SIUC Computing Advisory Committee

Friday, November 5, 2004 û 10:00 am

American Heritage Room, Morris Library

 

In attendance:á Ruth Bernhardt, David Carlson, Howard Carter, Jon Davey, Sue Davis (Guest), Janet Douglas (Guest)Tom Furby, Tequia Hicks, Duke Koch, Sanjeev Kumar, Alice Noble-Allgire, Don Olson, Amy Sileven, Tom Whittington, and Emily Williams (secretary)

 

David Carlson opened the meeting at 10:00 am.á An agenda was distributed. Minutes from the previous meeting were approved without changes.

 

Don Olson distributed an invitation to Carbondale to Cyberdale on Short Messaging Service (SMS).á This meeting is open to the public and Don encouraged committee members to pass along to interested parties in their constituencies.á Don noted that there is also a listserv available to join if you would like to be notified of future events.á Go to www.southerntech.org/cyberdale and click on the link ôTo be added to our mailing listö.

 

University Templates for web pages

David Carlson introduced the two guests to the meeting, Sue Davis, Executive Director of Media & Communication Resources, and Janet Douglas, Associate Director of Media & Communications Resources.á

Sue Davis informed the group that Media & Communications is still working to get compliance by all groups on campus.á A state law audit noted concerns that the UniversityÆs Privacy Policy is not yet on all websites.á Sue noted that, with the template in place, any changes to the Privacy Policy could be pushed globally to all websites at once.á Sue noted that they are also working on pushing down a 2^nd tier/secondary template.á This is a template with a fall down menu, and can be seen on the Law SchoolÆs website (www.law.siu.edu/) by hovering over the S150 logo.á According to Sue, outside comments on the templates have been positive regarding increased ease of use and navigation.

There will be a webmaster meeting on November 15-16.á All webmasters are invited to the meeting, which will include continued accessibility training.á Janet noted that there will be speakers at the meeting to discuss such topics as the identity icon, implementation and modification of webpages following the template implementation, and the use of a secure server.á

Janet stated that Media & Communications is also working on defining a quota system for the servers that they maintain.á It will be an evolving process, and would include notification of the hosting unit, not just shutting down the site.á Media has found that some individuals and units are using the servers for storage, either intentionally or unintentionally, and this is not a good idea because of the lack of security (since it is open to the www).á The quota system has been set up for a long time, but not enforced.á Media has found people who have taken advantage of this non-enforcement.á Media has also found that people are using the web servers to store video clips, audio files, and personal document storage, which is not the intent of these servers.á Currently, the quota is 30 megabytes per site, which will be increased to 45mb.

Janet also mentioned that there will be a web accessibility class, as well as on-going discussions about web hosting.á Some departments donÆt have their own webmasters, and Janet would like to develop relationships where departments who do have webmasters would be willing to help or share resources.á Sue Davis also mentioned that webmasters across campus have varying levels of ability and a group like this would be useful in helping everyone develop their skill sets.á Amy Sileven offered a suggestion of providing for a webmaster for RSOs with the Student Activity Fees.á Amy also asked if departments were doing their own thing.á Sue emphasized that, in compliance with the mandate from Chancellor Wendler, all University units must have compliance (look and feel) and include the Privacy Policy on their pages.

David Carlson asked why Media is heading this project instead of departments such as Information Technology or Instructional Support Services (part of Library Affairs).á Janet clarified that Media hosts websites and helps those individuals who contact Media first.á Sue mentioned that there are departments, such as the Library, who have their own web server, but many departments do not and use Media for various reasons.á Don Olson said that IT does not do consulting work but does provide space for personal web pages.

David asked what percentage of the campus has been compliant with the template mandate.á Sue Davis said they are working on defining the gray areas, such as units that are not University affiliates, but do use the University server for hosting (e.g., Southern Editorial Association).á Sue said that Media has been monitoring compliance and working to get all units on board.á They are working on determining those still not in compliance and send them a last warning, asking why they arenÆt in compliance and being assertive but helpful.

Jon Davey asked what efforts, if any, were underway to include Flash or engaging and entertaining front pages.á Janet responded that they are working on Flash and as long as it still compliant with the University mandate, Flash is allowed.á Sue Davis mentioned that Media is working to put together an Identity Manual, which would include graphic standards for print media, identity procedures, web color guidelines, and an education of the types of graphics best used for different purposes.

Sue also informed the group that Media is working on digitizing historical information and newsletters.á For example, Southern Windows is no longer being distributed to faculty and staff in print, but rather can be found completely online at news.siu.edu/windows/.á Media is looking for ways to get students and alumni involved, including working on providing streaming video for basketball games on a pay-per-view or subscription basis and developing an online newsletter to send to high school guidance counselors.á Media has also set up webcams to watch the construction work on the new Student Health Center and the Trout-Whitmann Center, and will be setting one up for the Morris Library construction.á (www.siuc.edu/future/)

David Carlson mentioned that he had heard third-hand from members of the University committee charged with creating the template that they did not feel involved in the final decision.á He suggested that, as Media begins the second round of template creation, they keep the committee more involved and encouraged earlier engagement.á Sue responded that it was a long process and there was quite a gap of meeting times between the last committee meeting and the hiring of Janet.á Because the web changes rapidly, they made changes as they saw appropriate and presented them to the committee.á Janet did stress that the content was as the committee requested, but the design and layout of the template may have been a little different.á Sue said they are learning from their past experiences and hope to foster a better working relationship with the committee.á

 

Mass Email Policy Discussion

Don Olson spoke about the mass mailing recommendation that was distributed to the group via email on November 2^nd.á He said IT was assuming a lenient approach to the mass email policy and compared it to some universities who had strict limits such as single page, emergency only messages.á The authorization will be anyone in the vice chancellor/dean/director line, but the recommendation is to have only one or two authorized posters per department, thus allowing for a standard procedure to be enacted by department concerning mass emails.á The email policy would include sending email only to siu.edu email address, which can be obtained by University associated individuals (students, faculty, staff, and emeritus) by creating a Kerberos ID through IT.á David Carlson suggested that there the list be restrictive at first, requiring VC approval, and then six months down the road open it up to the dean/director level (as an example).

Tom Whittington asked if any studies had been done on load sharing for network stability.á Don replied that that was one reason for the development of the priority levels.á The email server has been upgraded since the spring, when Chancellor Wendler had to stagger the emails he was sending out campus-wide, but IT will have to monitor the situation.á Don also said there had been discussion on the creation of an archive in case of network failure.á Attachments were discussed and DonÆs first response was that there should not be attachments.á Amy Sileven and David Carlson suggested putting links in the text of the email in lieu of attachments.á Alice Noble-Allgire asked about an acceptable use policy and Don responded that that was a BOT level policy, not CAC.

Questions were raised about the suggestion from last meeting about a bulletin board being created to cut down on the number of mass emails.á Questions were also asked about the granularity of opting in or out of certain lists.á Don stated that some lists would be required, but others people would be able to opt-out of.á There was also a question of choosing to opt-in to specific lists.á Don said he would take the questions back to IT to see what kinds of levels could be created.á He also asked that everyone take the recommendations and first draft back to their constituencies for comment.á He will work on a second draft of the policy for the next meeting, so please feel free to send comments you receive to him for consideration (dolson@siu.edu).

 

Undergraduate Student Tech Fee

David Carlson updated the committee on the Undergraduate Tech Fee Committee (UTFC).á The committee has met once, at which time 35 proposals were distributed.á The committee was asked to rank the proposals prior to the next meeting on November 9^th.á Currently, the funds are approximately $830,000 and the request total a little over $1.4 million.á David will report to the CAC at the next meeting on the proposals the UTFC will be moving forward on.

 

There were no other items on the agenda nor brought up for discussion, so the meeting adjourned at 10:51 am.