Information Technology Council

Meeting Notes

Date: 1/17/14

  1. Call to order

Foxcalled the regular meeting of the Information Technology Council to order at 9 a.m. on January 17, 2014in Drinko Library 426 with a video link to South Charleston AC 211.

  1. Roll call

The following persons were present: Dr. Jan Fox, Dr. Arnold Miller, Dr. Monica Brooks, Dr. David Pittenger, Dr. Lisa Heaton, Mary Ellen Heuton, Laura Stapleton, Paris Webb, Jon Cutler, Allen Taylor, Erica Thomas, and Noah Lamb.

  1. Approval of minutes from last meeting

The Council was asked to approve the minutes from the December 6, 2013 meeting. Pittenger made a motion for approval. Taylor made the following two corrections to the minutes: in the Updates sections, point a), the information session was held on December 16 (rather than January 16), and the acronym for the distributed antennae system is DAS (rather than DAZ). Pittenger moved to approve the minutes as corrected, and Heuton seconded. The minutes were approved as corrected.

  1. Open Issues

a)Fox introduced the topic of copyright, noting the separation of the Policy and the Procedure aspects of it. Brooks reviewed the changes suggested by Jendonnae Houdyschell.

In the MUBOG Copyright Policy, Houdyschell proposedplacing “Classroom” in the title. After discussion, it was suggested that placing “Use of” in the title rather than “Classroom” would better describe the application of the Policy. The definition of Marshall employees needs to be clarified in number 2.2. Brooks will convey these suggestions to Houdyschell.

In the Procedure, number 2.9, reference is made to the Director of Research for Marshall University Research Corporation (MURC), and to the MURC employees, who traditionally have been managed as a separate entity; Houdyschell suggested that the distinction be removedfrom the verbiagebecause the University wants to be all encompassing.The definition of “employee” again was discussed and was determined to be essential to this Procedure. It was suggested that number 4.5 be struck. Considerable discussion ensued regarding the definition of intellectual property. The consensus was that a broader definition of intellectual property is needed. Brooks will share the suggestions with Houdyschell. A couple of editorial corrections will be made to the Procedure.

Per Fox, the copyright topic will be on the agenda for the next ITC meeting; and a vote will be taken. If approved, the Policy will be reviewed by the Cabinet and then will be presented to the MU Board of Governors.

b)Fox reviewed the current Rate Schedule and its purpose. No changes were made from the previous Schedule. Pittenger moved to approve the Schedule, and Stapletonseconded the motion. The motion was approved. Discussion ensued regarding the future need to increase costs in order to stay current with technology and to offset rising costs of products and services from outside vendors. Fox noted that part of the University’s 20/20 plan concerns services; she will provide a rough draft of it, which will help the Council understand the IT services. Fox asked the Council members to review the draft document before it is formally submitted.

  1. Updates

a)Brooks noted that the Sierra update wentwell. The Libraries continue to add content to Marshall Digital Scholar; they vet copyright in order to ascertain all of the parameters are followed properly. The MUOnLinespring training schedule isbeing developed, which includes Quality Matters workshops; the hope is that faculty will take advantage of this lead into the Center for Teaching and Learning workshop.

b)Miller reported that the Infrastructure people worked diligentlyand tirelessly to resolve recent problems with wireless service on campus. He detailed the issues with the vendor Cisco andwith the internet service provider WVNet.

The EnterpriseApplications people are researching products that will be needed duringthe next year. Analytics from the student retention module and the performance modules surrounding them will be made available to advisors and other administrators; training for the analytical pieces is tentatively scheduled for the coming spring. Miller reviewed two large projects that will take placeapproximately in the next year: 1) a new recruitment systemwill replace the current one; and 2) the student side of the new version of Banner will be in place in the fall or the next spring. Finance and Human Resources modules are not available to date.

c)Per Heuton, a meeting is scheduled for January 17, 2014 with high-level State officialsto discuss wvOasis. Payroll systems are on hold indefinitely. Go Live for finance is scheduled to begin July 1. wvOasis training will take place six weeks prior to implementation. Work continues with Ellucian regarding Banner matters.

d)Thomas reported that PeopleAdmin is progressing well. Work will begin on the onboarding and performance management pieces. Tim Weingart is working on a workflow for the new-hire piece.

e)Pittenger reviewed efforts by his area to increase enrollment. Hardware and software are being installed in Point Pleasant, Teays Valley, and the Erma Byrd Center in Beckley that will allow faculty and students to use Blackboard Collaborate. The
College of Business is very interested in increasing enrollment in the MBA program. Interest exists in expanding Online College Courses in the High Schools program into China. A lot of interest exists in Marshall’s health profession graduate programs and in the College of Business programs at distant campuses. Discussion ensued regarding the advantages and parameters of online courses. The Geography Department has migrated its entire curriculum to an online format. He is working on an Articulation Agreement for a 2+2 program with Pomona Community College. Conversations have taken place with Dr. Gayle Ormiston to startadvertisingfor a degree completion program at Marshall.

f)Webb reiterated the virtual seamlessness of the Sierra transition.

g)Taylor reported on the progress of major construction projects, to includethe visual arts center in downtown Huntington. Fiber was run, and the network was extended for that project; the projected date for installation is May, with an opening in June. Lynda.com continues to have excellent content for technical, management, and personnel skills, for example. Students now can download content that can be viewed subsequently without an Internet connection. Fox added that Blackboard training for faculty and for students is up to date and is very good. Students are aware of this and are using Blackboard actively; this information needs to be promoted to high school students who are in the dual-credit program. Taylor noted that the LyndaCampus contract is paid through May 2016.

h)Heaton commented that the South Charleston Campus is fortunate to have so many online and hybrid courses; this availability precluded their missing the first couple of days of the semester in light of the campus closure.

i)According to Cutler, the Microsoft Office 365 license is in hand; and service desk people are being trained on the new applications. On April 2014, Microsoft will no longer support and provide security updates for windows XP; this could present asecurity issue for machines that have XP. IT is assisting departmentsin identifying these machines and in determining how to budget for compatible replacement software and hardware.

j)Stapleton continues to inform faculty about Blackboard features and how they can set up ecourses.

k)Fox recognized Arnold Miller for his contributions to the ITC and wished him well. He is retiring from Marshall University as of January 31, 2014.

  1. Adjournment

Fox adjourned the meeting at 10 a.m.

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