UTAC
Friday, February 19, 2010 10:00am
MLIB 338
ATTENDING TEAM MEMBERS AND GUESTS
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Joe Alexander
Debra Barger
Jeff Bell
Scott Claverie
Cris Guenter
Kathy Fernandes
Robyn Hafer
Ben Juliano
Beth Kissinger
Russell Lobban
Bill Post
Jerry Ringel
Frederica Shockley
Phyllis Weddington
Joel Zimbelman
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Ed Hudson for Brooke Banks
Sarah Blakeslee
Aaron Bowen
Terry Curtis
Chris Prator
Lorraine Gardiner
Wendy Beane for Dan Reed
Andrea Mox
Ben Levitt
Jaime Nelson
Linda Post
Tom Rosenow
Mike Spiess
Joe Wills
Tammara Askea
DISCUSSION ITEMS
1.
Approval of meeting notes from November 13, 2009
Approved with no changes.
2.
Additions/Changes to Agenda & Announcements (Ben Juliano)
Ben announced an upcoming CFA meeting, and Kathy Fernandes announced that there will be and LMS
Committee Webinar happening in the coming weeks. Details will be in Announcements.
IT Status Sheet Review/Discussion (Ben Juliano)
There were only minor changes this month – no questions about the updates. The committee was reminded that
the IT Status Sheet is for all campus IT projects and issues, not just IRES. Please let Jaime Nelson know about
items that you would like to add to the status sheet – they are always welcome.
Update on Library Space Issues (Bill Post)
The library is in the process of reorganizing its space to become a more collaborative area for patrons. Students
have been finding creative ways to meet their needs – whether physically moving furniture or finding electrical
outlets for their laptops – and we are looking to them to inform us on new directions for planning library space.
In the next few months, all new furniture will be installed in the Laptop Lounge on the first floor. The library
printer contract is up for review next fiscal year and wireless printing will be part of a new vendor bid.
3.
4.
5.
Debra Barger asked if UTAC can work with the Campus Planning Committee in the future to better integrate
technology needs with campus projects. In the short term, it would be beneficial to find out if the new area
between Colusa Hall and Selvester’s Café will have infrastructure (power, etc) for use by students and faculty.
Bill said that he will bring this issue to Cabinet to discuss long term ideas.
Improving Business Processes
a. Virtual Server Status (Jerry Ringel)
Jerry briefly discussed the history of virtual servers on campus and presented a handout showing server
statistics. Servers that were previously housed in departments are being brought into the Data Center.
Expansion of virtual servers in the Data Center is also due to departments having test and productions
servers. The virtual environment is working well, even for large programs such as the LMS. Jerry also
discussed how the cost model for virtual servers works. Storage in the virtual environment is expensive
and departments need to figure out if their needs are best served with virtual storage or physical storage.
Video editing, for example, is something that would not be an economical use of a virtual server – it
needs a lot of storage space but doesn’t require fast speeds. Bill will talk more about academic use of
the virtual environment at a future meeting.
b.
c.
d.
6.
7.
Campus-wide Backup System (Jerry, Andrea Mox)
Mike Spiess asked if there is a plan for campus wide backups at desktop and server levels. Bill replied
that there is not a solution for individual backup of desktop machines right now, but we are heading
toward getting everyone to use their personal Bay folder instead of storing documents locally. The
upcoming Bay upgrade will have more storage and allow for larger individual quotas. On the server
level, the power outage over Winter Break exposed some of the weaknesses on campus. The Data
Center in Butte Hall does not have a generator (there is a generator to power the elevators, but nothing
else in the building). We met with FMS to discuss this issue and an engineering consultation is
underway. The library also has a “mini” data center that does have a generator. However, generators
cannot be counted on completely and aren’t the end-all to data protection. We are also working on a
plan to address the need for communication when campus systems are down. How do we contact server
owners and others when campus email is down?
Netbook Support (Andrea)
Andrea presented a Support Statement on Netbook and iPad support from User Services. This is similar
to the support statement for smartphones. While USRV does not discourage the use of these devices,
support for them is very limited and on a charge-for basis since they cannot be managed with the
standard management tools and require individual attention. Andrea suggested that a Netbook user seek
support from their department tech for any issues/program installation since USRV does not have the
resources to provide service for free. Andrea asked the committee for approval of the support statement
for distribution to campus. What is the level (size, and/or price) of laptops that ARE supported by
USRV and capable of running all the needed university/Enterprise programs? Andrea will come back to
the committee with this information at a later date.
Forms Discussion (Bill)
Bill updated the committee on the status of forms on campus. He reported that Chico had a meeting at
Sacramento State with other CSUs and the Chancellor’s Office about SharePoint uses and
implementation strategies. He will do a presentation on SharePoint at a future UTAC meeting. Our
campus has a SharePoint beta site going right now, but will soon move into using it for something
“real” and active very soon. We need to decide if it is a viable campus development platform or
something that is solving a niche problem. Joe Alexander asked if Chico had looked at a product called
Box.net when we were evaluating SharePoint. It is another collaborative document management tool.
Bill and Ben said that they will take a look at it (Joe to provide link and information). Integration with
Microsoft Office and our back-end systems is imperative, but we aren’t wedded to SharePoint and are
willing to look at Box.net (and others?) at this point.
Also, Bill is now writing a memo regarding campus initiative for form creation, change, and reduction.
Academic Computing Advisory Committee (Bill)
Bill is working with the Deans on how to deal with college/area computing and technology. UTAC is too broad
of a group to talk about this issue – we need a narrower committee to make strategic changes. Therefore, we will
be creating a sub-group called the Academic Computing Advisory Committee. This committee will be comprised
of all the faculty members on UTAC as well as additional faculty members from colleges, appointed by the Dean
if desired. Bill will send information to UTAC and convene the ACAC soon.
Leadership Transition (Ben)
Ben reminded the committee that his term as Chair ends this semester and we will be calling for nominations for
the next Chair.
TO DO LIST SUMMARY
#
Task
1.
Bill Post to Cabinet to discuss UTAC and
Campus Planning Committee integration
2.
Convene Academic Computing Advisory
Committee (ACAC)
3.
Approve USRV Support Statement for
Netbooks
4.
Presentation on SharePoint
FUTURE MEETINGS
Date: April 16, 2010
Responsible Party
Bill Post
Due Date
NA
Bill Post
NA
UTAC
ASAP
Bill Post
NA
Time: 10:00 – 11:30am
Place: MLIB 338
Status