Faculty Senate Minutes

Attachment 3 Faculty Senate Minutes 2 December 1997

TECHNOLOGY VISION TASK FORCE DRAFT PLAN

SUMMARY

One of the primary challenges of the 21st century is to effectively integrate information technology into the teaching and learning process. The information technology plan presents a vision of what our teaching and learning environment should look like in the next century. It outlines many of the key issues that must be addressed in order for the University to move toward that vision.

The current technology environment at the University has many notable features, which are the results of the efforts by many people over the years and extensive funding support from the University. These include:

Stable fiber-optic backbone installed at a fraction of the cost at other universities
Academic Affairs policy and budget to provide every new faculty member with a state-of-the-art workstation at the desktop
12 computer labs located in key buildings
two year program to connect every dormitory room to campus network
modern student information system
new integrated administrative information system that runs in a client server environment
modern automated library system
campus wide information system (CWIS)

At the same time the task force and the University community recognize the existence of numerous problem areas in our technology environment that must be addressed. These include:

growing problem providing adequate user support
lack of coordinated and on-going training programs for University staff and training for technical staff
lack of University-wide hardware/software standards
current split organizational structure
lack of budget process for systematic future replacements
existence of too many automation committees with little communication or coordination
incomplete inventory of current state of technology across campus
technology gap in access capability and skill levels among faculty and staff
lack of University-wide planning for technology in the classroom
slowness in adopting distance education

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NEXT 12 MONTHS

Hire vice president for information technology and use consultant to develop job description and conduct the search
Hire consultant to evaluate skills and knowledge base of all staff in Academic Computing and CIT
Establish and communicate hardware and software standards
Establish criteria for rewarding faculty and staff who learn and effectively utilize information technology
Provide time and resources to develop a Professional Development center which incorporates information technologies
Expand existing orientation programs for new faculty, staff, and students to provide understanding of information technology resources
Identify information technology competencies that students should achieve by graduation and integrate them into the curriculum

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