A meeting of the Computer and Information Systems (CIS) Committee was held on Monday, October 20, 2014 at 12:00 PM in the Library Conference Room. Attendees were:
Name School
Nancy Davenport Library
Terry Fernandez OIT
Alan Isaac CAS
Joseph Mortati Kogod
Alayne Mundt Library
Chris Simpson SOC
Amy Taylor WCL
Sonja Walti SPA
Bryan Yates CAS/PSYCH
Chair Chris Simpson reviewed the agenda and asked that after calling for a vote to approve the May Meeting Minutes (which passed unanimously) that we adjust the agenda to focus on the following two items first:
Item 1: Library Budget Review
Nancy Davenport then briefed the committee on the Library’s priorities and prefaced it with that the Library has requested a Standard Inflationary Increase (in the 6-7% range), primarily to towards item #1 below.
1. Reserves and Journals – while some faculty members have very specific requests, negotiation and pricing should be done at the university-level and not on a journal-by-journal basis.
2. Classroom Support – there are four tiers of classroom capabilities based on audio-visual and computer support.
Nancy continued by talking about working on Open End Resource (OER), a joint effort with CTRL on reducing textbook costs. She also mentioned the Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) Lab (Anderson B16) recently opened and that an “Idea Space” that demonstrates the various types and levels of classroom technologies is also available.
Nancy went on to explain that the Provost has been consistent for the past 5 months that budgets will be “tight.” In reply, Chris recommended that CIS come up with a working list of what IT improvements we support. Alan added that while CIS can make recommendations, how will they be received given the constraints? I.e., recommendations are not made in isolation.
Item 2: CIS Wishlist
Chris Simpson briefed the committee on the status of all 19 CIS-related items on what’s referred to as the “Wishlist” (perhaps this should be referred to as an issues or items list); academic units in parentheses are those identified with the entry and committee discussion is prefaced with >>:
Student photos with rosters (OIT, CIS)
>> Chris explained that Student photos with rosters is actively being worked with an expected implementation date of end of Spring 2015 but noted that this feature was previously expected to be implemented in Fall 2014.
Accessibility management upgrade [2016] (CIS)
>> Chris called for a vote on whether CIS supports this item and it passed unanimously.
Alternatives to Blackboard Collaborate sharing platform
>> Considerable discussion followed and the issue was clarified from “Campus-wide Adobe Connect licenses” (a solution) to alternatives to Blackboard’s built-in tool called “Collaborate” (a problem statement), which has proven difficult enough to use so as to cause many faculty members to pursue other options.
While Adobe Connect is a robust platform that is used by other universities, its license fee – over $100,000 – is cost-prohibitive. Nancy explained that the University has a license for GoToMeeting that is a flat fee based on AU’s participation in the consortium. Skype and Google Hangout were also mentioned as potential, low-cost alternatives to Collaborate but faculty have a need not just for screen-sharing but also for interaction (webinar features like “raising your hand” to ask questions, etc.)
The committee finished discussion of this item by agreeing in principle that we should come up with a list of features that need to be supported by any platform (e.g., price, features, number of users, bandwidth required) rather than making recommendations on specific products. Additionally, Nancy recommended that any list of features be compared to the Library’s Statement of Principles on Information Systems to see what does or does not comply.
On a related note, this discussion spilled over to a discussion of Adobe Acrobat licenses (the full version, not the free reader) for select faculty, especially those doing research. A robust discussion of bulk licenses and who should get the money if funded – Library or CTRL? – ensued. Amy Taylor summed it up well by saying, “You cannot be a top-tier researcher without Acrobat.” This led to the question of how many one-off Acrobat licenses are there and if the total costs are close to or greater than a site license, then the University should consider consolidating them into one (because in many cases, license costs come out of research budgets).
Alan asked if the committee supports the purchase of licenses and Chris then called for a vote, which passed unanimously.
Online Learning review and updates
>> Chris Simpson then called for a vote on asking the Senate for a status update about online learning at AU, which passed unanimously.
Additional items discussed were:
Mobile/Social Media Policy: Provost is of the opinion that drafted policy isn’t strong enough (i.e., the line between use of such technologies in furthering academic goals and being seen as speaking for the University). New committee made up of representatives from all the schools. CIS should be a part of that discussion. Brian Yates will represent us in that committee.
Sonja will send around ATSC meeting days and times.
There being no other business to discuss, the meeting adjourned. The next CIS Meeting is Monday, November 17, 2014 at 12:00 PM in the Library Conference Room.