Academic Computing Committee

Meeting Minutes

October 13, 2003

Members Present

A. Adarkar, K. Cohen [proxy: C. Narrett], M. Davidson, J. Gaynor, L. Jenkins [proxy: A. Cutler], A.J. Kelton [proxy: R. Gigliotti], G. Klajman, M. Kruge [proxy: R. Prezant], A. Koeller, M. Mallery, A. Johnson [proxy: A. Oppenheim], R. Sharps [proxy: G. Newman], D. Stevens, R. Wolfson, R. Xing

Members Absent

E. Chapel, T. Devlin, A. Pemberton, S. Shapiro

Guests Present

J. Minier, K. Tighe

Presiding: M. Heller, Acting Chair; Reporting: M. Mallery, Secretary

Distribution: ACC Web

Convened: 4:05 p.m. [Library Special Collections Room]

Adjourned: 5:45 p.m.

1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 4:05 p.m.

2. Minutes: The minutes of the September 22 meeting were approved with addenda and will be posted to the ACC Web page.

3. Announcements:

· EdTeXPo 2003 Annual Conference (September 24): Kelton announced that the event was well-attended, and the vendor Exploratorium was a big success. Luis Rodriguez will be the EdTeXPo 2004 Chair.

· Communiversity Day (October 22): Heller invited members to the faculty presentations, which focus on the uses of technology in the classroom, beginning at 2:30PM.

4. Reports

· Chair's Report: Acting Chair Heller reported that he contacted the

Deans to ask for the names of the Administrative Representative appointees. He has received responses from all but two Deans.

· OIT Report: There was no one present from IT to make a report.

Heller was charged by the ACC to contact Chapel for updates on IT vacancies including Associate Director of Information Technology (Academic Computing) and Director of Systems, Security, Networking and Telecommunications. The general consensus was that, given the recent changes in reporting structure and positions in IT, an organizational chart might also be helpful for the ACC.

5. Ongoing Business

a. Elections (Chair, Recording Secretary, Web master)

* Chair: Nominations for the position of Chair were opened. Davidson nominated Heller, who declined; Heller nominated Kelton, who declined, Mallery nominated Sharps, who declined. There were no self- nominations. Gaynor moved to table the election. Stevens seconded. The motion carried. The election was deferred until next meeting.

* Secretary: Mallery volunteered to fill the position., Wolfson moved to accept; Gaynor seconded. Mallery was elected unanimously.

* Webmaster: Heller noted that two members, Salomon and Shapiro, had indicated an interest in the position, but neither was present. After some discussion as to whether Salomon might be interested in the Chair position, Sharps moved to call the nomination for Shapiro. Davidson seconded. The motion carried. Heller will contact Salomon to see if he will accept the nomination for Chair.

b. Vacancies

Heller noted there are still ACC membership vacancies that should be filled: the second undergraduate student representative, a graduate student representative, and the OIT Assoc. Director of Info. Tech. position. Heller will send out an updated members list to the ACC listserv.

6. 2003-2004 Action Items

The following were suggested as 2003-2004 Action Items by ACC members. Heller will contact IT and Elvis administrators to arrange for an online ballot for ACC members to prioritize these items for discussion at future meetings:

· Laptop ownership requirement as appeared in Strategic Plan;

· Mandatory MSU NetID Registration and Use to provide for unified email, SAN/remote desktops, print accounting;

· Lab fee to support the provision of specialized, required software like SPSS, SAS given the "crippled versions" that accompany textbooks;

· Open Source Software adoption (Microsoft Office versus Star Office & Windows versus Linux desktops;

· Support for other non-standard software like WordPerfect;

· Physical security of facilities and hardware (study of potential offering and their cost);

· Data mining and warehousing (leveraging central databases and application servers for faculty research purposes);

· Issues in Learning Management Systems (who can have an account on the system, who can own a whole course or its constituent parts);

· Wireless implementation at MSU and a move toward ubiquitous wireless computing provisioning;

· Leveraging middleware application services (i.e. online submission of grades);

· Moving away from the SS # (or NJ Driver's License) as a unique identifier.

Kelton suggested that the ACC target an item on the Action List for current discussion. Adarkar made a motion that the ACC recommend that MSU remove Social Security numbers from all class lists and grade lists. Wolfson seconded the motion.

Cohen noted that she could not support this motion because MSU uses the SCT system that operates with 9-digit unique identifiers. She could, however, support a motion to eliminate paper lists of grades and class lists.

Wolfson suggested that the ACC investigate what other SCT campuses use. Heller recommended that we invite someone from the Registrar's office to speak on this issue. Minier noted that we should invite someone from Student Services as well. Adarkar agreed to table the motion. Stevens seconded the motion to table. Motion carried.

Heller will speak to Chapel and Minier about possible guests to discuss this question at the Nov. 10 ACC meeting.

7. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn was made by Davidson; seconded by Cohen. The meeting was adjourned at 5:45PM.