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Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes for February 11, 2002

A meeting of the University Information Technology Advisory Committee was called to order at 3:00 p.m. on February 11, 2002, in the 4th floor conference room of Cabell Library. Dr. Robert Mattauch, co-chair, presided. Members present were Dr. Lynn Nelson, Dr. David Sarrett, Ms. Fran Smith, Dr. James Shultz, Dr. Phyllis Self, Mr. John Ulmschneider, and Mr. Mark Willis. Dr. Timothy Broderick, Ms. Veronica Shuford, and Mr. Carl Gattuso were absent. Mr. James Bahensky, Department Director, Information Services, attended for Mr. Carl Gattuso. Also attending were Mr. Clyde Laushey, Information Security Officer; Ms. Anjour Harris, University Registrar and Director, Records & Registration; Dr. Robert Andrews, Faculty Senate President; and Ms. Andrea Foster, a reporter for the Chronicle of Higher Education.

I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM JANUARY 14, 2002 MEETING
Minutes were approved as prepared.

II. REVIEW OF PATRIOT ACT
Ms. Andrea Foster, a reporter for the Chronicle of Higher Education, is writing an article on the Patriot Act. In preparation for the article, Ms. Foster asked to attend the meeting to observe how VCU was addressing that legislation. One of the biggest issues facing VCU is how to advise staff to properly respond to inquiries made under the auspices of the Patriot Act.

To enable the committee members to better understand and implement the Patriot Act, Dean Mattauch distributed a packet of information containing several summaries of the legislation and its potential impact.

The committee reviewed the draft Procedures and Protocols Under the “USA-Patriot Act” that lays out how University faculty, staff and administrators should respond to requests for information under the Act. The document was discussed paragraph by paragraph. Issues regarding how to access and handle immediate security threats, what type of information (records and documents) should be kept, what kind of electronic records should be maintained and for how long, what is the difference between a procedure and a protocol, emergency disclosures, etc. were all items that were discussed.

It was suggested that a checklist be developed for Help Desk staff that would list procedures for various situations.

Until final procedures can be drafted and approved, the committee recommended that any inquiries under the Patriot Act be directed to the Information Security Officer (Laushey), the Executive Director for Administrative Information Technology (Willis) or the Vice Provost for Academic Technology (Self).

Revisions to the draft “VCU Procedures and Protocols” document will be distributed to UITAC prior to the next meeting. After committee approval, the document will be sent to the vice presidents, the deans, and the General Counsel’s office for review.

In the meantime, Dr. Self, Mr. Willis, and Mr. Laushey will meet with the VCU Police and the General Counsel regarding the involvement of these two units in implementation of the provisions of the Act.

III. Wireless Networking Standards – Complete Review of Attachment 3
This item will be discussed at the next meeting. Dr. Self will send a memorandum to the Provost to advise him that UITAC is working on this.

IV. E-Mail Issues (Broadcast E-Mail Guidelines, Quotas, SPAM)
This also will be carried over to the next meeting.

Because the next meeting (March 11) falls during spring break, the committee decided to reschedule the meeting. It will be held the following Monday, March 18th. Ms. Barbie will email the committee to advise them.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:40 pm.