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Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes for August 26, 2004

A meeting of the University Information Technology Advisory Committee was called to order at 3:10 p.m. on August 26, 2004 in the 4th floor conference room of Cabell Library. Dr. James Shultz, co-chair, presided. Members present were Dr. Lynn Nelson, Dr. Henry Rozycki, Dr. Dianne Simons, Dr. Robert Mattauch, Dr. Phyllis Self, Mr. John Ulmschneider, and Mr. Mark Willis. Ms. Fran Smith, Ms. Veronica Shuford, Mr. Charles Anderson, Mr. Rahul Khanna, and Mr. Carl Gattuso were absent.

I. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM MAY 27, 2004
Minutes were approved as amended.

Under Item II, IT Strategic Planning, Research IT, the second paragraph was amended to read as follows:
Goal 1 under Web Services (Increase Integration of Web-based Services into the University’s Instructional, Research, Public Service, Health Care and Administrative Activities) is a major goal. The internet is an infinite knowledge base, and should be exploited to create and use information.

The item entitled “Dr. Self’s wireless security proposal” under Item V, Other Business, was amended to read as follows:
A proposal will go to the provost requesting that $5,000 of the student technology fee be used to support the purchase of the Wireless VPN Client for students using MACs.

REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM JUNE 24, 2004
Minutes were approved as amended.

The second paragraph under “Other Business” should read as follows:
Mr. Willis re-distributed a copy of the “E-mail Policy & Operational Procedures Issues” (copy attached). Preliminary recommendations on these issues were made at the April 22, 2004 meeting. The issues were discussed and the following recommendations were made.

#1 E-mail forwarding – the preliminary recommendation made at the April 22 meeting was to NOT allow forwarding on student accounts. After discussion, the committee determined that this issue needs more discussion in other circles, including the new interim Provost.

#2 Supported clients – the preliminary recommendation was that selected clients would be supported by the central IT units (Notes, Outlook and Mozilla). Support for other clients would have to be provided by school/departmental IT staff. Web access would be provided through iNotes and simple Web Mail. Pine would no longer be supported. After discussion, it was determined that Mr. Scott Davis needs to provide the committee with the number of Pine users. It was also suggested that more iNotes training be provided.

#3 Quotas – the preliminary recommendation at the April 22 meeting was to adopt a four-tiered system of quotas and enforce it. The tiers would be UG students, GR and PR students, general faculty/staff, and exceptions. After discussion, the committee determined that an educational piece needs to be developed so that users will know how to handle this.

#4 Restoration of deleted mail – the preliminary recommendation at the April 22 meeting was that restoration would require administrative approval (see note at bottom of E-mail Policy document attached)

#5 Mobile access – the preliminary recommendation at the April 22 meeting was that mobile access to e-mail would be provided for Blackberries, cell phones and devices with WAP browsers. PDA support would be provided for the two most predominant devices/operating systems. After discussion, recommendation was made that support for PDAs will be the responsibility of the individual departments.

#6 Duplicate accounts – the preliminary recommendation was that each person be permitted one individual e-mail account. Special and departmental accounts would continue as needed. Committee determined this was not an issue.

#7 Auto Archiving – The committee agreed with the preliminary recommendation that this issue be investigated further for future implementation.

II. IT STRATEGIC PLAN REVIEW
The initial review of the plan will be done at this meeting and another draft will be prepared based on the comments and suggestions provided. The draft will then be sent to the Faculty Senate, the Staff Senate, the SGA, and the President’s Council for comment prior to being submitted to the president and vice presidents for final approval.

The committee discussed the guiding principles at length with emphasis on the last guiding principle (IT Governance, Management and Funding). The committee also decided to focus on the Student Life section of the Plan and decided that student groups should be included as part of the governance review.

Dr. Self and Mr. Willis received praise for their work on the IT Strategic Plan.

The committee members were requested to make changes to the plan and email their suggestions to Dr. Self and Mr. Willis. They will re-work the plan and it can be reviewed again at the next meeting. Mr. Willis suggested that once the document is “cleaned up,” it should be sent to the staff senate, faculty senate, ATFAC, student government groups, and the Research Advisory Council. We might even want to invite them to a meeting, ask them to review it or maybe have an open forum.

At the October meeting, we can decide on whether to ask for constituent input.

III. UITAC MEMBERSHIP AND ORGANIZATION FOR 2004-05
Since it is the beginning of the academic year, it is time to appoint new members to UITAC and elect new officers. Dr. Self stated that she asked the Provost for one faculty member, one administrative member, and some students.

The current co-chairs, Dr. Nelson and Dr. Shultz, agreed to continue in their roles but feel the final decision should be left to the VP’s discretion. A suggestion was made to add the rotation dates to the committee list or prepare a tickler file that would denote when a member’s term is up.

IV. START OF SCHOOL REPORTS
Dr. Self is working with VCUnet to install phones in the classrooms, so the instructors will have access to the Help Desk if they need it.

The new Shafer Court Dining Center is open. A question was raised about wireless access in the classrooms. Mr. Willis stated that while some classrooms have wireless access, AIT has been focusing mainly on open, general use areas at this time, such as the new Shafer Court Dining Center, with central funds. Wireless in department spaces, such as classrooms and labs, have been funded with school or departmental money.

Mr. Willis also stated that 802.11 f is a new standard, and when that is in place, it will eliminate the VPN client. The equipment is not out yet, but should be out in the fall. VCUnet is also looking at other technology to simplify secure access.

Support staff have found that many students do not have up-to-date antivirus software installed on their PCs. This has been a problem as infected machines are disrupting the network.

IV. NEW BUSINESS
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:00 pm.