Information Technology Committee Minutes

March 2, 2000

The Information Technology Committee met at 11:00 a.m. on March 2, 2000, in Johnson Hall, Conference

Room 102. Dr. Gary Pickett called the meeting to order.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Dr. Jeffrey Austen made a correction concerning the spelling of his name. Prof. Carolyn Whiteaker made a motion to approve the agenda. Dr. Jon Booker seconded the motion. Motion carried.

CONSIDERATION OF WORDPERFECT: Dr. Bob Bode, who is requesting that WordPerfect be used on campus, could not attend the meeting but did send a document supporting the use of Word Perfect, which Mr. Danny Reese summarized. Mr. Bush said the campus was notified three years ago that WordPerfect was no longer favorable for use in the student labs. Ms. Littrell replied that academic site licenses were not available for WordPerfect and it was decided to discontinue it. Mr. Reese said he would verify with Dr. Bode if he were requesting it for use in the labs or by faculty. Dr. Pickett asked Mr. Reese to meet with Dr. Bode and resolve his concerns and then have feedback at the next meeting.

COMPUTING POLICIES SUBCOMMITTEE STATUS REPORT: Dr. Austen said there was nothing to report, but there would be one at the next meeting.

WEB PAGE MONITORING AND MAINTENANCE REPORT: Ms. Monica Greppin talked to the committee about the need for additional manpower to support the University’s main web site. She explained how another position would operate on a daily basis. She said ITS is doing a good job helping with web page maintenance but there is a need for additional support from the public affairs area. One person needs to monitor/update the main web pages/links to ensure the University’s image is being properly projected. Dr. Paul Isbell indicated the position had been identified as a need last year. Ms. Greppen and Mr. Reese recommended the position be treated as a joint venture between ITS and Public Affairs in a manner similar to the three consultants that are housed in A&S, Business, and Education. The position would be housed in Public Affairs and report to Ms. Greppin for normal duties, while the budget line would be in the ITS budget. Mr. Richard Cashion made a motion to endorse the establishment of such a position and the joint venture recommendation; Prof. Carolyn Whiteaker seconded the motion. This was followed by a discussion. Dr. Jack Armistead said this should be a priority matter and needs to be added as an addendum to the motion. A friendly amendment was then added. Mr. Cashion revised his motion to endorsing the recommendation, as a high priority among the technology needs of the campus. Motion carried.

MICROSOFT WORK AT HOME SOFTWARE LICENSE - STATUS REPORT: Mr. Reese said TTU owned Microsoft software, installed on faculty/staff home computers or laptops must be used for business related purposes. Mr Bush said the faculty/staff member’s department must own a license of the software, which has been purchased through the TTU/Microsoft site license agreement. Mr. Reese made a motion to proceed with the Work at Home Rights program. Prof. Whiteaker seconded the motion. Question was called. The committee decided a memo was needed to make users aware of this offer. The motion carried.

TECHNOLOGY PLANNING PROCESS FOR 1999-2000: Mr. Reese and Mr. Cashion discussed the planning process being used this year in administrative areas. Mr. Cashion said the focus was on needs or problems people have. He encouraged departments to identify needs not being met and forward them to him – email preferred. The plan being developed will be dynamic in nature and really continue throughout the year.

COMPUTING HARDWARE/SOFTWARE APPROVAL PROCESS-STATUS REPORT: Mr. Reese said he wanted to work with TBR in order to simplify the purchase process. In the meantime ITS will work with the TTU purchasing office to establish a list of common software/hardware that will always have an active bid. This list will need to be approved by the ITC. Requests for software/hardware contained in the common list could go directly to purchasing and would not require additional ITC approval. He also stated that anyone who wants to place software on the common list should let him know.

CAMPUS PIPELINE UPDATE: Mr. Reese said the last release was mid January, and the next release will be mid summer. He said the summer release might have the capability to benefit the students and faculty, but we will need to wait and see what the release contains.

ONE CARD SYSTEM (LIBRARY, ACCESS, VENDING, DINING, DEBIT FUNCTION): Mr. Cashion said no decision had been made for one card system. Four vendors have made presentations. He said the system would apply to students, faculty, staff and many departments. If the University decides to move forward with the one card system it will probably be phased in over a 2 to 3 year period.

SUCH OTHER MATTERS: Mr. Charlie Ferrill provided information concerning CTN, videos, and televisions that have been installed in the fitness center.