Minutes of Meeting, 10/26/98
Attendance:
Ms Melanie Bedgood, Continuing Education
Ms Juanita Darby, Leesville Campus
Mr. Luke Dowden, SGA
Mr. Tom Hall, Science & Technology
Mr. Eddie Horton, Title III
Dr. James Picht, Scholars' College
Ms Susan Pierce, Nursing (Chair)
Mr. Joe Rollins, Nursing
Dr. Anthony Scheffler, Academic Computing
Ms Pati Threatt, Watson Library
Dr. Ray Wallace, Language & Communications
Ms Susan White, Business
Absent: Ms Joyce Barnes, Dr. Bob Gillan, Mr. Phillip Gillis, Mr. Shawn Hornsby, Ms Peggy Immons, Mr. Dennis Kalina, Ms Sandra Mixon, Ms Mary Edith Stacy, and Ms Marsha Zulick
Guests: Mr. Roy Davis, Academic Computing
The Information Technology Advisory Council met on Monday, October 26, 1998 at 10:00 am in Kyser Hall Room 419.
Ms Pierce called the meeting to order and called for any announcements. Ms Threatt mentioned the grand opening of the Library computer lab. The ITAC approved the use of student technology fees to fund this lab last year.
Ms Pierce expressed the need to solicit evaluations from last year's funding recipients. She will send a letter reminding them to prepare these evaluations.
The next order of business involved the status of the Proposal Form Review Committee. The leader of this committee, Ms Mary Edith Stacy was not in attendance. Dr. Wallace volunteered that he spoke with Ms Stacy informally about the form and she feels that the form is acceptable in its present state. Dr. Scheffler suggested two slight modifications to the form, namely that the form reflect that applicants should send completed proposals to Ms Susan Pierce, ITAC Chairperson, 1800 Line Avenue, Shreveport, La., 71101 and that a new deadline be established. Dr. Scheffler went on to say that the new deadline should allow enough time for the ITAC to review the proposals and make its decisions before the semester break. Dr. Wallace suggested a December 1st deadline to allow everyone ample time to prepare proposals and allow ITAC ample time to make its decisions. Dr. Scheffler reiterated the fact that he must know exactly what ITAC plans to fund before Spring 1999 registration. The remaining members of ITAC concurred with the December 1st deadline. Mr. Dowden moved that the form be changed to reflect the new deadline. Ms White seconded the motion and all agreed.
Next, Ms Pierce called for volunteers to lead the reading groups. These groups will read proposals, discuss the merits of each, and report back to the ITAC proper. Dr. Wallace, Ms Darby, Ms Susan White, and Mr. Luke Dowden volunteered to lead these reading groups. Ms Pierce will disseminate information about the groups to all ITAC members.
The next order of business called for the committee to review the University's technology plan to report its activity. As Dr. Gillan was absent, Mr. Dowden came forward to give his thoughts on what should be changed. Mr. Dowden suggested adjusting the NSTEP to agree with the goals and objectives of the University, re-evaluating the action plan on page 14 to reflect the University's recent accomplishments, moving the 3-year objectives to 1-year objectives, and exploring the idea of creating a voice-mail system for the campus. Mr. Dowden further noted that he had collected several technology plans from other Louisiana universities and was in the process of reviewing them. Upon first glance, Mr. Dowden noticed that NSU has far fewer student representatives on its technology council than other universities. Dr. Scheffler reminded the members of the origin of the ITAC: to advise the University on matters of technology. Later, the ITAC was charged with administering the student technology fee. Dr. Scheffler suggested that perhaps the university needed a separate student committee to administer the student technology funds. Finally, Mr. Dowden mentioned that the NSU student representative to the Board of Regents will recommend more standardization in student technology plans throughout the state. Ms Pierce steered the meeting back to the subject of the NSTEP document and asked Mr. Dowden to confer with that committee to finalize the recommendations for changes.
At this point, Dr. Wallace asked if we had a quorum for the present meeting and expressed dismay at the apparent apathy and lack of participation amongst the ITAC members. A count was taken and Ms Pierce verified that a quorum was present. Dr. Scheffler supported Dr. Wallace's concerns and warned the ITAC of the dire necessity of completing its duties in a serious and timely manner. Ms Threatt raised the issue of an ITAC list-serv to facilitate communication amongst the members. Dr. Scheffler said that plans were under way to establish an electronic discussion group for ITAC members. He will alert the ITAC when it is ready.
Next, Ms Pierce called for a report of the state of the library's technology. Ms Threatt reminded the members of the five-phase proposal to upgrade the library's technology that the ITAC approved last year. She reported that the first phase of the library's plan, a full-service computer lab, was open and getting a large amount of use. She went on to report that the library is ready to implement the second phase of the proposal which calls for 37 unified workstations throughout the three NSU libraries.
Dr. Scheffler interjected that the NSU campus is experiencing major problems due to a lack of sufficient data and power lines to accommodate the influx of new equipment. Ms Threatt suggested that the ITAC draw up a statement regarding these concerns. Mr. Dowden mentioned that other universities are using student technology fees to upgrade data, power, and telephone lines. Ms Pierce astutely asked to whom such a statement be addressed. Mr. Hall suggested the Planning Resource Council. Dr. White called for Dr. Scheffler to write the statement, as he has the most expertise in this area. Dr. Scheffler agreed to prepare the statement for discussion at the November 9th meeting.
Dr. Scheffler briefly mentioned the problem of several departments not accurately reporting what property was purchased with student fees. He asked that everyone be more conscientious about property reports, as Academic Computing must account for this property to the legislative auditors. He further advocated the use of special stickers for property purchased with student technology fees to indicate as much.
The next meeting will be held on November 9, 1998 at 10:00 am.
With no other business the council was adjourned at 11:00 am.
Respectfully submitted,
Pati Threatt, Secretary, Information Technology Advisory Council
