ITS Meeting Minutes - 11-21-02
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Distance Education
Presented by Gail Evans

Course evaluations for online classes will be mailed via conventional snail mail soon. The exact evaluation form used in Face-to-Face classes will be used. A pre-paid envelope will also accompany each evaluation to make the return mailing for students more convenient. Students enrolled in multiple online courses will receive multiple mailings to ease organization of the mailings on the administrative end. Evaluations MUST be received by December 6th. Any forms received after that date will be destroyed to ensure that no evaluations are tabulated from students that may have already taken their final exam. Articulated students enrolled through other campi will be surveyed, however withdrawn students will not. Dr. Evans encourages all faculty to encourage their online students to fill out these evaluations and return them in a timely manner. An announcement to this effect will be issued shortly.

The online bookstore is currently up and functional and accessible through UHDONLINE.

IT Initiatives and Priorities in Institutional Planning
Presented by Erin Mayer and Hossein Shahrokhi

The discussion for this ITS meeting focused on soliciting feedback from faculty regarding current and prospective IT planning initiatives and encouraging departments to place items that are beneficial to the University as a whole on their departmental plans.

Current emphasized IT initiatives include but are not limited to ACL support and rotating/upgrading computers in the IT run student labs, TTLC equipment and software funding, Desktop Computing project (upgrading Staff/Faculty computers every 3 years), wireless and standard network infrastructure support, satellite lab project, VAX system and expanding the ITV program.

A major topic of discussion last year that seemed to be endorsed by faculty was the proposed option of allowing a laptop computer instead or in conjunction with the standard computer upgrades in the Desktop Computing project. Faculty that may find this option useful are encouraged to petition their department to include it in their unit plans.

Natural Sciences will be requesting multimedia presentation equipment for every classroom allocated to its classes. They will also be requesting a permanent on-site IT support person for the college.

Lloyd Matzner emphasized the need to standardize equipment used throughout the university and the organization of bulk ordering on a University level to possibly obtain better pricing on equipment.

Due to a low faculty turn-out for this ITS meeting because of scheduling conflicts, additional feedback may be solicited on these topics via email.

W.I. Dykes Library
Presented by Steve Casburn

The library has made three new databases available: American Periodical Series, Stat!Ref, Wall Street Journal. Two databases have been renamed: Business Wire News is now Regional Business News, and Academic Universe is now LexisNexis Academic. The library currently makes 66 electronic resources available for patrons.

The library will begin requiring student log-ins in the library for computer access in the Spring. A limited number of public accounts will be available for visitors.

The library is considering a print control system similar to the system used by the ACL. If the library goes ahead, the system would be implemented as early as Summer 2003, but probably during Fall 2003.

ITV / Multimedia Services
Presented by Lloyd Matzner

40 - 41 course sections will be presented via ITV for Spring 2003. An experimental project involving delivering an ITV course via video over I.P. (Internet Protocol) to the Sugarland campus. This I.P. video system may also be used to host meetings and advise students when not in classroom use.

A poster printer is now available though Multimedia Services for academic and administrative use. A nominal fee for printing will be charged to departments for usage.

Faculty will soon receive an email to inform students about the new ITV evaluation form online. The cut-off date for evaluations is expected to be Dec. 12.

Computer Prep 2 Go
Presented by William Robinson

200+ training courses will be available online to UHD faculty, staff and students through Computer Prep 2 Go. The courses are self-study and focus mainly on technical information, certification prep, and office applications. Faculty and staff have full access to all course while students have only basic access. Additional access for students can be purchased through the Advanced Business & Training Center for a nominal fee. An email announcement will be issued the first week in December with additional details and access information.

Academic Computing Lab & User Support Services
Presented by Said Fattouh and Lucy Bowen

UNIX accounts will no longer be accessible as of December 22, 2002. Content / materials still in UNIX account space should be moved to Linux account space or otherwise backed up before that date. Staging Server access for official UHD web development using UNIX accounts will not be affected at this time.

Student web based email will be active by December 22, 2002. The webmail will tie the students Linux based UHD email account to the web. Phase two of this project includes grade distribution and direct faculty to student communication via these email accounts. This project is also called Gator Mail. Announcements forthcoming.

Kiosks with e-services access will be posted for distance student use at Cinco Ranch, Sugarland, University Center and Woodlands locations. These units should be online soon.

Phase three of the print control project in the ACL will be implemented in Spring 2003. This phase mandates students paying for printing above a 500 sheet quota. Funds will be accepted via a machine located in the ACL.

The ACL is now accepting classroom reservation and software evaluation requests for Spring 2003.