FACULTY SENATE UNIVERSITY COMPUTER & ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF Dec. 11, 1998, 168C Campus Center

Approved:  March 1, 1999.

Present: S. Brewer, E. Cutting, D. Damery, J. Dubach, A. Gaylord, 
G. Fisher, M. Hanley, G. Hough, T. Jackson, J. Kunkel, 
B. MacDougall (Chair), B. McCandless, R. Sailer, M. Wingertsman

Bruce MacDougall called the meeting to order at 10:48 AM

1. Approval of Minutes: 

   The Committee approved the minutes of the Nov. 19, 1998 Meeting

2. Announcements

 A. John Dubach reported that the SIS system is up and running.
 (1) It is not available for use yet.
 (2) The Admissions Module will be up in May or June, undergraduate first
     then graduate student.
 (3) Modules will be up according to a schedule to be decided on in
     February.
 (4) All units will be up by late 1999 and early 2000.
  
 B. John Dubach, reported that Internet II is up and running:
 (1) People connecting from this campus to other Internet II campuses
     automatically will have internet traffic routed via the faster I2
     paths.
 (2) The earlier policy of restricting I2 use to Meritorious Applications
     has been rejected because that is not how it has been implemented
     at any other I2 sites. However, the Meritorious Applications
     concept will be retained and applied to the faster connectivity
     or other special options that can be provided individual projects 
     via dedicated I2 lines on campus.  Applications for such consideration
     should be made to Dan Blanchard.
 (3) The switching on of I2 has moved about 20% of prior Ic (commercial  
     internet) traffic to the I2 (i.e. 20% of our traffic at the transition
     was with other I2 campuses).  This has given our Ic line a new
     lease on life.  In addition the Ic line will be shortly increased
     from 9 to 12 Mb.
 (4) Taus should no longer be used but it is suspected that some offices
     are retaining their use due to the "if it ain't broke ..." philosophy.
     Business managers must make a concerted effort to collect the Taus
     if faculty or staff are not responding to the efficiency and
     improved service rationale.
 (5) Graduate and undergraduate students should be seeing an improvement
     in phone internet service due to the campus wiring progress. Time 
     limits are still in force, 2 hrs on 56k and 6 hrs on 28.8k service.
 (6) With respect to these improved services it would be of interest what
     the student fees pay for.  This would be of some significance with
     respect to the communication needs of the Graduate Student Housing
     patrons, who may be being denied access to either the backbone or an
     adequate modem access for which they potentially have a rightful claim.


3. Old Business
 A. TLTR update.
 (1) Copper Giloth reported that the TLTR motion was passed by the TLIT
     Council meeting on Dec. 10.
 (2) The Joint Motion will be forwarded as a Special Report to John Bracy,
     Secretary of the Senate at the Senate Office.
 (3) Earliest handling of the motion would be at the Feb. meeting of the
     Faculty Senate.    

4. New Business - Potential FSUC&ECC issues for the Spring.
 A. Library Issues.
 (1) Margo Christ's Report to the Faculty Senate should be read by all
     FSUCECC members in relation to our oversight of all computer
     related issues, URL:
         http://www.library.umass.edu/presentations/fsnov98.html 

 B. Software Site Licenses.
 (1) There is a need for a coordination of the site licenses that exist
     on campus.  No catalog of them exists.  It is known that at least
     3 contracts for MS Office exist on campus. No one should be paying
     more that $44 for Office-97.
 (2) It was noted that many site licenses do not extend benefits to students.
     This information needs to be an item of any attempt to determine 
     the availability of software licenses across our campus to see if
     it is a consistent and reasonable restriction on licenses and
     whether reasonable efforts to extend the benefits to students have
     been made. 
 (3) Item #1 on next years agenda should be to seek organization for 
     this critical area of common interest across the campus
     
 C. Revisit Mandatory Computer Ownership by Undergraduates.
 (1) This will be Item #2 on Spring 1999 agenda.
 (2) What are the issues of mandatory computer ownership for undergraduates?
   a. Financial aid implications?
   b. Why was it turned down previously?
   c. How mandatory should it be?  Should waivers exist?
   d. Is there increased need?
   e. What is the impact if 67% of students have computers and 69% of
      students need computers to do their school work?
   
 D. Web site Organization.
 (1) To what extent is the University responsible for web site content
     and design that is identifiable as representing UMass Amherst? Who
     has oversight authority?
   a. How much is gained by uniformity of format.
   b. Are principles of freedom of speech and expression involved?
   b. Can Departments and/or faculty provide their own information that 
      is not part of the official University Catalog.
   c. Who is responsible if timeliness of information is not maintained?
 (2) The University Web Site Redesign Project is already helping to
     identify the criteria for a new design for the University Web Pages.
   a. One Dean of a college has already asked for a review of their 
      WWW site.
 (3) This topic will constitute Item #3 on the Spring Agenda.
    
5. The meeting adjourned at 12:04 PM.

Respectfully Submitted
Joseph G. Kunkel
joe@bio.umass.edu

last updated 1/04/99