Information Technology Council 2005-2006
Minutes, Meeting of Monday, December 5, 2005
Members Attending: Robert Kelly, Deborah Trytten, Matt Matos, Hunter Crowther-Heyck, Teri Murphy,
Mike Sewell, Dimitrios Papavassiliou, Jamie Skibsted, Sarah Robbins, Cheryl Carney, Don Maletz. Guests:
Loretta Early, Matt Singleton.
Absent: Dennis Aebersold, Matt Deeg, Nick Hathaway, Burr Milsap.
Minutes of the November 7, 2005, meeting were approved on a motion by Deborah, seconded by Teri.
1. Announcements, organizational:
There will be four meetings for the spring semester, on Mondays, 3:30 pm. Specific dates will be set after
checking the schedule of Faculty Senate meetings.
ITC meetings spring semester 2006: January 30, February 27, March 27, May 1.
(Faculty Senate: January 23, February 13, March 20, April 10, May 8)
2. Old Business
Faculty Senate Executive Committee: Don reported on his meeting with the Faculty Senate Executive
Committee on November 28, 2005. He briefed the Executive Committee on ITC activities during the fall
semester, and the likely agenda for the spring semester. Senate action may be requested to re-title the
existing ITC policies by deleting the “Interim” from the Policy on Information Systems Security, Policy on
Acceptable Use of Information Resources, and Email Policy. The Network Policy may be re-introduced in
a revised form. An issue of importance for the near future is the possible expansion of wireless access to
the entire campus, as requested by UOSA.
Symantec Anti-Virus: Re-visiting the issues raised in the previous meeting about the Symantec anti-virus
program, Matt Singleton reported that the following adjustments have been made: a) the screen showing
the progress of the scan has been made visible again; b) the scan may now be delayed by the user up to
three times; c) scans are initiated only on file create. IT is working on the introduction of an additional
desktop security program but will postpone implementation until it is made more user-friendly.
Deborah: setting the scan schedule for Wednesday at noon is highly inconvenient. Matt: the time
was set on the advice of the IT Leaders group, because it seemed the time when the majority of
computers would be on, while other days would be less effective.
3. New Business
Wireless networking: President Boren announced in a letter to the Oklahoma Daily that he favors
implementation of campus-wide wireless access in 2006. IT: this project will be a main priority in the
coming semester and the summer. The plan is for a system covering the campus from Timberdell Road
north to Boyd Street. (The Law School and the south campus research buildings already have their own
wireless networks.) The system will be secure, requiring authentication on first use, but will allow a
restricted “guest” access.
Discussion of the problems caused by wireless computing during classes (see Gary McWilliams,
“The Laptop Backlash: Wireless Classrooms Promote Messaging and Web Surfing, Not Learning,
Professsors Say,” The Wall Street Journal, October 14, 2005, p. B1 – reporting on problems
experienced at UCLA, Virginia, Houston, Stanford, Georgia Tech, and Duke). Can wireless access
be turned off for a given class? IT thinks this would be difficult or impractical. Hunter noted that
the professor can require laptops to be closed. Deborah said she does not treat web surfing as a
problem in her classes, unless it disturbs students near the perpetrator.
Equipment maintenance and up-grades: Don asked about the scheduling of equipment maintenance
throughout the campus system. IT reports that all equipment is monitored and the newest equipment can be
monitored in real time. There is a schedule of maintenance and up-grades for all routers/switches. Core
equipment is replaced every three years, “edge” equipment every five years insofar as possible. For some
older buildings and for the many non-prosperous departments, an additional problem is the low quality of
the wiring installed when the network was first created. In these cases, the current cabling prevents an
effective up-grade of the routers/switches. While IT has built a schedule for the regular replacement of
inadequate equipment and wiring, the plan has not yet been funded.
Replacement of the 4x4 userid containing social security digits: IT is working on a plan to convert the old
4x4 to a 4x4 based on the new OU personal identification numbers, and sought input from ITC about
whether this should be a ‘voluntary’ changeover at the option of the individual user or a ‘mandatory’
changeover as with the conversion of personal identification numbers for the entire campus community in
2005.
Deborah: the use of social security digits is inexcusable. Teri and Robert: the last four digits of
one’s social security number may be sufficient for identity thieves to access personal information
elsewhere. Hunter and Robert: generally it is preferable to make a change ‘voluntary.’ Deborah:
the least technically skilled persons are the ones likely not to choose to change the userid and yet
are also the ones most vulnerable; on these grounds, it is best to make the change mandatory and
campus-wide. Deborah: considering that the danger inherent in the use of the social security
numbers has been under discussion for years, the University makes itself liable by not addressing
the problem. IT: there are some parts of the campus system that may encounter significant
problems in a changeover (issues: WebCT accounts, possibly the authentication system in use by
the Library). IT does not wish to proceed on a mandatory changeover without guidance from ITC
about the best method.
Teri: moved that IT implement a mandatory changeover to a new userid without social security
digits, to take effect at the beginning of the 2006-07 academic year. Second: Hunter. Further
discussion, especially of implementation difficulties on the part of IT. Deborah: moved to table the
motion in order to provide IT with opportunity for further planning, with a report on feasibility to
be provided at the next ITC meeting. Second: Hunter. Motion passed unanimously.
Adjourned: 4:55 pm.
Don Maletz