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Minutes – CITAC, 4/26/2002
1) Introductory remarks – VPAST Unger
Dr. Unger gave the committee an update on recent changes and initiatives which will be of interest to CITAC.
A) Funding - The taskforce for IT funding has disbanded, due to busy schedules on the part of the members and perhaps due to a misconception that the III initiative has abrogated any need to be concerned about IT funding. CITAC subcommittee or small taskforce could be formed to replace this group, as the issues have not gone away and will perhaps be even more pressing in coming years. Budget data and projections could be made available to the subcommittee. For example, nearly 59% of current IT funding comes from clients; if this client base changes, it is obvious that the funding is vulnerable. Other issues re funding for the future need to be explored as well.
B) Bandwidth – In recent weeks, after a reduction in the price paid by KSU for bandwidth, the university bandwidth was doubled. Almost immediately the use of this bandwidth increased from 20 to 32 Mbits, indicating a significant pent-up demand. It is anticipated that prices will drop even more in the future, although the extent and timing of these price changes is not known at this time.
C) Security issues – Viruses and worms continue to evolve and proliferate. IT security team, headed by Tim Ramsey, is charged with drafting a security plan for KSU by the end of July 2002. CITAC advice is requested, comments on the draft will be needed. This is a possible topic for the next CITAC meeting.
D) Network structure (wired and wireless) – Connectivity of various buildings on campus is highly variable; re-wiring of some buildings is planned for summer 2002. Ongoing need to set priorities for re-wiring, based on need to develop redundant systems for most campus networks and buildings. CITAC involvement in setting these priorities is invited.
E) Telephone network – Issues involving current system and possible improvements are manifold. Need for voice-over IP on campus seems apparent, but communication of all the ramifications is needed.
F) K-State Online issues – Also part of today’s presentations (see below). Currently 80% of the use of this system is on-campus, even though it was developed as a tool for distance learning. It is also a tool for technology transfer and other initiatives. Funding issues (via DCE) are an ongoing concern, and CITAC should be aware of these issues (see item A above).
G) III (Integrated Information Infrastucture) issues – Updates for this ongoing initiative should be communicated to CITAC at regular intervals. Indications are that Oracle will be a major partner in this. The importance to the campus is NOT yet widely understood or appreciated, and education of the faculty and administration is needed. Background information on this issue can be found in a CITAC subcommittee report from 2001. Perhaps this is another topic for a presentation to the CITAC members…
2) Items for discussion
A) presentation by Harv Townsend, Neil Erdwien and Chuck Gould outlining the KEAS (K-State Enterprise Authentication System) project. A powerpoint presentation is available.
B) presentation by Scott Finkeldei, Jennifer Bambach, and Rob Caffey, outlining changes to the K-State Online system. A short powerpoint presentation was given, followed by a demonstration of the current system and a preview of version 4.0, which is scheduled for rollout in the summer of 2002. Statistics were presented which indicate that current usage involves over 11,000 students and nearly 400 instructors. For additional information, contact Scott, Jennifer or Rob, and visit the K-State Online home page (http://online.ksu.edu/info/KSOL/index.html).
C) Outline of matters to be considered over the summer and fall
i) IT survey - results and interpretations should be available this summer, will invite Faye Kennedy or other involved party to present these results so that we can use them in our deliberations next fall.
ii) Portal software – update after decision is made for software vendor.
iii) on-line advising for distance (and on-campus) students – a topic of emerging importance and great interest for many faculty advisors.
iv) other suggestions???
(a) Eric Bernard (Landscape Architecture) asked for assistance on making college websites more easy to update with dynamic content (e.g. student names, courses). Although this is part of the mission for the III initiative, the time course for all of the necessary changes is not short, and help will be needed in the interim.
(b) Email from a CITAC member who was unable to attend asked “I would like to see if we could bring up what appears to be a very "touchy" issue, based on my one year on the committee. I get a lot of "comments" from both outside researchers, cooperators, funding agents, and potential students (mostly grad) that the KSU homepage is awkward, difficult to utilize and hard to navigate. Could we look at the home page or maybe have a "non-vested" outside consultant evaluate the page?” Additional concerns of this member also include “The communications and information technology structure and resources seem to be so de-centralized that it is very difficult to find just what our capabilities are and who is responsible to help utilize them, i.e. beside Jan Leach's excellent utilization of the Internet II, what else is being done with this resource, what are the capabilities, possibilities, and how do faculty access them? The same questions can be applied to distance video capability (read, beyond Kansas). These are some of the concerns I have.”
D) Mechanisms to enhance our ability to advise the VPAST in a proactive and timely manner.
i) listserv discussions
ii) Enhancements of CITAC webpage to include summary of presentations given at CITAC meetings
iii) other suggestions??? - VPAST Unger will be invited to attend all meetings to provide input and to hear comments/concerns expressed by CITAC members.
Meeting adjourned at 10:10 AM.
Kansas State University
June 22, 2004
