Academic Technology Committee Final Report (2012-2013)
Original Charges
Lecture Capture: Determine if there is general interest among the faculty (beyond the few
departments with specific needs) in providing lecture capture capabilities in classrooms. If so,
work with ITS to identify potential solutions and determine a selection process. Report to Senate
with any appropriate recommendations.
Classroom of the Future: ITS would like to review current classroom technology options and
utilization, identify the technology needs of future UW-L classrooms and develop a design for
classrooms that supports the needs of faculty and students. This information will help with the
classroom design process for new buildings such as the Cowley replacement. An important part
of this process will be to survey department and faculty instructional classroom needs. Report to
Senate on the results of this study.
Campus Web Technology: Monitor proposed changes to D2L and the campus web site
especially as it pertains to department and faculty web pages. Also monitor the pilot test
experience with TurnItIn. Report to Senate with any appropriate recommendations.
Extra Charges added in February
The Senate recently approved assigning oversight/liaison responsibility for the online SEI system
to the Academic Technology committee. The SEC believes that the bylaws are already sufficient
to adequately address this. The SEC would like to extend the committee charge with a couple of
issues related to the online SEI system that arose during the Senate discussion. These are
1) Would a mobile app simplify and improve the experience for students. The goal here should
be on improving the student experience.
2) Is there a practical way to require student responses.
3) For what length of time should ITS retain the data from each student evaluation episode.
What we accomplished
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Of the original charges, we initially focused strictly on Turnitin which took most of our
time. After a pilot project, a faculty survey, and much discussion, we agreed that
purchasing this software was a good idea, and Senate approved that recommendation.
IT came to us with a document regarding wireless technologies early in the fall which we
modified from the faculty perspective before being sent to other groups. The version of
the document when it left our committee is attached to this final report.
As soon as we were done with the Turnitin issue, we were presented with the immediate
need to act on charges regarding electronic SEIs. We recommended, and Senate
approved, that we not use a mobile app at this time (don’t change the current electronic
SEI mechanism until it becomes more solidified into our culture). We also recommended,
with Senate approval, that emails from the Provost, and subsequently from Department
Chairs, go out to students (and faculty) reminding them of the importance of filling out
electronic SEIs. (This was in response to students complaining in the fall semester that
they didn’t know whether the IT email was real or spam). In addition, in the final
standard reminder from IT to students who had not completed their SEIs yet, we asked IT
to include a question as to why students had not filled out their SEIs to see if we could
get feedback about reasons for not doing it. We also recommended, and Senate approved,
that all data from a previous summer/fall/spring be purged by IT in December.
Departments could request an earlier deletion of those data if desired.
Suggestions for future charges
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If it is felt that the lecture capture, classroom of the future, and web page charges still
need to be addressed, those should be included in the charge for 2013-14.
In addition, Senate discussed the electronic SEIs at length during the meeting at which
our recommendations were presented, and it became clear that senators wished for some
guidelines to be in place. We recommend that next year’s ATC be charged with
producing some simple guidelines for distributing SEIs electronically.
Submitted by Anne Galbraith, 6-13
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Wireless Guidelines (Finalized by ATC 2/1/2013)
1.0 Background
Wireless device usage has increased exponentially in recent years. It is used everywhere
from classrooms to dorms, and is a necessary part of a modern campus. Wireless
technologies are, by nature, easy to deploy but highly sensitive to overlapping
frequencies. These characteristics have led, through user naiveté, to numerous conflicts
between individual devices and the university network that have negatively impacted
network performance for other users. This document seeks to minimize these conflicts
by laying out guidelines and procedures for wireless connectivity.
2.0 Primary wireless network connectivity
2.1. ITS will provide, as much as technically and financially feasible, a campus-wide wireless
network (see definitions, section 4.0).
2.2. The goal of this network is to provide secure and stable access for academic use.
2.2.1. ITS will do the following in implementing a campus-wide wireless network:
a) Manage the wireless spectrum in a manner that ensures the greatest
interoperability and roaming ability for all departments, colleges, staff and
students wishing to use wireless,
b) Centralize as needed the process of determining identity, authentication, and
appropriate levels of security for access to and use of wireless services; and,
c) Ensure that all wireless services deployed on campus will adhere to campuswide standards for access control.
2.2.2. ITS will work with departments, colleges, staff, and students to reconfigure or
retire wireless hardware that interferes with connectivity or communication (see
section 3.2 for academic exceptions).
2.3. ITS will be solely responsible for planning, deploying, and managing the wireless access
points on the primary network. No other departments or individuals may deploy wireless
service or related wireless access points without prior written approval from ITS (see
exceptions for academic reasons in section 3.2)
2.4. For non-roaming equipment or for settings requiring additional bandwidth and/or
security, ITS will continue to provide a robust and secure wired network.
2.5. ITS will provide information accessible to the campus community on anticipated changes
to the wireless plans, deployment strategies, and/or management issues.
2.5.1. To allow interested parties a chance to provide input, major changes to campus
networking connectivity that have the potential to affect scholarship or teaching
will be communicated at least two months in advance.
3.0 Conflicting use of the wireless spectrum
3.1. Many common computer peripherals now come with a wireless access point enabled.
ITS will help alleviate wireless signal overlap by maintaining and disseminating a list of
peripherals that do not interfere with the campus wireless network. Deployed equipment
not on this list may need to have the wireless access disabled (see below and 2.2.2).
3.1.1. If requested, ITS will work with residence hall staff to identify conflicting
equipment and arbitrate disputes that arise.
3.2. Departmental exceptions to this policy for valid academic reasons are possible for
specific technological reasons.
3.2.1. ITS will work with departments to resolve wireless conflicts created by any
special academic needs.
3.2.2. Academic departments are asked to contact the Eagle Help Desk when
anticipating the need for equipment that could potentially conflict with existing
campus wireless technology.
4.0 Definitions
4.1. Wireless Technology - A technology that uses radio waves to transmit and receive data.
4.2. Frequencies – The radio channels and frequencies identified in the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 wireless standard.
5.0 Responsible Use of Computing Resources
UW-L and UW System policies regarding appropriate use of campus networks apply to
wireless networks and associated devices. Inappropriate behaviors that interfere with
primary wireless network transmissions may result in disciplinary actions as specified in
the responsible use of computing resources:
http://www.uwlax.edu/policies/ResponsibleUse.html
6.0 Responsible Organization
ITS will share these guidelines with UW La Crosse Administration, the Faculty Senate
Academic Technology Committee, Student Academic Technology Committee, Academic
Staff Council, Classified Staff Advisory Council, Student Association and ITS
Information Security Committee.
7.0 Revision History
7.1. DRAFT 9/14/2011
7.2. DRAFT v.2 9/15/2011
7.3. DRAFT v.3 9/11/2012
7.4. DRAFT v.4 1/15/2013
7.5. DRAFT v.5 1/22/2013
7.6. Approved by ATC v.6 2/1/2013