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Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes for December 12, 2000

A meeting of the University Information Technology Advisory Committee was called to order at 1:40 p.m. on December 12, 2000, in the 4th floor conference room of Cabell Library. Mr. Mark Willis presided initially. Members present were Dr. Timothy Broderick, Dr. David Sarrett, Dr. Judyth Twigg, Dr. Gary Tepper, Dr. Robert Mattauch, Ms. Veronica Shuford, Dr. Phyllis Self, Mr. John Ulmschneider, and Ms. Barbara Baldwin. Members absent were Ms. Dianna Chinnici, Ms. Lauren Russell, and Ms. Seema Kumar.

I. SELECTION OF CHAIR
Dr. Twigg made a motion to nominate Robert Mattauch and David Sarrett to serve as co-chairs of UITAC until Fall, 2001. Ms. Shuford seconded. The motion was carried unanimously. Mr. Willis indicated that staff support for the chairs and committee would be provided by Administrative Information Technology and Academic Technology staff.

II. REVIEW OF MINUTES FROM NOVEMBER 2, 2000 MEETING
Minutes were approved as prepared.

III. IT POLICIES, STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES
a. Proposed process for review and recommendation.
Mr. Willis distributed a draft document, Information Technology Policies, Standards and Guidelines – Development, Review and Adoption, which describes a proposed process for developing and approving IT policies, standards and guidelines.

A question was asked whether all guidelines should come through this committee or just University-wide guidelines, and it was determined that the committee should just see those that have University implications.

Proposals for information technology policies, standards or guidelines may come from any source within the University, IT operational units, user departments, University governance groups or committees, etc. The ITCC would do the first formal assessment of a policy/standard/guideline and either decline to take action, send it back for more work or move it on to UITAC.

UITAC would then take one of three actions:
1. Decline the proposal.
2. Approve a guideline.
3. Recommend a proposed policy or standard to the vice presidents and president for further action. Decision briefs on the proposals will be prepared by IT staff.

Upon receipt of recommended policies and standards from UITAC, the vice presidents and president may:
1. Decline the proposal.
2. Approve the proposed standard.
3. Recommend the proposed policy for consideration by the Board of Visitors.

After approval, new policies/standards/guidelines will be communicated to the University community through regular communication channels (memos, e-mail, Web pages, etc.).

It was brought to the committee’s attention that there is not a current repository of guidelines anywhere in the University, and that UITAC should probably establish one. Dr. Ulmschneider said that a Web resource would be created for this group.

The committee members were asked to look over the draft and be prepared to discuss it at the next meeting.

b. Proposed Computing Ethics Policy
A proposed Computing Ethics Policy was distributed to the committee. The current Ethics policy was approved in the early 1990s and needs to be updated. The proposed draft was prepared by a faculty committee during 1998 and has been reviewed by several University groups and offices. The draft includes two sections: the policy statement and enforcement procedures.

Several committee members indicated a need for quick action on this proposal. A new Computing Ethics Policy needs to be in place for the Student Computing Initiative by the beginning of the next academic year. Dr. Mattauch suggested that the Ethics Policy be the primary topic at the next UITAC meeting. He asked committee members to review the proposal and be prepared to take action on it at the next meeting.

IV. IT STRATEGIC PLAN
There was a general discussion of the draft IT Strategic Plan that was prepared under the former Office for Information Technology as well as the IT proposals prepared as for the Institutional Performance Agreements (IPAs). Phyllis Self stated that from Academic Technology’s prospective, both the IPA and the Strategic Plan should be looked at simultaneously. Some committee members indicated that the IPAs seemed to be a more succinct presentation of IT strategies and that it would be beneficial to have a briefer version of the Strategic Plan. It was suggested that a one or two page document which summarize the current version by stating what needs to be done and where we are with it would be preferable to the current lengthy document.

However, the committee needs to be aware of the University community’s perception of what we do with the document. A lot of faculty time went into the preparation of the Strategic Plan, and we need to make sure they know their work is used and acknowledged.

Dr Mattauch suggested that UITAC dissect the Strategic Plan into segments because it would help the committee to better understand the current plan and to help the evolution to a new plan. It was also suggested that the chairs of the different advisory groups should be invited to UITAC to give an explanation of their groups’ activities.

Mr. Willis suggested that he, Dr. Self, Dr. Ulmschneider and Ms. Baldwin could prepare a summary of the current Strategic Plan and IPA proposals for presentation at a future meeting of the committee. This could be used as a beginning point for UITAC development of an IT strategic plan.

V. OTHER BUSINESS
The committee decided that future meetings would be held on the second Monday of each month, beginning January 8, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. in the 4th floor conference room in Cabell Library. The meeting will be conducted during the first hour, and the final 15 minutes will be allotted to the co-chairs.

Some concern was expressed about the student members of the committee not being present and the need to get the information to and input from the students.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:50 PM.