Information Resources Council News

IRC Regular Voting Members: Philip Turner, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs for Distance Education and Dean of the School of Library and Information Resources (Chair); Jenny Jopling, Instruction Program Group; Dennis Mueller, Research Program Group; Don Grose, Libraries; Walter Bowen, Academic Administration; John Todd, Faculty Senate; Kathleen Swigger, College of Arts and Sciences; Bill Buntain, Communications Program Group; Cengiz Capan, College of Business; Joneel Harris, Administrative Program Group; Paul Dworak, College of Music; David Hartman, School of Community Services; Paul Schlieve, College of Education; Chuck Fuller, Fiscal Affairs; Carolyn Cunningham, Student Affairs; Steve Oeffner, UNTHSC Information Technology Services; Steve Miller, Human Resources; Clare Popejoy, Graduate Student Council; Steve Grant, UNT Health Science Center; Brian Patridge, Student Association; Russ Pensyl, School of Visual Arts; Virginia Wheeless, Chancellor. IRC Ex-officio Nonvoting Members: Richard Harris, Computing Center; Coy Hoggard, Computing Center; Maurice Leatherbury, Computing Center; Jim Curry, Microcomputer Maintenance Shop; Rondel Stevens, Telecommunications; Sue Ellen Richey, Computing Center (Recording Secretary)

November 19, 1996

Information Resources Steering Committee

Phil Turner reported on the meeting of the Information Resources Steering Committee. The plan for continuing PC hardware upgrades, from Standards & Cooperation, was adopted in general, and will be implemented as funds are available. When the proposal for minimum classroom upgrades was discussed, it was discovered that $33,900 had already been identified from the previous year for a similar purpose, but that the funds had not been released. Turner was given a list of approximately 60 classrooms to be upgraded with the $33K, which he distributed. The upgrades proposed include lighting, electrical outlets, window treatments, and paint.

Dr. Turner later met with Linda Sheldon, Physical Plant, who had never been informed of the project. Linda needs to know who to work with in the Language Building, so IRC members were asked to forward suggestions to Turner. Several issues were discussed, such as how to get the current project going and get it done right, and what other requests should be made (e.g. ethernet jacks, phone lines, screens, etc.). Cengiz Capan was asked to contact Linda to talk about the basic upgrade project, and possibly use an upgraded COBA classroom as a model. It was suggested that the list of classrooms needs to be revised for more accuracy since the upgrade needs listed for each room were only estimates.

Strategic Planning Committee

Richard Harris reported that the Strategic Planning Committee has continued to work on the Strategic Plan in its meetings and that Susan Pierce has been gathering input from various people. He proposed distributing the final document to members electronically for a final review before presenting it to the Chancellor. No one objected to this type of review. Susan stated that the most current Strategic Plan is posted on the World Wide Web under IRC.

Distributed Computing Support

Maurice Leatherbury reported that at the November 15 meeting of the Distributed Computing Support Management Committee the group voted to standardize on ManageWise for the network operating system management software, because UNT gets it free from Novell. The group also voted to add-on to that product another software package called DS Expert and to buy Win Install, a desktop management program. Maurice stated that the Computing Center has budgeted funds for the purchase of those two products.

The committee also discussed the purchase of Win 95 because of Microsoft's special discount offer and decided to go ahead with a bulk order and allow departments to order copies through the Computing Center with an IDO. The group considered Win 95 to be an interim step in a possible move to Windows NT as the standard operating system.

Team Web

Maurice also reported that Team Web has met regularly to work on restructuring the UNT Home Page. They have developed a proposed structure of the top level page and part of second level pages. In response to a question as to whose responsibility it is to update and keep those pages current, Maurice stated that it seems to be his responsibility at the present time. In response to a question about whether or not the official University Catalog is on the Web, Maurice responded that the printed version is considered the official version, and that there are no plans to update the catalog on-line.

Communications Program Group

Bill Buntain reported for the Communications Program Group that network managers have been advised that GroupWise Remote is available. Departments need to work through their network managers to get copies to their staff and faculty. The recommendation of the Program Group on the subject of dial-up service, is to continue premium remote access subscription service, but change the price for Dallas and Ft.Worth access to $10.00/month and discontinue the free lines. Currently, the price for users in Dallas and Ft. Worth is $15.00/month.

Bill reported that the dial-in lines are running at 100% utilization for half of every day. There are 762 users in a week's time; 272 of which are metro-line users, and he clarified that this is the number of users, not necessarily the number of connections.

Following discussion of the recommendation, during which there were strong objections to discontinuing the free access lines, Dennis Mueller proposed that there be a 1/2 hour time limit for connection on the free lines; that students be informed that this will happen at the beginning of the Spring semester; that the price of premium service for metro lines be reduced to $10.00/month, with the whole process being monitored closely. The Council approved Mueller's proposal.

Instruction Program Group

Jenny Jopling reported that the Instruction Program Group met with the Administrative Program Group to discuss the philosophical issues of distance learning fees. The conclusion of the groups was that a student should pay approximately the same fees for his/her education, regardless of the location or method of delivery. Jenny distributed the Program Group's report with the recommendation that the IRC plan for maintenance and expansion of distance learning through application of a fee structure for qualifying classes and/or students. Jenny announced that Neal Brand will serve as Co-chair of the Instruction Program Group.

Administrative Program Group

Joneel Harris reported that the Administrative Program Group met twice with the Instruction Program Group, having been asked to look at the philosophy of the fee structure at UNT. After some discussion with Dr. Turner, the committee thought it best to look at some administrative challenges, and so developed a document addressing those, which she distributed to the Council.

Innovative Projects and Teaching with Technology Programs

Dennis Mueller distributed copies of a memo from Blaine Brownell to faculty, deans and department heads, which explains that $100,000 in HEAF funds is being dedicated to the Innovative Projects Program. Dennis proposed that a committee be formed, chaired by himself, to review proposals in accordance with the guidelines set forth in Dr. Brownell's memo.

Maurice Leatherbury presented a draft of a memo from Dr. Brownell to deans and department heads concerning the continued funding of a grant program for Teaching with Technology, a program that was instituted last year.

The Council passed a motion to endorse both the Innovative Project program and the Teaching with Technology program.

Standards & Cooperation Program Group

Paul Dworak reported for the Standards & Cooperation Program Group that it has been working on the plan for upgrading faculty and staff workstations. Paul explained that after meeting with network managers and the Distributed Computing Support Management Team, he has developed a PowerPoint presentation of the plan which he would like to present at the January IRC meeting. Since there will be no December meeting, Paul agreed to post the plan on the Web for everyone to read prior to the January meeting of the IRC, so that a vote can be taken at that time.

January 21, 1997

Substitutions

John Windsor announced that he would be attending for Cengiz Capan for this semester. Ramu Muthiah announced that he will be attending for David Hartman.

Strategic Plan

Richard Harris reported that the Strategic Plan was completed and mailed prior to the holiday break; approval of which has already been received from D.I.R.

Distributed Computing Support

Maurice Leatherbury reported that the Distributed Computing Support Management Team has been meeting regularly and announced that a large number of Windows 95 licenses, as well as other software management tools, has been purchased.

Team Web

Maurice also reported that Team Web continues to meet to work on the UNT home page, explaining that with the current personnel, UNT's web site has to serve both an external as well as internal purpose. There was some discussion about the need for an up-to-date calendar on the web, as well as an on-line application for admission. The need for technical expertise was stressed, and it was pointed out that most of the people working on web development are simply volunteers, not people whose job descriptions require that they work on web development specifically.

Standards & Cooperation Program Group

Paul Dworak presented the Standards & Cooperation Program Group's plan for an organized schedule for computer workstation acquisition and periodic upgrade. He distributed a document that explained the plan, its purpose and benefits. The recommendations presented were:

1. that $3.3 Million be identified each year off the top from HEAF funds for workstation and server upgrades;
2. that a departmental planning effort coordinated by Microcomputer Maintenance in conjunction with Network Managers and Department Heads be initiated during each spring to identify:
   • a. How many new workstations of each class need to be placed on inventory during the next four fiscal years to meet expected needs for faculty and staff, and
   • b. Which computers need to be upgraded to remain current in the subsequent fiscal year;
3. that Computer workstations to meet these needs be acquired by Microcomputer Maintenance and distributed to departments according to the acquisition plans (year 1 of the upgrade plan);
4. that Microcomputer Maintenance be authorized to initiate memory and processor upgrades in years 2-4 of the upgrade plan, working with the Distributed Computer Support Management Team, Network Managers, and the Computing Center to determine the upgrades that will best serve the application and operating system needs of the University;
5. that Departments be allocated sufficient HEAF funds to meet the specialized computing needs that they articulate in their acquisition plans;
6. that Microcomputer Maintenance will recover computers that have been replaced and will initiate the surplus process for possible resale or donation.

Paul explained that a perceived disadvantage to this plan might be that HEAF monies will be taken off the top, and thus reduce amounts allocated to individual departments, requiring that faculty/staff needs will be met directly through MMS, leaving the departments to add various options to the basic configuration of machine provided, at their cost. The basic advantage of the program is that there are only a finite number of computers that can be purchased with the numbers of dollars available; if the dollars are pooled and orders are combined, the volume purchase ability saves a lot of money. After lengthy discussion, the proposal was tabled until the February IRC meeting, and the program group was asked to provide more flexibility to the plan, along with additional information as to how much the plan will cost each department.

Communication Program Group

Richard Harris reported for Bill Buntain and the Communication Program Group that the Computing Center is in the process of putting more dial-up lines in place, and they expect to add 322 new premium accounts within the next 4-8 weeks. The 30-minute time-out limit will not be implemented until these additional premium lines are available, and until a 30- to 60-day notice can be given. There was some additional discussion about the 30-minutes time-out being too short a time limit. Some concerns were expressed about dial-up system problems during the first few days of class. Mike Maner explained that GTE mistakenly disconnected 30-50% of UNT's lines at that time. In addition, there apparently was a GTE router crash during that time, which prevented access, as well.

Administrative Program Group

Joneel Harris reported that the mainframe upgrade went well with only a few minor problems with the SNA gateway and ADABAS.

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