Academic Computing Committee

Meeting Minutes

March 20, 2006

Members Present:

University Senate Representatives: J. Alvares, M. Heller

Faculty Representatives: A. Adarkar [CHSS Faculty Rep.], Michael Davidson [CEHS Faculty Rep.], S. Shapiro [Library Faculty Rep.], R. Xing [SBUS Faculty Rep.], A. Pemberton [SART Faculty Rep.]

Administrative Representatives (Academic Deans): M. Mallery [Library Administrative Rep.], A.J. Kelton [CHSS Administrative Rep.], Hakeem Sanni [CEHS Administrative Rep.], E. Harris [SART Administrative Rep.], R. Salomon [Proxy for Dean Alan Oppenheim], J. Youn [CSAM Administrative Rep.], J. Donadeu [Graduate School Administrative Rep.]

Non-voting Members Present: E. Chapel (Associate Vice President for Information Technology), R. Wolfson (Local 1904 Observer) T. Devlin (Academic Coordinator of Education Computing Network)

Guests: P. Kahn, T. Hoskinson, J.Minier

Absent:

C. Du [CSAM Faculty Rep.], D. Stevens [Undergraduate Student Rep], A. Mohiuddin [Graduate Student Rep.], V. Lilikas [Undergrad. Student Rep.],VACANT, Associate Director of Academic Technology,

Presiding: J. Alvares, Chair

Reporting: M. Mallery, Secretary

Distribution: ACC Web at http://frontpage.montclair.edu/acc/

Convened: 3:04 p.m. [Library Special Collections Room]

Adjourned: 4:43 p.m.

1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 3:04 p.m.

2. Minutes: Minutes for January 23rd were approved with Kelton abstaining, and there were no Minutes for Feburary 13th because of the snow there was no quorum at the meeting, and the ACC had a roundtable discussion followed by email discussion on SPAM filtering over the ACC listserv.

3. Announcements: No announcements.

4. Reports

• Chair's Report: Alvares noted that SPAM is the main item on the agenda. After lengthy discussion , Kelton proposed the following statement, which was amended several time and approved as:

***

ACC SPAM Statement:

SPAM is a complex and difficult issue to deal with and resolve. There are a variety of good solutions currently available to individuals, who should contact appropriate local support staff or the Help Desk. Server level technology is coming that may help address the problem to some degree, therefore, the Academic Computing Committee does not support the deletion of email at the server level without intervention from the recipient, as per the Montclair State University Guidelines for Responsible Computing.

***

Alvares will present this ACC Statement on SPAM to the Faculty Senate at its meeting on Wednesday, March 29th.

• OIT Report: Chapel reported that Dr. Alex Wilkinson, a finalist for the Director of Academic Technology position, will meet with Academic Affairs and the Academic Computing Committee for an hour beginning at 10:45 am on Tuesday, March 21st in University Hall 6th floor conference room 6033. The visit with the Dean’s Council has been postponed to a later date.

MSU is coming to the end of the lease cycle for old lab equipment (approximately 600 computers), and a new iteration of the life cycle replacement program is beginning. OIT is looking at new platform standards. Recommendations on preferred characteristics (not brands) of equipment and new software for standard build are welcome. Kelton said that 80% of users are happy with the standard build and 20% want something specific to their uses. Can exceptions be made? Chapel answered that there have been exceptions made, but we have to be realistic in the funding model. Youn reported that CSAM has specialized equipment that is older than three years and should be replaced.

• Ad Hoc Committee Reports:

a) Learning Management Subcommittee (LMS) - Davidson (Chair) reported that LMS has had trouble holding in-person meetings and will go back to the discussion mode. Alvares noted that the recent ACC listserv discussion on SPAM shows how successful this mode of discussion can be. Davidson also reported that he had invited other members from outside ACC to join the LMS.

b) EDUCAUSE Membership: Kelton (Chair) had nothing to report at this time.

5. Ongoing Business:

• Workstation Integrity Software for Computer Labs – Heller asked in the interest of time that the ACC defer to a future meeting discussion of the use of workstation integrity software, such as DeepFreeze, on computer labs.

•Re-Imaging LANs - Alvaresr asked that the ACC discuss at a future meeting the issue of how frequently should LANs be re-imaged. Kelton noted that this is a policy issue.

6. New Business:

• Email Attachment Size – Alvares reported that David Benfield asked that the ACC talk about policies to limit the size of email attachments. Heller noted that Chapel had reported to the ACC on email quotas but not on how large email attachments can be. Chapel said he would look into the question and report back to the ACC. Several members said that the PDF vita for the Academic Computing Director candidate was too large, and Heller suggested that pdf attachments can be put in netDrive space and send the link through email. Kahn noted that it’s easier to attach a file to email that to put in into netDrive. There was discussion about the need for user training on uses of email and netDrive.

• Discussion on Campus Large-Scale Printing: Alvares noted that faculty presenting poster sessions at conferences need a large-scale printer on campus. Kahn said she has used the Print Shop in College Hall for poster session preparation. Youn noted that large format printers require expensive toner and paper and in the quantities of demand that MSU has, we are not saving money over going to AlphaGraphics. Youn added that faculty should be aware that MSU has a relationship with AlphaGraphics for large-scale printing.

7. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 4:43 PM.