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DCS Advisory Group
Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, September 30, 1998
ITC-Forestry Conference Room
12:00 - 1:30 pm

1. Introductions
2. Mission of the Advisory Group
3. Membership
4. Issues for coming year
5. Updates
6. Future Meetings

1. Introductions -- Since this was the first meeting of the group, the members introduced themselves.
    
2. Mission of the Advisory Group -- The mission of the group is as follows:
   • To provide feedback at an operational level to Terry Lockard (Director, Computing Support Services) and Sue Ellen Breeden (Interim Manager, Departmental Computing Support).
   • To provide feedback on how ITC meets/doesn't meet departmental needs.
   • To evaluate the LSP program and determine if any directional changes need to be made.

     Terry, Nancy and Sue Ellen will work on a mission statement.  

3. Committee Membership -- The LSP Steering Committee would like to have a member of the group sit on their committee. Aron Teel has agreed to do that.
    
4. Issues for the Coming Year - The advisory group will look at the following issues in the 98-99 year:
   • Departments without LSPs - The group would like to see which depts are not participating in the LSP program and determine why. There was discussion about the focus of the program and the need for incentives to increase participation. There was additional discussion about the need for a tiered approach to training that would include low-level and high-level technical training.
   • Departmental Computing Initiative -- This initiative will have great impact on LSPs and DCS so it was agreed that the group needs to be well-informed about the initiative. The LSP perspectvie is vital. Concerns about the initiative were expressed. The URL for the DCI report was sent via email - it is not available for general distribution.
      
5. Updates
   • Departmental Computing Initiative (DCI) - A task force was formed over the summer to study feasibility and implementation issues. The task force was specifically asked not to take money into consideration. There is a group looking at money issues. The report from the task force is going to the President's Cabinet. Many issues are undetermined and unresolved. There will likely be a pilot beginning in January 1999. Charlie Grisham and Ed Ayers are leading a faculty group looking at the issues. Chip German may be available for the next DCS Advisory Group meeting - he can give some insight into the figures used. The RFP subcommittee of the task force is continuing to meet in the event that the initiative is a "go." There was great concern that those with less technical backgrounds will be making decisions that directly affect the technical aspects of the initiative.
   • Computing Survival Skills - The CSS training initiative won the Best Practices Award from CAUSE. There have been substantial updates to the manual since it was first produced. Updates to the manual are fairly cumbersome. If the manual is on the web, is there a market for the paper copy of the manual?
   • Concern was expressed about departments' attitudes toward ITC. Those attitudes need to change. There is growing uncertainty about who to go to within ITC to get problems solved. ITC's various physical locations are not as visible as they should be. There is concern that LSPs stand between departmental individuals and ITC - this further lowers ITC's visibility. There is a need for training on how to find answers to computer-related questions yourself. We should be helping users become more self-sufficient. Individual depts should be able to answer questions for those in their depts with questions about major ITC initiatives -- such as moving to the cluster. Individuals should not be sent to the Help Desk. Depts should be able to help themselves in these situations -- currently they do not have the information needed to do this. It was agreed that this group can be proactive in helping to change departments' perspectives of ITC.
      
6. Future Meetings
   • Thursday, October 29, 1998
     ITC-Forestry Conference Room
     12:00 Noon - 1:30PM
   • Wednesday, November 25, 1998
     ITC-Forestry Conference Room
     12:00 Noon - 1:30PM
   • Tuesday, December 16, 1998
     ITC-Forestry Conference Room
     12:00 Noon - 1:30PM

In attendance: Randy Smith, Terry Lockard, Sue Ellen Breeden, Aron Teel, David Phillips, Dave Drucker, Bill Woolfolk, Nancy Hopkins