Technology Committee Meeting Minutes
April 22, 2005
1 p.m. – Central Campus Conference Room
Attendees: Josh Montgomery, Kristi Hall, Carol Callahan,
Cathy Kelley, Shirley Cornwell, Janeen Deatley, Michele McCarren, Denise
Decker-Flum, Cathy LaParl, Bob Stevens, Julie Basham Virginia Ferguson, Dennis
Griffith, Jeff Montgomery, Sherry Stout, Annie Rankin, Don Storer, and Nicole
Roades.
Review of previous meeting minutes
Web Development Presentation: Josh Montgomery
- Completed revision of tech plan – chapter 4
- Accomplished about 70% -80% of the web goals
- One of the biggest challenges regarding the
website are the problems associated with students that have dial up
access. Our page could take up to 40
seconds to load. Several things can and will be done to fix this issue.
·
Change the drop
down bars to be text only. This
increases performance on the front page by about 33% and even more on the sub
pages.
·
Help desk
website. List hours of operation. FAQ’s .
Forms.
·
Create a better
portal site for “my SSCC.” We would like
for this to be a one-portal area. The
LRC authentication will someday be added to this area.
·
Advising site
will move forward. Career Services has
been updated. Calendar to be on the web.
Explanation of
community calendar: The calendars
handled by the front desk and the switchboard.
·
Suggestions for
the future.
- Questions: Updating email? Are we staying with the same kind of service? Dennis reported that we would be replacing
with Microsoft Exchange in the future.
Netscape will not interface with the client feature.
Policy on Networked Computers
Question: Can students tap into our network? Yes, anytime and they do it frequently. We want to afford them access but we want to
check out their system prior to permitting access. We have a means of tracking who is gaining
access. One way is to deploy ISA servers at each campus. An ISA Server is a Microsoft package that
controls access, serves as a firewall, patch validation, and has a host of
other features. We are currently
piloting this at the South Campus. The purpose of the ISA Server is to make
sure people are following the network policy.
All in agreement to pass the
policy.
This policy will need to be
available through the catalog, student handbook, Policy and Procedures manual,
and the technology plan.
Dennis made the recommendation
that we establish policies to guide our employees as to what is appropriate use
of computing resources. This is not intended
to be solely restrictive but rather a policy to protect the institution that it
has communicated clear guidelines.
Limitations are not the focus but just having a stance. Concerns about
research restrictions were made but eventually subsided once those concerned
understood the mere necessity to have a policy.
The work team that has
volunteered to generate this policy includes: Carol Callahan, Cathy Kelley,
Kristi Hall, Sherry Stout, Josh Montgomery, and Dennis Griffith.
Reports from Dennis Griffith
Dennis provided a handout
that included a nice graphic illustration of our email filtration, our Internet
activity, and bandwidth usage. Some of
the points below were the highlight of the handout:
-
Today 83.5
percent of incoming spam is deleted before it ever reaches us.
-
Only about 48
percent of our incoming email is just normal mail. 58.7percent is spam and the small remaining part
is viruses.
-
Dennis provided
an analysis of the bandwidth usage at any given time. Through this software, he
is able to track unusual activity and then find out what computer it is coming
from. He also provided an analysis of the number of hours the various colleges
use our ITV rooms.
Security Update:
-
Cameras have
been installed in room 306 at Central and in the hallway at South.
-
Looking into
ways to buy special screws that will protect our computer cases from internal
tampering. Five hundred screws cost
$700.
-
We need to
reaffirm that security is everyone’s responsibility.
Virginia Ferguson recommended
that user accounts should go away.
Dennis and Josh are working on this.
One idea would be to give people from the public some sort of guest card
to sign in. Doing away with “user”
accounts would also eliminate abuse of resources. “User” accounts were set up to try and be
more user friendly but as we try to be more protective of our equipment, we invariably
become more restrictive.
Fall Activities Sept. 12 -16
Monday: All College Meeting/Lunch – Attorney
General’s office
Tues. Accreditation and Assessment
Wed. Workshops Safety,
Advising, and Technology. (Sherry will
be distributing a complete list of workshops under separate cover.)
Thurs. Adjunct dinner 6-9
p.m.
Friday: Work day.
Technology Plan revisions: Jeff Montgomery
Jeff: We’re trying to establish five clear goals
rather than subsections.
-
Incorporate,
update, and replace technology in the classroom.
-
Ensure faculty,
staff and students continue to have access to technology that supports
instructional and administrative needs.
-
Distance
education.
-
Training and
competency
-
Continue to
provide five-year budget and provide continuous funding stream.
Time-line: Looking for direction when this needs to be
done. Jeff will try to have something to
pass out by the next meeting.
Next meeting: June 10, 2005
Roundtable Updates:
The distance education group
will be presenting at the next
Annie, Josh, Kathy, and
Julie. Josh will be demonstrating the
Welcome to WebCT home page.
Request: Sherry will send out a rough draft of the
opening week plans.
Meeting adjourned.