University of Wyoming
Technology Planning Council
Friday, March 12, 2010, 10:00 a.m., ITC 370
Present: Robert Aylward, Chairman; Rollin Abernethy; Sara Axelson; Bill Gern; Mary Scott
Absent: Ramona Belden, Janet Lowe, Maggi Murdock
Agenda
- Governor’s Video Task Force Update:
Robert Aylward updated the TPC on the plans for state-wide
video-teleconferencing that include the Governor’s Task Force hiring
a consultant to plan the implementation under the state’s master
services agreement to be paid with funding approved by the
Legislature for the university. It has not been determined if the
consultant will be based at the university in Laramie or at the
state in Cheyenne. The Distance Education Center will be located at
the university, a Director and staff will be hired, and there will
be an Advisory Council of university, community college, K-12 and
other representatives. The Governor’s Task Force will be the
governing body for both the CTE and the VTC.
- NCAR facility update: Bill Gern
updated the TPC on the NCAR facility plans. Site preparation will
hopefully commence June, 2010, with construction complete and
computer installed in August, 2012, followed by about four months of
testing to ensure the facility is fully operational. The university
will have 20% use of the super computer. At the April State Lands
and Investment Board meeting in Cheyenne, the university will
request state approval for using the State of Wyoming’s fiber to
connect the university to the NCAR facility in Cheyenne. Legislative
funds up to $1,000,000 are available for the project.
- Centralized Technology Purchasing
Committee: Robert Aylward told the TPC that a centralized
purchasing committee is forming with Dean Oliver Walters as the
Chair. Sara Axelson volunteered the Student Affairs division to
pilot the program if that is the desired approach.
- Virtual Orientation: Sara
Axelson described the virtual orientation project that Student
Affairs is developing with the Outreach School to launch a virtual
orientation program for distance learning students as well as
supplemental orientation programs targeted to different types of
students.
- IT Consolidation status and discussion:
Robert Aylward updated the Council on the IT Consolidation
initiative and described some of the issues that have arisen:
technology tasks assigned to positions that are academic
professionals rather than staff, losses of support positions in some
areas that IT is helping to cover, pent up demand for special
technology projects, and sub-standard equipment that needs to be
replaced. These and similar issues require a more thorough look
up-front than planned, which will delay the timeline.
- Research support: Bill Gern and Robert Aylward discussed University Plan 3’s Action Item 40 relating to developing a research support structure. A Focus Group was formed and has met. Vice President Gern told the TPC that any new computing clusters created on campus will be housed in the ITC. Currently, he explained there are between 15 and 20 actual computing clusters operating on campus.
