Minutes of September 13, 2001 ITPG Meeting:
Present: Mark Aldenderfer, Arlene Allen, Debbie Anglin, Ken
Bowers, Eric Brody, Larry Carver, Glenn Davis, Ken Dean,
Jim Dewey, John Doner, Doug Drury, Ken Herman, Shea Lovan, Tom Marazita, Elise
Meyer, Bruce Miller, Alan Moses, Linda Moskovits, Joan Murdoch, Larry Murdock,
Stan Nicholson, Fuzzy Rogers, Deborah Scott, Glenn Schiferl, Paul Valenzuela,
Paul Weakliem, Craig Welsh
Computers and Energy Savings Program:
Ken Hermann and Jim Dewey began this portion of the meeting stating that although the energy crisis and rolling blackouts seem to be a thing of the past, the financial crisis related to energy costs will be with us for the next several years, with energy costs doubling from current costs. Suggestions on how the campus can be more effective should be forwarded to Jim ( jim.dewey@pf.ucsb.edu ); creativity is encouraged. They are open to suggestions, but funding for incentives and replacements of newer technology e.g., flatscreen monitors, are scarce. The campus is receiving State funding to expand the co-generation project; still, the expectation is that March 2002 will see a 97% increase overall, with a 300% rate increase in peak load times. A letter will be going out to all students, faculty, and staff regarding the Energy Savings Program. A draft was presented to the ITPG for review, and comments should go to Ken (Ken.Hermann@pf.ucsb.edu ). A suggestion they made was that everyone turn off the lights and their computer monitors whenever they leave their office for a half hour or more. Lighting changes are also being investigated, such as dual lighting, retrofitting for higher efficiency. Jim and Ken would like to return to this group to discuss future options.
AuthDir:
Arlene supplied a handout and spreadsheet showing a synopsis
of expenses for personnel, hardware and software that were associated with the
UCSB Directory Project (LDAP) within IS&C.
The system is within three months of completing the first phase of the
project, meeting the following criteria:
1.
A stable hardware and software environment that is current
and supports the enterprise white pages, dynamic email client reference, and a
basic eligibility service,
2.
Web-based applications for self-service modification of
individual entries within the directory,
3.
Web-based help and descriptive information that enables the
general understanding of the directory contents,
4.
Transmission of extracted information files for both
students and employees as mandated by UCOP,
5.
Integration of Communications Services white pages
information into the directory with the goal of eliminating future yearly “blue
sheet” updates that are manually integrated into the once-a-year printed UCSB
directory,
6.
Ongoing support for physical or logical errors (specifically
excludes support of the “how-to” variety other than on a time as available
basis).
Cost for phase one completion ran approximately $400,000,
with maintenance costs anticipated to be $85K/yr for the next 3 years. (This does not include costs associated with
updating other servers; users would be responsible for any additional costs.)
The issue of the value of maintaining both the LDAP and an
annual printed directory was raised.
There was much discussion on the pros and cons of maintaining a printed
directory with the “blue pages”; what is the function/value of the printed
directory? Where would the additional
information be available (maps, “how to” phone use, etc)? More discussion on this topic is
necessary.
Email Brown Bag:
Alan Moses reported that the event was very well attended,
and that many email topics regarding pros and cons to programs, preferences,
and features were brought up. The next
informal information-sharing meeting is scheduled for Thursday in Psych 1523 at
11:30 to discuss web implementation issues.
The Blackboard representative’s trip from Washington was postponed, but
Alan will send out an email with the new schedule. There is an on-line demo available on the web at www.blackboard.com for anyone
interested. The question regarding
Blackboard is should the campus have this course delivery/portal capability as
a campus service.
This project’s preliminary goal is to begin efforts to
develop an inventory of existing UCSB wireless data communications
systems. Dave Bosso and Ed Mehlschau
have indicated their interest, and Housing and Residential Services,
Engineering and the Library may also be interested in being represented in the
group. Once the inventory is amassed,
it will be presented to ITPG for discussion, and then forwarded with comments
on to the Wireless Interest Group. It
was noted that not only the type of equipment needs to be inventoried, but the
applications need to be noted as well.
Context Redux:
A brainstorming session followed which provided a number of
possible topics for future discussion by the ITPG. At the next meeting these topics will be reviewed, and from that
discussion will come a list of issues the ITPG should plan to consider. The topics (in no particular order) are:
All were encouraged to brainstorm until just before the next
meeting on these topics.
New Member:
Linda Moskovits was introduced as a new member of the group. Linda is located in the Office of Information Technology, and is involved (among other things) in the coordination of course development and research on the Digital Divide.
Next Meeting:
The next ITPG meeting will be held on Thursday, October 25, at 9:30 a.m. in the Mary Cheadle Room of the Library. Please let Elise or Glenn know if you are a CorporateTime user and this meeting is not on your calendar.