeting.

CaTS Update

Paul Hernandez

  • Paul distributed a brief report on the total number of inbound email messages received on campus between January, 2005 and December, 2005.  Approximately 75% of all emails received are “junk mail” (copy attached).
  • Paul also announced the distribution of the $176,000 allocated by the Provost for this year’s Faculty Computer Initiative (copy attached). 

 

Phil Neff

  • Reported on the security response to the high number of attacks on the campus network.  CaTS staff are working daily to detect and block these attacks-approximately 5/6 attacks per day.  Security will soon be increased due to the expanded capabilities of the new firewall release soon to be available.
  • Phil noted the requests for VPN access is growing at approximately 5 requests per week with a total of 100 users as of January 12, 2006.  Access does require the user to have a WSU account.
  • Creation of 24-hour accounts for non-WSU library users has been recently implemented.
  • There has been increased documentation on the university security policies, guidelines, best practices and recommendations.  This information can be found at:  www.wright.edu/cats/security
  • SMTP authentication is scheduled to start January 18, 2006.  This will help stem spam, virus and worm problems with regard to email traffic.  In the future, CaTS will require all SMTP mail from on campus to be sent through WSU mail servers.  This will not affect webmail users of Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail, etc.

 

Terry Anderson-Banner Updates

  • The HR/Payroll module went live in mid-December as planned.  The first payroll for classified staff using online timecard entry was successfully processed with minimal errors that have been identified and corrected.
  • Financial Aid - Back-office go-live for tape loads scheduled for 1/19/06; Student self-service access scheduled for 1/25/06; and tracking groups scheduled for 2/06/06.
  • The Student Module - first mock registration during week of 10/24/05 was successful.  Second mock registration will take place in February ’06 with a target to go live in April 2006 for the Summer Quarter ’06.
  • Advancement Module – scheduled to go live July ‘06
  • Other software modules:
    • Nolij Transfer install taking place this week
    • Payment Gateway – “Touchnet” was the selected package.  Installation scheduled for January ’06.

Library Update

  • Stephen Foster discussed the success of the “Laptops2Go” loaner program. As part of the second floor renovation in the Dunbar Library, a CaTS Help Desk was added and students are now able to check out the laptops from this location.  Due to the high demand for these laptops, Stephen proposed increasing the number of laptops by an additional 25 computers using technology fee funds to purchase the machines. The committee unanimously voted to endorse this request which will be presented to the Provost for approval. Paul Hernandez distributed copies of a spreadsheet indicating the number of students (by College) who have checked out these computers from Fall Quarter 2004 through Fall Quarter 2005 (copy attached).
  • Stephen also discussed a new initiative, Digital Resources Unit, being offered by the University Library.  This service will enable the Library to digitally create local campus resources.  Within the next few weeks, a national ad will be published in order to hire a Digital Services Librarian, who will be involved in the creation of these digitized resources. 

 

Announcements

Chuck Taylor requested the committee consider changing the frequency of UTC meetings due to limited attendance when classes are not in session.  A motion was made to limit meetings to the fourth Thursday in the months of January, February, April, May, September and October. The motion was unanimously approved.  Those members using the University calendar will have the meetings scheduled for the appropriate months.  However, an email will also be sent out to all committee members with the new dates.  The time and location will remain the same – 3:00-4:00p.m. in the 315 Library conference room.