|
University Archives of Virginia Tech |
Virginia Tech
Governance Minutes ArchiveApril 7, 1993
MINUTES Computer Committee President's Boardroom April 7, 1993 3 PM PRESENT: Terry Rakes, Sean Arthur, David Coe, John Cosgriff, David Goodyear, Katherine Johnston, Tom McAnge, Travis McCoy, Gerry McLaughlin, Harlan Miller, K. B. Rojiani, Patricia Summers, J. R. Webster, Michael Williams ABSENT: Erv Blythe, Darrell Bosch, John Burton, Jan Carr, Wayne Clough, Glen Holmes, Carolyn Moore, Jay Stoeckel Ernest Stout, Jeffrey Wilcke VISITOR(S): Barbara Robinson and Bill Sanders (Computing Center) AGENDA ITEM 1: MINUTES OF THE MARCH 3, 1993 MEETING (RAKES) Motion made, seconded and passed to approve the minutes of the March meeting. AGENDA ITEM 2: COMPUTING CENTER ANNOUNCEMENTS (WILLIAMS) Migration of VM2 to VM1 continues. Procedures for moving blocks of users will be tested with a few volunteer departments shortly. The plan for full migration by August is still on target. The Computing Center has been notified by IBM that support will cease next year for the obsolete operating system software used on Computing Center mainframes. Upgrading to supported software is not an option on existing hardware which has incompatible ar- chitecture. Use of unsupported software entails an element of risk which ap- pears unavoidable. Details on how support would be provided after the expiration are undetermined, but an arrangement at perhaps a reduced service level is expected. AGENDA ITEM 3: SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS (CHAIRS) o End User (Goodyear) The subcommittee met last month, and after considerable dis- cussion, concluded that changes in the computing environment point to a need to reevaluate the subcommittee's charge, par- ticularly in relationship to the charge of the Capacity and Planning subcommittee. It may be appropriate to merge the committees. It was observed, however, that examination of ca- pacity issues would continue to be appropriate in a distrib- uted environment, and merging the subcommittees might diminish an important subcommittee focus. o Capacity and Planning (Arthur) No formal meeting was held, although some discussion occurred concerning the relationship of the charge of the subcommittee to that of the End User Subcommittee. o Workstation (Rojiani) No formal meeting was held, though work continued on tabulat- ing the surveys, summarizing respondents' comments, and pre- paring a report. o Site License (Robinson) The subcommittee met in early March to consider sixteen pro- posals. Seven were sufficiently complete to merit serious evaluation, but in all cases, there were questions about de- tails. Another meeting will be held April 19 to reconsider the proposals and perhaps consider additional ones, which are still being accepted. A timetable will be developed under which proposals will be evaluated three times a year. Publicizing the subcommittee's activities will also be discussed at the next meeting. One of the factors considered heavily in evaluating proposals was demonstrated interest in the software by multiple depart- ments. The subcommittee also favored funding only initial costs, since it was felt that some experience would be bene- ficial before the subcommittee made any long term commit- ments. Software receiving serious consideration at this time includes S-Plus, a UNIX-based statistical analysis program, molecular simulation software, and perhaps Mathematica. AGENDA ITEM 4: PHASE 2 AND THE COMPUTING CENTER (Williams) An underlying premise in the restructuring of the administrative component of computing, as well as other elements, is that both central and distributed computing cannot be supported on continu- ing basis with existing resource levels. Ways to escape the bounds of expensive mainframe computing must be found. This also offers the opportunity to take advantage of richer, more func- tional desktop capability. Benefits of moving to a distributed environment include elimi- nation of high cost to support the mainframe, improved access to administrative information, improved productivity in the office environment, more collaboration between administrative offices and departments, and a richer service environment for all infor- mation consumers. Examples of applications which could be available with desktop technology might include the ability to submit an electronic or- der for a product directly from the menu of state contract items, creation of leave sheets directly from personal calendars, and an electronic plan of study for students with built in audit checks that would track with student during their entire stay at Virginia Tech. For this initiative to be successful, all new and replacement systems must be consistent with the distributed computing envi- ronment. Systems must have application programming interfaces that allow extraction and update of information in a reasonable way. Most existing mainframe systems do not offer this capabil- ity. In addition, a powerful, coherent and ubiquitous client infrastructure must be established. Development projects must have a target client which can be supported with existing univer- sity staffing. Although Information Systems will not dictate a platform, priorities will be set in order to efficiently focus efforts. Several projects are underway which fit conceptually within the goals described above, including the Human Resources and Enroll- ment Services Information Systems Projects. Emphasis has been placed on setting goals in order to effectively measure progress and to insure alignment of the projects with global university interests and goals. An administrative client project is in a formative stage, developing a client proposal. Choosing a sup- portable client will be critical to the success of all projects. Over the next five years, these efforts and others will be able to not only duplicate, but dramatically exceed, mainframe capa- bilities that support administration. AGENDA ITEM 5: ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA The Computer Committee's response to suggestions offered by the Commission on University Support regarding changes in membership and selection method has been forwarded to the chair of the Com- mission. No response has been received. Computer Committee minutes will be exchanged with the Communi- cations Resources Committee to allow the two committees to become aware of issues of mutual interest as they arise. No additional collaboration is planned at this time. Committee members were urged to take advantage of the scheduled meetings which will provide the opportunity for members of the Computer Committee to meet with candidates for Vice President for Information Systems. Subcommittee chairs were asked to submit a final report summariz- ing the year's activities by June 1. The Computer Committee chair will meet with subcommittee chairs to develop a recommendation for revamping subcommittees next year. The proposal will provide a starting point for discussion at the first fall meeting, allowing new subcommittees to begin working quickly. The next meeting will be held on September 1 at 3 p.m. in the President's Boardroom. Meeting adjourned at 4:03 p.m.
VT History | Digital Library and Archives | Special Collections | University Archives
Send questions or comments to:
Tamara Kennelly, University Archivist
University Libraries
Virginia Tech
P.O. Box 90001
Blacksburg, VA, 24062-9001URL: http://spec.lib.vt.edu/minutes/cmc/1993/April+7++1993.html
Last modified on: Tuesday, 25-Sep-2001 13:57:21 EDT