Minutes of CTAG meeting Wednesday, November 17, 1999
Committee Reports:
Web Presence Committee -- Roxanne Johnston
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Rationale: As a "first look" to hundreds of thousands of people,
our web site has enormous potential to assist SUNY Geneseo in meeting several
of its key institutional priorities, including achieving its undergraduate
recruitment targets, enhancing its national image and prestige, influencing
policy makers, and increasing private giving. It is a unique public relations
tool and marketing communications tool that can reach external constituents
such as prospective students, alumni, donors, policy-makers, media personnel,
and the general public through an extensive network of academic, administrative,
faculty, and student information. A first class web presence is critical
to our continued success as a premier public liberal arts college.
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Issues Addressed/To be Addressed
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Need for a dedicated webmaster
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Establishment of web oversite/editorial committee led by designated representatives
from CIT and College Advancement. Responsibilities would include: developing,
managing, and promoting Geneseo's internet and intranet presence; standards
including visual identity, editorial, and technical standards, and policies
that guide college-wide and departmental sites; integrity of the system,
both its technological elements and its content, in collaboration with
departmental liaisons
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Legal issues -- ie copyright and intellectual property rights
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State mandates -- ie web site accessibility to those with disabilities
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Allocation of new resources to initiate and sustain a major collaborative
effort that will result in a first-class web presence for SUNY Geneseo
Hardware Replacement committee. -- John Haley
We have divided our charge up into 4 main tasks:
Work on gathering information or identifying resources to identify what
computer hardware is currently on campus and how up to date it is.
Have
identified a few key sources of information:
Property Control's system - This is the one source of all information
about
computers on campus. Each PC is branded with a PC barcode. So they
have a
listing of it all but where this equipment is and what vintage it is
not
complete or always accurate.
Bruce Ristow's inventory - An accurate snapshot of all PC's on faculty
desks. Includes user, department, make and model. Has a rating of utility
of
machine. Gathered by Bruce Ristow but kept up to date by CIT's TSPs.
Similar
information available for library and public labs.
John Haley's inventory - Inventory of all PC's within Division of Admin
and
finance.
We are working to combine all of the above information into one data
source.
What is the life of a PC? Does it differ PC vs. Mac? Surfing the web to
determine equipment replacement cycles. Getting information from business's
and other educational institutions. Oswego has a group similar to CTAG
that
has been working longer so we are working on making contact with them.
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Can we stretch existing resources?
Researching ideas, products or services that would lengthen the life of
existing computer hardware or have it provide usefulness even after
it is
surplused. Ideas include upgrading vs. buying new. Formalization of
existing
"trickle down" process. Disposal of surplus equipment in ways that
would
benefit the college. Software and hardware tools that give new life
to old
equipment (ex: cannibalization of old PC's for server parts)
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What is the suggested replacement process?
Have not worked on this yet. This is the end product of this committee.
A
recommendation of how the College should keep its hardware up to date
with
the limited resources on hand.
Network Infrastructure Committee -- Sue Chichester
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Committee can't function without participation of CAS (Tom Bell), plus
Telecommunications and Facilites, which is in charge of wiring
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Plans in process from other sources: SUNY Next and the Board of Trustee's
Advisory Group which recommends a single statewide contract for all telecomm
and networking purposes
Common Software Committee -- Bruce Ristow
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Microsoft and Lotus contracts offered SUNY-wide have a deadline of Tues,
11/23. Geneseo must agree to buy in or not on either three year contract.
Costs are very low. If we buy in later, costs are higher.
Discussion of Microsoft/Lotus Contracts
These contracts have a deadline of Tues 11/23. The savings on buying
both products in large, SUNY-wide numbers is substantial. Most of SUNY
must buy in for the Microsoft contract to fly; Lotus will offer deals to
much smaller numbers. Although the Common Software Subcommittee has had
no time to discuss whether or not and under what circumstances we should
buy into any common software, an immediate decision must be made on these
contracts. This sub-committee still intends to poll the campus and draft
a resolution on common software for the campus. Sue Chichester pointed
out that the majority of new employees are using Microsoft Office and that
many longer term employees would like to switch but do not want to pay
for the new software. There was no widespread demand for Lotus that the
committee was aware of, though a few individual departments might be interested.
The committee voted to accept the Microsoft contract conditions and
to turn down the Lotus contract.
Bob Simon, CTAG chair, will draft a resolution to give to Provost Dixon.
Respectfully and tardily submitted,
Melanie Blood