Attending: Chris Simpson (SOC), Joseph Mortati ( Kogod), Brian Yates (CAS/Psych), Terry Fernandez (OIT), Lucas Regner (CTRL)
Minutes: Alayne Mundt (Library)
Agenda
Approval of minutes of past meetings
Progress reports on agreed upon focus areas
2 year budget cycle discussion: amend / approve our recommendations and lending our support as needed
Report from the Senate’s Social Media Committee and joint meeting with Senate’s Budget & Benefits
CIS operations: decide on meeting days/times Spring 2015
Notes
Approval of November’s meeting minutes (Approved)
Progress reports on focus areas:
-Chris reported on the most recent ATSC meeting.:
-Discussion of Collaborate: Is there an alternative to it? There is no funding for a substantial upgrade for it in this budget cycle.
-ATSC may come up with a packet for professors that explains possible choices that can be used in Collaborate (# of people in sessions, which browser to use, etc.) for faculty to make informed choices to use Collaborate more efficiently.
-Terry reported that OIT has been asked to find 2-3% budget savings.
-Social Media Committee update:
-It was reported that many people wanted to attend the meeting, but there was confusion about the meeting time, hence few people actually made it to the meeting. Issues discussed:
-Those who can’t attend meetings can send replacements
-Use of Gmail
-Social media policy outside the classroom
-Student/faculty social media interactions
-Brian will find more information on future meeting times.
2 Year budget cycle discussion:
-Chris reported that discussions are still underway until February. The main teaching units have submitted proposals. The next step is for the president’s cabinet to make decisions. Our committee’s participation has ended. Chris reported that our committee has done better than in previous years to provide input and support for ATSC and the library: we came up with written recommendations in that we made recommendations for classroom upgrades based on ATSC’s inventory of classrooms.
Library/ATSC initatives of cash allocations for support of the weakest classrooms. Our recommendation went back to the Library/ATSC/OIT.
-There was a question of whether we are committed to Blackboard for the next two year cycle? Yes. It was suggested that our committee may suggest alternative LMS’s. They don’t have to fit into the same mold (e.g. grad vs. undergrad have different needs). Lucas reported that CTRL has been working with some faculty using WordPress customizations for some alternative LMS functions for individual courses. CTRL provides support in terms of setup, but it does require more responsibility on the part of the faculty member/user. Our committee can push for regular, easily accessible presence for faculty to learn about these types of services, ways of staying updated, etc.
-The Registrar keeps and updates the inventory of classroom technology. ATSC is the informal focal point for doing the inventory. Different schools/departments have different levels of control of classrooms. Some are at the school level and some are at the university level. Not just about technology, it’s also qualitative; e.g. classroom orientation to make visibility easier, etc. How does our committee move forward? Stay informed in order to play a roll. Our role is to keep track of this issue, and make sure it’s not forgotten.
Joint Meeting with Senate Budgets and Benefits Committee:
-Chris reported that he attended the joint meeting with the Budgets and Benefits Committee. They asked for our recommendation for one budget request for academic technology. Chris suggested (but not speaking officially for the rest of the committee) classroom technology support. They thought it was a good idea, but this does not necessarily turn into money, however.
CIS Operations/Progress on Spring Meetings
-Spring Semester Mondays from 10:30-11:30 works for today’s attendees, on 3rd Monday of the month in order to sidestep holidays, spring break, except for 1/19 meeting. A May meeting was added on 5/18 after classes end as a constitutive meeting for fall.
Priority projects for fall:
-Identifying an alternative email platform for faculty and staff—Google or Office 365. Our committee will have to weigh in—need recommendations from us about privacy etc. Factors in the decision include cost, whether faculty and students need to be on the same platform. Our recommendation is needed, and there are pros and cons to both.
-Classroom census of academic technology
-LMS: Go with Google, Canvas, or stay with Blackboard?
-Soft vs. hard orientation toward options/policy for Mac vs. Microsoft versions of platforms (Joseph will brief us at next meeting)
-Recommendation for best practices for options and policies for different software/platforms.
-Training for students