Members present:
Teshome Abebe, Alan Baharlou, Reed Benedict, Jim Bruehler, Keith Cosentino, Hank Davis, Pat Fewell, Dave Henard, John Henderson, Peter Hesterman, Liz Hitch, Les Hyder, James Johnson, Allen Lanham, Morgan Olsen, Dana Ringuette, Nackil Sung, Jeremy Wendel, Bill Witsman and Mary Durkin Wohlrabe.

Members absent:
Mahmood Butt, Bill Gibbs, Kevin Hussey, Yunus Kathawala and Brian Reid.

Visitors:
Don Braswell, Lisa Dallas, Laurie Neese and Bill Slough.

Approval of minutes
Dave Henard opened the meeting in the BOG Room of Booth Library at 4:03 p.m. by introducing and welcoming the new chair, Teshome Abebe. Since the last ATAC meeting was held in April, Henard had all present introduce themselves and state their areas represented. Abebe took over the duties as chair and continued the meeting. He asked for corrections or additions to the April 24, 1998, meeting minutes. The minutes were approved as printed.

Discussion items

1. Ad-Hoc Committee on By-law Changes

In the spring, Terry Weidner appointed a sub-committee to establish terms of membership to this committee. The members were Alan Baharlou, Mahmood Butt (chair) and Hank Davis. In Mahmood Butt’s absence, Alan Baharlou reported to the committee of the proposal on changes in the bylaws. The sub-committee’s recommendations were attached to the tentative agenda that was distributed to the committee. The Ad-Hoc committee recommended the following:

1. Article II.A.p be amended to incorporate the recent change in name of the office of "Academic Development" to "University Studies".
2. Article II.B. Terms of Service be implemented in the following manner to ensure that members shall have two-year staggered terms of service on the committee.

 

1. Continue the current membership for academic year 1998-99 with the following breakdown. Two-year term for a, b, c, e, h, j, m, n, r, s, t, v and one-year term for d, f, g, i, k, l, o, p, q, u.
2. Request a faculty representative from the College of Education and Professional Studies to serve a two-year term to fill II.A.c.
3. Request new recommendations of a one-year appointment of two representatives from the Student Government. II.A.q.
4. Request Associate Vice President, Information Technology Services, to name a member to serve a one/two-year term to fill II.A.t.
5. Request the Provost’s office to designate a member to serve a one-year term as coordinator, Distance Learning, to fill II.A.u.


The committee discussed the proposals that were presented to them and suggested additional modifications. Henard stated that Article II.A.t. should be amended to incorporate the recent change in name from Assistant Director of Information Technology Services – Academic Computing, to Director of User Services, Information Technology Services. That representative would be John Henderson. Also, Article II.A.s. should be amended to incorporate the recent change in name from Director of Academic Computing to Director of Information System and Services. Baharlou recommended that Henard’s modifications be included in the proposal. Keith Cosentino added that Jeremy Wendel and he were appointed in accord with Article II.A.g. Pat Fewell stated that she represents Distance Learning in accord with Article II.A.u. Baharlou asked Liz Hitch to provide a name of a representative from the College of Education and Professional Studies, Article II.A.c., at the next ATAC meeting. Fewell suggested that two-year terms be replaced in the even years and one-year terms in odd years. Baharlou asked Hitch to amend the by-laws to reflect all the changes. Baharlou moved that the committee make the modifications and requested that the committee approve the amendments. The modifications were approved.

2. FY 1999 Computer Technology Fee Funding Requests Update

Dave Henard asked that Bill Witsman introduce John Henderson, the new Director of User Services. Witsman stated that Henderson had been here working hard for several weeks now and feels that User Services can more efficiently serve the needs of this group and the entire campus. Henderson stated that he looks forward to working with everyone. Abebe welcomed Henderson to the committee.

Witsman distributed a handout that summarized the FY98 Student Technology Fee Account. He explained this was a brief recap of what had been approved last year by the committee. Last fiscal year, $54,200 was spent on proposals. Equipment acquired in FY98 from FY97 proposals was for Phipps Lecture Hall and the Geology/Geography Lab from Instructional Technology Enhancements projects. For FY98 new proposals, $115,567 was spent on Instructional Technology Enhancements in the College of Arts & Humanities, the Booth Library lab and the Zoology Lab. One hundred and fifteen lab machines were replaced in Lumpkin Labs, Booth Library Lab and Student Services Building Labs totaling $254,233. Roughly $424,000 worth of equipment was acquired out of the FY98 budget.

Witsman discussed the FY99 Student Technology Fee Instructional Enhancement Proposal Rankings. These rankings were determined last spring by the ATAC committee. He stated that the costs are not necessarily accurate today. Based on the declining cost of equipment, the possibility of equipment changes and the fact that some purchases may have been accomplished through other budgets, the cost of some proposals may have decreased. With this FY99 budget, Witsman would like to be more aggressive by funding proposal rankings to at least #140 costing up to $160,000. Alan Baharlou stated that this was good news. Witsman proposed that they purchase equipment in three stages. The committee had a round table open discussion on Witsman’s proposal. The committee approved proceeding with the Instructional Enhancement Proposal.

Witsman discussed the FY98 Student Technology Fee for Lab Computer proposal ranking. He stated that he would like to start by replacing at least 83 lab machines. The committee decided to look at lab machines that are 4 years old or older for possible replacement or upgrading. Witsman proposed that they start by replacing math lab machines rather than upgrading them with the possibility of machines being replaced down the road. With his proposal they could possibly replace all lab machines in the A and B categories that were ranked by the committee by the end of this fiscal year. The committee discussed his proposals and decided to go forward with the replacements of lab machines including the eight lab machines in Booth Library.

3. Summary of ITS Accomplishments for FY1998

Dave Henard distributed a summary of Information Technology Services accomplishments. Henard stated that ITS had accomplished a good deal and had as much to accomplish in FY1999. A suggestion to spell out abbreviations such as RFP (Request for Proposal) was made.

4. Other

Teshome Abebe announced that he would like to structure this committee in a manner that will allow a more expeditious consensus to be reached. He suggested organizing sub-committees to achieve a much more efficient committee. He would also like to review materials before meetings and asked that these be provided to all committee members in advance of the meetings. Abebe also stated that the committee should work to identify a vision of technology, acquisition and diffusion for the campus consistent with the overall University plans.

5. Introduction of John Henderson

John Henderson reported on FirstClass Conferencing and Mallard on-line testing software. The 370 licenses for FirstClass Conferencing are all in use. This is a large pilot study. The first roundtable will be held on October 9th. Gerald Wagner of User Services will be handling the roundtables. There were 237 requests for the Mallard software. As of today, 119 licenses have been assigned.

At the next ATAC meeting, John Henderson will report on lab usage and will present the lab usage survey form developed by lab coordinators. The lab coordinators have started meeting once a month. Don Braswell of User Services has been handling the lab roundtables, and the meetings seem very productive.

6. Status of the 24 Hour Computer Lab on Campus

Bill Witsman reported on the status of the 24-hour lab. He stated that the process of configuring an environment that would house a 24-hour lab containing 50 new machines is in progress.

A discussion of plans for spending student fee funding of the new 24-hour lab took place. Cosentino stated that the Student Government passed the increase in the student technology fee, and it was his understanding that a great deal of this increase would go to fund the 24-hour lab. Morgan Olsen stated that the use of the money would be broken into three categories. They are construction, equipment acquisition and staffing cost for the 24-hour lab. Abebe stated that the committee needs to know how much is in the budget at the beginning and ending of each year and if there is a need to increase the fee each year. Also, he stated that how much and where the money is being spent must be identified. Abebe requested that this report be updated on an ongoing basis to the committee with the first report being made at the next meeting. Bill Witsman was asked to prepare a detailed report.

7. Possibility of TLRT RoundTable at Eastern

Pat Fewell explained what TLRT Roundtable means. TLRT is a Technology Roundtable discussion with a group of faculty and students. Meetings would include an open discussion on today’s technology and its academic application. Fewell asked the committee if this is something it would be interested in looking at, with the possibility of forming a group. John Henderson stated that he thought it is a great way of sharing ideas with one another. Teshome Abebe requested that Henderson work with Fewell on this proposal. Witsman announced that he would e-mail each committee member a Web location in which to learn about both TLRT Roundtable and another program similar to TLRT called Flashlight Project.

8. Other

Teshome Abebe asked Dave Henard to briefly explain some of the problems the campus has experienced with Internet access.

Henard explained some of the difficulties the campus has been experiencing with Internet access this semester. An additional T-1 circuit was purchased this past summer. The new T-1 circuit that was installed was plagued both with line and equipment problems. The problems quickly compounded when the students began using the Internet extensively. Initial telephone line problems with the new circuit was resolved just after installation. The Internet provider then replaced a defective router. The defective intermittent router was discovered on September 9 and was replaced on September 11. There were problems with a telephone circuit wire that was not connected properly. A bad CSU (digital modem) on the Champaign end of the link to the Internet was then discovered and replaced. Finally, traffic analysis showed that Internet usage across these long-line circuits increased by 100% since last spring. This was far more than anticipated. Analysis also shows that a great deal of downloading of large files is taking place. The new router that was specified by the Internet service provider could not handle this amount of traffic.

Meeting adjourned at 5:42 p.m.

Submitted by Laurie Neese, recorder.