Wright State University University Technology Committee

UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE MINUTES
June 11, 1998

UPDATES
Distributed Learning Committee Recommendations
Dan DeStephen discussed the report submitted by the DLC. The basic principles set by the committee are as follows:

1. Faculty must primarily drive distributed learning.
2. To the extent possible, policies on distributed learning need to be incorporated into existing policies.
3. Distributed learning will require the creation of new support structures for faculty and students. Resources for distributed learning should be integrated into an academic programs' requests for funding.

CaTS and Center for Teaching and Learning should be used as an advisory service.

The UTC members were asked to review the 61 recommendations and be prepared to discuss at the next meeting. After further review and endorsement by the UTC, the Provost will then present the report to the Council of Deans for approval. This report will also be put on WSU's website and responses will be accepted.

Policy for Responsible Use of Information Technology -
Victoria Montavon presented the policy draft to the University Council and the Faculty Affairs Committee recently. The University Council had no comments or changes to the policy. However, after several sessions with the Faculty Affairs Committee, there were a number of issues still to be resolved. After discussing the situation with the Provost, it was decided to move forward only with the portion of the policy with regard to responsible use by students. Hopefully, this can be approved by the end of the summer and put in place by Fall Quarter. Further discussion on a policy for use by faculty and staff will continue in the near future. This decision was accepted and approved by the UTC.

Financial Systems Assessment -
Terry Anderson gave an update on this subject. The consultants are currently working on the transition readiness and on developing sets of alternatives. The report is due the third week of July and will then be reviewed by the assessment committee.

Year 2000 -
On Friday, June 5, 1998, Paul Hernandez presented a report to the Board of Trustees on the status of the Year 2000 effort (A copy of the visual presentation is attached to the hard copy being distributed to committee members). The Year 2000 effort has three major components:

1. Centrally supported physical facilities which addresses elevators, heating ventilation, air conditioning, fire alarms, security systems, etc.
2. Centrally supported computer applications, systems and data & voice networks.
3. Distributed computers and electronic equipment located in the departments, colleges and offices.

All of these areas were broken down into percentages of completion categories with regard to Y2K compliance:

1. Assessment - Still looking into the situation
2. Remediation - In process of being corrected or is scheduled to be corrected
3. Compliance - Is functioning correctly for the Year 2000

CaTS staff will continue to build awareness across the campus community as to what will be provided centrally and what people will be responsible for. In the near future, the Provost will send out a letter to the campus community to assist with this awareness. A task force consisting of representatives from each college and department is being formed to organize this effort. A web page is being developed to distribute information on compliant versions of software, names of vendors to contact for further information, and a list of all compliant software which is provided over the network and is centrally supported.

The University Purchasing Department will begin requiring certification of Year 2000 compliance on all electronic equipment purchased as of June 15, 1998.

COLLEGE OF NURSING TECHNOLOGY PLAN PRESENTATION -
Alice Renner and Kristine Scordo discussed the technology report submitted by the College of Nursing and Health (a copy of the report was distributed to the members of the UTC previous to this meeting). The report was an overview of CONH's current technology, available resources, and future goals.

Vicki Montavon suggested that college plans might explicitly discuss their usage of library resources for research by students and faculty. Jeff Vernooy also reminded the colleges for the need to plan for adaptive equipment. The Office of Disability Services can help the colleges with this planning.

FACULTY COMPUTER INITIATIVE -
The Provost has requested from each of the academic units a list of the number of faculty/staff computers (list separately) and lab machines which are less than Pentiums and what percentage this is to the total number of computers per unit. This information should be submitted to Barbara Denison before the next meeting of the UTC. The Provost has suggested that the University will possibly match any funds committed by the colleges for the purchase of new machines. There would also be no "trickle down" when the new machines are issued. These issues will be discussed further at the next meeting.

Gordon Welty requested an agenda item for the next meeting to discuss with the Provost the presentation by John Gabriel at the April UTC meeting regarding CaTS policy to discontinue support of certain desktop operating systems. The next meeting will be Thursday, July 9, 1998 from 3 - 5 p.m. in E157 Student Union.