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Meeting Minutes

DCS Expert Group
01/24/97
Forestry Conference Room
4:00

Present: Randy Smith, George Williams, Kathy Reed, Aron Teel, Dave Phillips, Tim Gillet, Mary Creed, Terry Lockard, Scott Crittenden, Nancy Boling

Mr. Smith welcomed everyone to the meeting. Introductions were made. Mr. Smith suggested that this group meet on a quarterly basis with other meetings scheduled as needed.

DCS Team

• Terry Lockard, Director Departmental Services & Customer Outreach
• Scott Crittenden, Interim Manager of DCS
• Nancy Boling, Assessment Coordinator
• Becky Summerford, Implementation Coordinator (as of 2/3/97)
• Sue Ellen Breeden, Interim LSP Coordinator

1. Information
   LSPs want information from and about ITC. They want to know what ITC is working on and how those projects will impact their departments. The also want information such as the site licenses that ITC owns; a list of technical support URLs; name, phone numbers and job descriptions for those in ITC, etc. This information is being provided to them via the DCS web page (http://www.itc.virginia.edu/dcs/).

2. Meetings
   Several types of meetings were requested:
   • Area meetings
     Four groups of approximately 25 LSPs organized by functional area (i.e., Science and Professional schools, Art and Humanities, Administrative and Health Sciences). Via these meetings, ITC can disseminate information to the LSPs, give demos, distribute software and provide the LSPs with the opportunity to network with their peers and work on solutions to common problems. It is also a forum for LSPs to participate in decision-making with ITC. At the request of the LSPs, these groups will meet every other month. Ms. Boling will provide the Expert Group with a listing of the groups of departments.
   • SIGs (Special Interest Groups)
     These groups will be organized by interest (e.g., Windows NT, Macintosh, Office 97) and will be determined by the LSP steering committee. At the suggestion of the LSPs, these groups will meet every other month (the "off" month of the area meetings).
   • Summits
     All LSPs will convene together as a group twice a year in a conference-type atmosphere. The first summit will be in June of 1997. Speakers will be brought in and an assessment of the LSP program will be conducted.

     In addition to these meetings, there will be on-going training opportunities for LSPs. ITC is committed to not over-burdening LSPs with meetings.

   It is important to note that the LSPs want the program to be self-governing. In order to get the program rolling, ITC divided the departments into the four functional areas and selected one LSP from each area to serve on the steering committee. The steering committee will decide the topics of the area meetings and will encourage LSPs to create the SIGs. ITC staff will serve as support for the meetings. In June, after the LSPs have gotten a chance to know each other, the LSPs will elect a permanent steering committee.

3. Training
   LSPs have asked ITC to provide them with low- and no-cost training. The training group in ITC has developed a series for training classes for LSPs. One series focuses on developing UVa specific survival skills for LSPs that are new to UVa. Certification is provided for those that complete the series. The other series is advanced certification and is provided by vendors (e.g. Microsoft and Novell). Preparation for vendor certification is computer-based. LSPs will be able to attend moderated study halls or can download the modules from the network. Training for LSPs will start in March.

4. Access
   LSPs have continually asked for access to ITC. Many view ITC as a black box. A detailed organizational chart as well as names, phone numbers and job descriptions of those employed by ITC will be available on the web. This will enable LSPs to bypass the Help Desk and contact (previously unavailable) staff directly when appropriate. Via the area meetings, LSP will have the opportunity to participate in ITCs decision making process.

   There was dicussion about the (perceived) lack of research and development effort by ITC. There may be a true lack of r&d and/or a lack of communication to and collaboration with departments on these efforts. ITC must work in conjunction with departments on r&d efforts. It was agreed that ITC needs to better communicate with the user community about its projects. It was recognized that ITC needs to communicate better among its own divisions. Mr. Smith wondered whether ITC is researching cable modems, Windows NT, and Office 97. Mr. Smith asked for a list of ITC's current R&D efforts. Ms. Lockard will distribute the list to the group.

   Ms. Lockard asked for help in defining what constitutes an LSP. The College of Arts and Sciences has defined Level I and Level II support providers for each department in the school. The College has asked that ITC recognize only the Level II providers as LSPs. ITC will respect those wishes. Ms. Reed is considering how to provide support for small units within the Provost's area, e.g. ROTC, Bayly Art Museum, and Women's Center. Small units can be grouped together geographically and pool their resources for an LSP. There was discussion about what the ideal ratio of LSPs to constituents should be. 1:50 is ideal; 1:100 is not unreasonable. Ms. Boling will distribute letters from Dean Sunberg detailing the plan for computer support in the College.

   Ms. Lockard gave a brief update on the work being done with pilot departments. The pilot departments are Econ, Nursing, Art and Anthropology and Education. Art and Anthropology will be handled as one unit. The pilots will be handled sequentially with some overlap. Ms. Boling, the Assessment Coordinator, is currently conducting an assessment of Econ's hardware, software, support and training. Ms. Lockard stressed that ITC will not be telling departments how to conduct their business. The product of the assessment will be a Technology and Support Plan jointly authored by ITC and the department. Ms. Creed asked if ITC had dollars to help departments do a clean sweep of their hardware and software. Ms. Lockard stated that ITC is not coming in with dollars but will do what it can to help departments secure financial resources to carry out their technology plans.

   The Expert Group asked for a list of LSPs. Ms. Boling will distribute the draft list of LSPs on Monday, 01/27/97.

   George Williams agreed to serve of the LSP Steering Committee. The first meeting of that group is the week of 01/27/97.

   Mr. Smith and Ms. Lockard gave a report on their recent meeting with Human Resources to discuss the creation of standard job descriptions for those departments that are hiring computer support personnel. This would eliminate inconsistencies between and among the levels of computer support providers. If specific skills were related to specific jobs, then employees could see what skills and certifications are needed in order to advance. Ms. Lockard volunteered ITC to draft some standard job descriptions. HR was in agreement with the concept. HR did not set a time frame by which standard job descriptions would be in place.

   Another issue that Mr. Smith and Ms. Lockard raised with HR was the idea of providing bonuses to employees who received certification in certain technical areas. HR was non-committal. There was discussion about the salary discrepancies between the private and public sector. Although, bonuses could not close that gap, they would help in the retention of good people. The Expert Group was encouraged by the news that the state Department of Information Technology is finding creative ways to use bonuses to retain folks working on the Year 2000 project.

   Ms. Reed indicated that she, too, had met with HR to discuss similar issues.

   The next meeting of the group will be in April unless the need arises before then.

   Meeting adjourned at 5:20.

   ---

   Ms. Lockard (twl5b@virginia.edu) would like feedback on the proposed definition of an LSP.

   Who can be a Local Support Partner?

   To qualify as a Local Support Partner, you must be employed by the academic division (Agency 207) and your formal job description must specify that at least 50% of your time be spent on computer support for your department or unit. Computer support can include, but is not limited to, routine hardware and software installation, maintenance and troubleshooting and technical knowledge of desktop systems such as e-mail and word-processing. You must also have the approval of your supervisor to participate in the Departmental Computing Support Program.

   Some departments have chosen a somewhat different structure for designating LSPs. Currently, the College of Arts & Sciences has designated a specific group of staff whose responsibilities include providing varying degrees of computer support throughout the departments. From this group, the College has designated those who will be LSPs.

   Designated LSPs have various opportunities to enhance his or her information technology skills. Part of the LSP program includes free training on a variety of topics. Staff not identified by his or her department as an LSP may participate in this training, provided space is available, but will be charged tuition. Non-LSPs may subscribe to the majordomo mail list, uva-lsp@virginia.edu, and may attend any of the bi-monthly area meetings or special interest group meetings.