Academic Technology & Educational Resources Committee
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MINUTES OF MEETING: 12/02/11
Submitted Exec. Committee:
Submitted Academic Senate:
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APPROVED BY ATC: 2/03/12
Approved by Exec. Committee: __________
Approved by Academic Senate: __________
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ATC Members Present: Helen Heinrich, Gina Masequesmay, Sydni Powell, Mary Schaffer,
Ashley Skylar (chair), Wayne Smith, Sally Spencer, Michael Sullivan, Holli Tonyan
Excused: Shan Barkataki, Andres Cuevas, Jussi Eloranta, Ron Saito
Absent: none
Executive Secretary: Hilary Baker
Recording Secretary: Jennifer De Iuliis
ERC Members Present: Michael Barrett, Sandra Chong, Barry Cleveland, Nazaret Dermendjian,
James Dow, Jerry Schutte (chair)
Executive Secretary: Diane Stephens
Excused: Ric Alviso, Doris Helfer, Robert Kladifko, Veda Ward
Absent: none
Guests: Sue Cullen, David Levin, Chris Olsen, Ben Quillian, Paul Schantz
1) Announcements
a. Skylar mentioned she sent a survey to faculty via Moodle regarding their perceptions
of online teaching. She encourages attendees to complete the survey, which is
scheduled to close on Monday. Skylar noted a similar survey was sent to students
and 968 students responded.
2) Chair’s Report
a. ERC Charge (Schutte)
Schutte read the ERC charge aloud from the Faculty Senate bylaws to explain the
responsibilities and scope of their committee as well as overlap with ATC regarding
areas of responsibility. He shared that it is beneficial for both groups to meet based
on the numerous things coming forward in Academic Technology.
b. Hybrid/Online Definitions Update (Skylar)
Skylar shared an example from SOLAR for attendees to see how the course codes
appear in the use of the notes section. She is working with the department secretaries
and the Managers of Academic Resources to get the word out to utilize these codes.
Skylar stated that faculty need to provide the type of online course to the department
secretary to add the mode of instruction and that the information does not have to be
vetted with the dean. In addition to the codes in SOLAR, Skylar is also encouraging
faculty to include the mode of instruction on the syllabi.
Smith suggested this would be a good topic to mention at the faculty retreat. Skylar
stated she has a poster session planned for Online Readiness and will communicate
with Heidi to determine what other items she could provide (i.e. flyers).
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3) VP/CIO’s Report (Baker)
Baker provided an update about what is new in IT; that will impact faculty and students both
this semester and planned for next semester.
Available this semester:
Student myNorthridge Portal – students are now able to download their class scheduled to
external calendars of their choice, not limited to Google calendars.
Lecture Capture – The pilot continues and Baker encourages anyone that is interested to
record should contact the Faculty Technology Center. There are 2 classrooms available for
use and personal capture is available outside of classrooms as well. These recordings can be
streamed from Moodle courses or directly from the web.
Available next semester:
Exam Browser Integration with Moodle – Faculty will be able to use a tool called Safe Exam
Browser for Moodle quizzes conducted in labs. Baker noted the labs need to have the
software loaded and faculty should contact the Faculty Technology Center for assistance with
the software requirements.
Virtual Software Library – Baker shared that in Spring semester all students will have access
to a limited number of software titles including SPSS, ArcMap, ArcReader, Libre Office,
OpenSSH, Mathmatica, and Acrobat Professional. Plans are also in progress to expand the
suite access on a per-department basis for other software such as Adobe Photoshop, Flash,
Dreamweaver, Fireworks, and InDesign.
Several members commented that they were pleased to hear that the software will be
available for all students. Some questioned how best to inform students about the new
service.
4) Executive Secretary ERC Report (Stephens)
a. Computer Lab Project
Handout titled – CSUN Academic Affairs, Computer Labs 2010/11
Stephens explained that in order to expand on the campus’s current footprint, there is
a need to be more effective stewardship of the existing space. A sub-group of the
Classroom Technology Committee surveyed all the Academic Affairs computer labs
(10 computers or more) over the summer and came up with detailed analysis (over
100,000 square feet of space is the total for all these labs). She shared that Provost
Hellenbrand would like Academic Resources to work on a transition plan of a 30%
reduction in the labs. Stephens noted they have met with the colleges and various
options are being reviewed in order to meet this reduction requirement. She is
expecting reports back from each college next week.
b. Smart Classroom Update
Stephens noted that there is a web page maintained by IT that lists the rooms and
locations of each Smart Classroom. She shared that a project is underway to add
photos of the rooms. Tonyan suggested adding the room capacity to the web listing.
Stephens added that all of the Smart Classrooms will be equipped with a new thin
client computer (by June 2012, possibly sooner) and they will have the same software
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image. If there are specific software requirements needed in a Smart Classroom,
faculty member should contact their local college technician.
c. Co-Requisites in SOLAR
Stephens explained that Undergraduate Studies has confirmed that a class could be
linked to a lab by section; however, this is a manual process and needs to be
completed by a SOLAR Coordinator. Members expressed concerns that this would
be time consuming and asked whether and easier process is possible. Baker
suggested inviting Patty Lord to join the next joint meeting to speak further on this
and other SOLAR items.
d. Video Furnace
In 2010 Provost Hellenbrand provided the library with some lottery funds to use for
transferring VHS tapes to digital media. Stephens noted there are now over 700 titles
converted and requests can be made for titles to be converted. The media is currently
for use only in class and another service, Films on Demand can be utilized outside the
classroom. Members expressed some concerns around closed captioned that did not
seem to be available for the videos in Films on Demand. Heinrich will look into and
share further information regarding closed captioning with the committees.
5) Discussion Topics
a. CSU Online Update (Baker & Skylar)
Skylar participated on the search committee and an Executive Director, Ruth Black
has been hired. Baker has been appointed to the CSU Online Board and will be
attending a meeting next week. Members expressed concerns around the level of
faculty input in this process; they stressed the importance of faculty inclusion.
b. IT Vision@2015 (Baker)
Baker provided a brief overview of the IT Vision@2015 planning process to date and
noted the final report is available on the web. She explained the next steps are to
share the report findings with the campus community and to develop roadmaps to
guide the annual planning to meet the vision by 2015. Baker and others will be
meeting with governance groups to gather input for the roadmaps.
The committees provided input to selective IT Vision@2015 themes during the
meeting, which were captured in separate notes for input to the IT Vision@2015
roadmaps.
c. Accessible Technology Initiatives (ATI) Update (Sue Cullen)
Handout titled – Universal Design Center – ATI Update, Fall 2011 and ATI
Projects/Activities Related to Annual Report Success Indicators
Cullen explained the 2012 compliance was a moving target and across the CSU it was
felt that the dates were unattainable; therefore, the Chancellor’s Office has changed
their focus and is looking for regular progress reports and input from each campus to
show how things are moving forward. Cullen stated a tool called Compliance Sheriff
was purchase by the Chancellor’s Office for easier review and reporting purposes.
Cullen noted that CSU agreements are being formed with other campuses to
collaborate and share in reaching ATI compliance goals. Schutte suggested
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separating the strategies and tactics and highlighting what’s needed now so faculty
can be focused in the right direction. Cullen agreed and explained that
communication is an on-going problem on campus. She is currently compiling a
services grid and will share this information with both committees.
Meeting adjourned at 3:10 PM.
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