University of Massachusetts at Amherst Faculty Senate University Computing & Electronic Communications Committee Dec 12, 2002; Campus Center 905 Draft minutes Attendees: George Avrunin (NSM Computer Network), Steve Brewer (Biology), Murray Eisenberg (Math), Marilyn Hanley Billings (Library, secretary), Gary Hough (Library), Cynthia Jacelon (Nursing), Tad Jackson (ITS), Joe Kunkel (Biology, chair), Norman Sims (Journalism), Howard D. Stidham (Chemistry), Michael VanKleef (Undergraduate, Management / Plant and Soil) I. Minutes Oct 31, 2002 minutes approved Nov 21, 2002 minutes postponed to next time II.Announcements Rosio not able to attend today so OIT Review agenda item postponed until February III PeopleSoft issues Create a complaint database, OIT Help Desk, solutions at other sites. Due to complaints about SPIRE / Mobius, Joe Kunkel suggested the creation of a complaint database. Solution: SPIRE Help Desk. Joe had a meeting with Rosio Alvarez and OIT SPIRE Help Desk members who described procedures, workflow, problem reporting and resolution. Other issues to discuss: * MOBIUS reports: we wrote these so they may be fixable. * OIT plans for development and transition to version 8 * Crystal reports will be available - the bundled report system that comes with PeopleSoft. Not clear why OIT needed to develop other report writing software. * PeopleSoft provides another non-bundled piece of software that allows one to establish the formats of reports Action item: Look at the UC&ECC PeopleSoft issue page for other institutions' solutions. NC State has a consultant that people / departments can hire. Others have hired a DBA. Action item: Read Rosio's email: Students reaction to SPIRE The focus of the PeopleSoft project has been on the end-user interface, not necessarily on the faculty or departments. President's Office reports: they control those reports. There is a liaison person but we need a more direct link - Help Desk connection / liaison Research Trust Fund access Action item: Recommendation to Faculty Senate to resolve this problem, create liaison group. Very few faculty were involved in the focus groups. Staff focus groups - no hands on work; just a presentation. Staff had forgotten when the implementation happened. Rosio will have one semester of parallel operation as we migrate to version 8. Class managers, department secretaries, etc can not access class lists. Triage questions: Can these problems be solved in the next 3 semesters with SPIRE. How does the administration determine the courses that have high demand to allocate funds. If using PeopleSoft and it is not providing accurate information, that has serious impact for future academic programs / courses Action item: Recommend to Faculty Senate that an independent group (not those purchasing the system) do an assessment of the PeopleSoft implementation / financial accountability. Stated objectives of the PeopleSoft implementation - Many complaints are from actual policy decisions such as pre-registration vs confirmed registration which effectively disrupts academic advising. The design goal is the issue, not the software. Rosio: This spring, February, new focus groups will be put together to discuss problems. Each department needs to ensure that these groups deal with critical issues. Who sets priorities for what gets done * Help Desk Managers. Need to have faculty members on the group that actually makes these decisions, also and staff, students, administrators. Look at: * Organization of universities that have solved problems. * Socious Network institutions dealing with PeopleSoft Problems/ Issues * FSUC&ECC web page, PeopleSoft Issue page for more resources * Other institutions have given out contact names, email, etc Action item: Establish a larger priority-setting group and have faculty be on this. Recommendation / proposal to Faculty Senate about the urgency to prevent this type of thing from happening in the future. There are separate software mechanical issues from policy issues / decisions. For example, faculty need the department secretary to be able to access class files to create the types of reports that faculty need. We need to be able to connect directly with the President's Office. Owners Cabinet (such as Joyce Hatch, Juan Jarrett) are setting priorities and high level direction. Preferable to have campus liaisons rather than direct connections. The prioritization of problems on this campus needs to be looked at. We need to have the true reflection of serious problems rather than fight brushfires. Joe Kunkel recommends that we develop our own committee database of important issues / problems that becomes an online issues grid of SPIRE problems and PeopleSoft version 8 transition concerns. Concerns expressed about how to avoid these problems in the future. Develop a proactive interface between departments and the 20 people who will solve these problems – liaison group. IV.Old business Email lists: David Powicki, Murray Eisenberg, Joe Kunkel Classroom connectivity Steve Brewer will provide summary of Pew Grant group that is developing and experimental area using ClassTalk, a personal response system (PRS), used in Biology for the past 4 years. Wireless works well in small classes. When large numbers of students, the system seems to jam. Those closer to the device have a better way of documenting responses, 2 way interaction and questions. Physics Dept: coordinating an HP grant program using web-based wireless using PDAs, tablet PCs Physics Education Research Group includes ISOM, CCBIT, Chemistry, Physics, Biology Joe will be sending out a questionnaire for available times for spring semester.