A meeting of the Committee on Information Systems (CIS) was held Wednesday, November 15, 2017 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM in Library 143.
The attendees were:
- Robert Adcock (SIS)
- Stefano Costanzi (CAS)
- Michael Fernandez (LIB)
- Terry Fernandez (OIT)
- Katie Holton (CAS)
- Billie Jo Kaufman (WCL) (by phone)
- Joseph Mortati (KSB)
- Rick Semiatin (SPEX)
- Stef Woods (CAS)
- Alan Isaac (CAS)
- David Rose (CTRL)
The following items of business were discussed.
Chair Stefano Costanzi opened the meeting with approval of the minutes. The minutes from the October 20, 2017 were approved (https://blogs.library.american.edu/cis/minutes-october-20-2017/).
Katie Kassof, Instructional Technologist and Learning Space Designer, and Ciel Bailey, Assistant University Registrar joined us for the entirety of the meeting. Committee members introduced themselves
Katie Kassof reported that after three years of working hard, AU is almost finished modernizing all scheduled classrooms. SIS and Beeghly Hall will be completed in Summer 2018. AU recognizes the need to move from analog to digital, provide wireless presentation capabilities, and support devices going forward. Modernization includes taking out the old and putting in all new cabling, new digital HD projectors and screens, new cameras and recording devices, and new capabilities.
If spaces aren’t centrally-scheduled classroom locations (like many rooms in Battelle, those rooms will not automatically be upgraded. Individual departments can decide to fund modernization with consultation from the Learning Space Design department. Updates typically range between $17,000-20,000. The timeline is typically a few days, but some spaces can be partially updated.
Katie Kassof noted that the Learning Space Design department looked at the tech innards of each space and tried to meet teaching needs. Design decisions came with faculty feedback and understanding of the problems. For instance, most faculty want to use both the projectors and white boards so projector screens have been moved off center. With that said, every room can’t fit every person. And, newer buildings also have to serve the needs for deans, departments and non-teaching needs.
Alan Isaac reported on the findings from the survey of AU faculty on their software needs. Faculty have noticed a big difference in the upgraded rooms. Katie Kassof and Ciel Bailey provided suggestions for future survey questions. Ciel Bailey also discussed how the Registrar looks beyond the number of seats in a room when assigning classroom space and noted that faculty can determine whether a classroom meets their needs via 25Live. If 25Live does not have the necessary information, faculty can call A/V to determine room capabilities or request specific technology needs. For example. there are portable VCRs and DVD players that can be brought to individual rooms upon request.
Stefano Costanzi recommended that we consult our own faculty as to their needs, meet as a committee, and push forward specific items to Faculty Senate. The Committee concurred, and we will use our February meeting to identify problems and what to address.
There will be no meetings in December or January. Stefano Costanzi will send out an email with Doodle polls to determine the best meeting times for our three meetings in the spring.
The meeting was adjourned.