UITAC Home

Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes for November 12, 2001

A meeting of the University Information Technology Advisory Committee was called to order at 3:05 p.m. on November 12, 2001, in the 4th floor conference room of Cabell Library. Dr. David Sarrett, co-chair, presided. Members present were Dr. Timothy Broderick, Dr. Lynn Nelson, Ms. Fran Smith, Dr. James Shultz, Dr. Robert Mattauch, Ms. Veronica Shuford, Mr. Mark Willis, and Mr. John Ulmschneider. Dr. Phyllis Self was unable to attend the meeting but joined the group via conference call.

I. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM OCTOBER 8, 2001 MEETING
Minutes were approved as prepared.

II. UITAC WEB SITE
Mr. Willis presented an overview of the new UITAC web site (http://beech.vcu.edu/uitacweb) that was developed using Lotus Notes Quick Place. The site consists of two parts. One part will be open to the University community, and the other part will be restricted so that only committee members will be able to access it. This restricted site will contain such documents as minutes and agenda for upcoming meetings.

The home page gives a brief introduction about UITAC, contains a list of members (including addresses, phone numbers, email addresses), and a calendar of meeting dates, etc. This site will become the central repository for UITAC documents.

Mr. Willis asked for suggestions about content and design. Dr. Mattauch suggested we go live with it and try it out. Mr. Willis will send out the link to committee members as well as information on how to use Quick Place. Information regarding this new web site should be sent to the University community. The committee suggested adding links to the web site at several locations such as the VCU A-Z listing on the VCU home page and the IT home page.

III. REVISED COMPUTER AND NETWORK RESOURCES USE POLICY ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES
Jim Shultz revised this document and it was emailed to the committee members prior to the meeting. The committee discussed the policy at length and several more changes were made. Dr. Mattauch asked Mr. Ulmschneider to wordsmith Sections A and B under “Adjudication” regarding informal resolution. The new changes will be made and the document will be emailed to committee members for review prior to the next meeting. The committee determined it would be beneficial to attach a flowchart to the document to visually explain the informal resolution process.

On page 4, Section A, regarding the length of time that documentation needs to be kept, Mr. Willis stated that he would check with the General Counsel’s Office about this issue and advise the committee of his findings.

IV. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IT STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS
Mr. Willis submitted a one page outline describing an approach to IT Strategic Planning with a timeframe for completion of each part.

In Item #3 of the outline, an IT Planning Committee is mentioned. This committee should probably consist of about 25 people, one representative from every school in the college and one from each administrative unit. Ms. Self and Mr. Willis will consult with the Provost (Dr. Roderick McDavis) and the Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration (Mr. Paul Timmreck) and will prepare a list of prospective members for the committee to consider at the December meeting.

Item #4 states that a consultant would be engaged to facilitate the planning process. The committee agreed that it was important to hire a consultant who deals primarily in higher education because of their understanding of our special needs. Ms. Self, Mr. Willis and Dr. Mattauch would probably choose the consultant through an RFP process.

V. OTHER BUSINESS
A question arose about the December meeting and whether or not it would be held. After some discussion, the committee decided to hold the December meeting as scheduled since the enforcement document needs to be completed and the IT Strategic Plan process needs to be finalized.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:15 pm.