Present: Arlene Allen, Art Battson, Glenn Davis, John Doner, George Gregg, Chuck Haines, Gail Johnson, Rick Johnson, Tom Marazita, Elise Meyer, Alan Moses, Joan Murdoch, Larry Murdock, Kevin Schmidt, Deborah Scott , Jamie Sonsini, Bob Sugar
Not Present: Debbie Anglin, Kevin Barron, Ken Bowers, Bill Doering, Phil Handley, Bill Koseluk, Tom Lawton, Ed Mehlschau, Stan Nicholson, Vince Sefcik, John Vasi
Twelve scouts who volunteered for the "Wireless Scouting Party" met and identified twenty-two points on the wireless compass for possible exploration. Selecting the fifteen directions that are most compelling for immediate investigation, the volunteers split up the work and set off in different directions.
Elise reported on behalf of Bill K. that the UC Instructional Technology survey had been completed and submitted on time. People should contact Bill if they would like a copy of the report. The committee appreciated Bill's coordination of the response to this detailed study.
The new modem equipment has arrived in Communications Services. We are now waiting for fiber pathways to be turned on. Testing is expected to begin in March.
The Yahoo survey of the state of wiredness in higher education is due on February 14. The committee agreed with a proposal to forward the survey to the three offices most likely to have answers to the questions (Registrar, Budget & Planning and Instructional Computing).
The BEG has formed two subcommittees. The first group chaired by Kevin Schmidt will review the CalREN-2 Request for Proposal with the goal of updating it and expanding it to include building switches.
The second group co-chaired by Larry Murdock and David Chapman will review campus wiring standards in preparation for the intrabuilding wiring project. Salient issues include the use of fiber-capable conduits and raceways and the question of needs for fiber to desktops. A goal will be to define campus standards that are binding on architects, rather than leaving the design of the closets to the potential building occupants, as has been the practice.
It was suggested that the wiring group also begin to consider priorities in parallel with the standards discussion. A significant degree of coordination will be required to come to resolution on high priority projects, so information needs to be disseminated to get people thinking while the standards discussion is in progress.
The Security group met and explored the issue of requiring background checks on candidates for the new security position. Background checks take several weeks to complete. The possibility of making the check a condition of probation was explored. This would be a problem if the successful candidate were already a campus employee. The completed recruiting package will come through ITPG on its way to HR.
The connection of ITP to CalREN-2 makes a total of three units now up and running. ITP is unique because the whole department now uses CalREN-2.
About 80% of the 250 faculty surveys that were returned have been keyed. A template for entering data from student surveys is also under construction. Approximately 1000 student surveys have been collected from fifteen of the largest classes and several of the labs. It has been estimated that keying each student survey will take 1-2 minutes; volunteers might be needed to assist.
Auth/Dir Subcommittee reported on progress of loading email addresses into LDAP. (See link to Auth/Dir page at http://www.physics.ucsb.edu/~itpg/ for status.) Data quality was questionable, so the group decided to contact email sysadmins with another appeal. If no address newer than January 1999 is available from those sources, the email address in the telephone directory will be substituted. A subcommittee has been formed to work out the strategy for coordinating the new email address maintenance process with departmental staff.
There are now 11,000 entries in the LDAP. Purge and update methods are under discussion. The UCOP feed is a full file, rather than changes, so the handling of entries that disappear from the feeder needs to be resolved.
Once security is implemented in LDAP a separate read-only directory must be implemented to support searches by non-members. Students will also be added after security has been turned on. LDAP fields peculiar to students must be defined. Instructional Computing and Student Affairs will help define the schema.
We received the legal opinion that FERPA guidelines dominate employee status with respect to NFR data. That is, students don't relinquish their NFR privileges when they become employees, so we must be careful not to release employee data for those who are also students with NFR set.
The name@ucsb.edu project is waiting for LDAP progress to settle down. A pre-production test directory is available for experimentation.
Deborah Scott and Gail Johnson have kicked off the Administrative Systems Integration Group (ASIG). An initial concern is the definition of a common entry point for student access to administrative functions. A proposal to upgrade the 55 campus NetStations was also discussed. Possibility of using the thin-client model is under consideration. It was noted that some departments have already upgraded the NetStations that had been placed in advising areas. The Student Fee Advisory Committee might be asked to get involved in this effort. It was suggested that a document listing the minimal requirements for the next generation of NetStations be sent to departments. Many existing machines are probably not capable of running the browser levels required for BARC.
ASIG also agreed to take the first pass at defining hardware acquisition recommendations for students, which was part of the ITPG Student Access Implementation Recommendations. George Gregg offered to participate with that effort. Some guidance will be required for those who obtain financial aid in order to acquire equipment.
The computer laboratory managers group has not yet formed, but intentions were restated and critical mass is expected to occur soon.
A report on the progress of ITPG proposals was offered. The ITB agreed that items 1-3 on our priority list (Security, NGB Phase I and Students in the Directory) should go forward to the EVC immediately. Funding for these proposals has now been earmarked. Three smaller items near the end of the ITPG list (Gartner, EduCause and CBT) were recommended for inclusion in the OIT budget, when the new unit forms. Funding for the OIT and for intrabuilding wiring has also been identified. A formal announcement of the OIT is expected soon. Job descriptions are being drafted in preparation for starting the searches.
No new issues surfaced for ITPG consideration.
The next ITPG meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 16, at 10:00 a.m. in North Hall 1131.
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