MINUTES - IT Council - 9 September 2000 - EPC A155

Attending: Gary Klein, Sue Byerley, Leslie Manning, Ed Chow, Tom Christensen, Jackie Crouch, Scott Switzer, Jerry Wilson, Jeremy Haefner

Next meeting: Friday, October 20, 9am in EPC A155

Jerry W and Jeremy H began the meeting with some introductory remarks about the history and mission of the ITC. This represents one of the best opportunities to change the IT culture on campus in a positive way and both of us will be working very hard to make the ITC successful.

* Bylaws. Jere H will draft an initial version for the ITC to review at the next meeting. Participants, reporting role, procedures will be addressed.

* Strategic Plan. Formulating a Strategic Plan for IT is one of the primary responsibilities for the ITC. We discussed the need for the Plan to be flexible - more of a document about Strategic Thinking rather than Planning. Jere H mentioned the need to base the Plan on the mission and goals of the campus. The TLE document was distributed to members with the charge that they review the document to see where IT fits into the TLE.

* Open discussion: Issues. Most of the meeting was dedicated to an open discussion about issues and process. Scott Switzer raised the fundamental question of the process by which this group and the campus deals with IT. Many people voiced concern that there wasn't enough communication in the early stages that allows for information exchange and the sharing of strategies. This is a vital point.

-> In order for the ITC to succeed, we must have buy-in by the campus. The ITC needs to know about all IT activities that are occuring on campus - be they in the planning or implementing stages. We need a method by which these issues/ideas/actions are brought to the attention to the ITC so that true strategic thinking can occur.<-

This is so important that I suggest it be one of our first recommendations and actions. I will include in the Bylaws that each meeting of the ITC include a time period devoted to discussing IT "things" that are happening on campus. Moreover, each member tactily becomes a liason for the ITC - we all have the responsibility to gather information and bring it to the ITC as well as disseminate information to the faculty, staff and students. Simultaneously, I propose we recommend to the VCAA that we seek the cooperation of the Deans, Directors, etc to embrace this process of informing the ITC. Towards that end, Jere will attend a Dean's Council meeting on the 20th and make the case for this process.

Other issues that were raised included making the infrastructure flexible and security, access and authentication. It was suggested that Jerry W prepare possibly a series of presentations for the ITC to bring the group up to speed with our current IT state of affairs. At the next meeting, Jerry will give an overview of the organization of Informational Technology Services. It is also expected that Vice Chancellor Pierce will address the ITC at the next meeting.

The next meeting of the ITC is scheduled for

-> Friday, 20 October 2000, 9 am in El Pomar Center A155 <-

These minutes are shared with the campus Vice Chancellors and Deans.