Computing & Information Services
Computing Policy Committee Minutes
Thursday, September 20, 2001
9:00 - 10:00 am
GCC C
CPC members present: Carl Anderson, Marianne Colgrove, Ann Delehanty, Jim Fix, Robert Knapp, Anne Michelson, Christine Morita-McVey, Marty Ringle, Jon Rivenburg, Tyler Williams, Pat Wong
CPC members absent: Paul Gronke, Vickie Hanawalt, Ed McFarlane, Ellen Stauder
Robert Knapp called the meeting to order at 9:00 am.
1. Review of User Agreement : R. Knapp indicated that the CPC will discuss this agreement at the next meeting.
2. Wireless memo update : M. Ringle circulated a memo describing the upcoming deployment of wireless access at various locations around campus. Ann Delehanty asked if wireless will be continuously on in Vollum Lecture Hall and noted that if it is, students may begin checking their email during lectures. She indicates that some students are already using laptops to play games in lectures. R. Knapp agreed that student attention to lectures could prove to be a problem. Anne Michelson responded that wireless access will be continuous. M. Ringle suggested that if problems arise and faculty decide they do not want wireless in certain areas, it will be removed. He further noted that some faculty at other liberal arts colleges ban the use of laptops in their classrooms. There has been one complaint about the introduction of wireless at Reed, published as a letter to the editor in The Quest from a Reed alum who is concerned about health issues.
3. Review Earthlink status — A. Delehanty, Pat Wong, and R. Knapp indicated that in the past couple of weeks Earthlink connections have been fine. M. Ringle asked that the committee re-evaluate Earthlink service toward the end of the semester. M. Ringle noted that the problems experienced in the past few months may have been the result of a mismanaged transition of accounts from Teleport to OneMain to Earthlink and that connections may eventually stabilize. If this is the case, M. Ringle indicated that staying with Earthlink might be a reasonable option. He added, however, that the problems with Earthlink service may not be limited to the transfer from Teleport but might instead be indicative of problems within the company. In particular, M. Ringle described the lengthy delays users typically face when they try to obtain telephone support.
M. Ringle asked the committee to survey faculty satisfaction with Earthlink service in early December and then to issue a recommendation. If faculty account holders appear satisfied, then Reed could extend the service contract. If faculty are not satisfied with the level of service after the fall semester, Reed can pursue a contract with another national or regional provider or it could bring the service back within Reed. M. Ringle noted that good regional providers are being purchased by national providers, hence this may land us back where we started. Bringing the service back within Reed would not provide off hours monitoring or user support, local access from around the country, and other benefits. It might, however, provide users with a better level of access to on-campus resources.
R. Knapp followed up on this by asking if more of the library databases could be accessed from off campus. Marianne Colgrove noted that there is a trade off between access to these databases (via direct dial-up to Reed) and having national access to anything on the web (via an external ISP like Earthlink). M. Ringle noted that one of the motivations for outsourcing the ISP was to decrease CUS staff support loads but that this has not happened. M. Colgrove noted that some Reed community members had chronic problems dialing in to Reed when using Reed’s modems. R. Knapp noted that one motive for outsourcing was security. M. Ringle agreed though he suggested that if the service was brought back to Reed, some of the past security issues might now be addressed. M. Colgrove noted that the library and the registration gateways use the same passwords which means that off campus access to the library gateway must use encryption to prohibit access to student records. Thus, access from off campus to library resources will be somewhat restricted. There are several tradeoffs between outsourcing ISP services and handling them in house. A. Delehanty suggested that we weigh these tradeoffs carefully in December when the CPC considers whether or not to continue the Earthlink contract.
4. Emeritus faculty support policy — A. Delehanty pointed out, and the CPC agreed, that the spelling and typos in the emeritus support document obscure its meaning and should be fixed. M. Ringle asked the committee to consider the increased demands that non-teaching emeritus faculty are placing on computing support staff, especially at critical times of the year. M. Colgrove noted that the current policy focuses on hardware issues and the committee is asked to address increased software and user support needs. R. Knapp suggested providing support only if emeritus faculty completed a CIS taught course on computers. A. Delehanty pointed out that the logistics of such a course might be difficult given the range of hardware and software used. R. Knapp suggested a limit on the hardware and software support offered. P. Wong noted that limiting times during which support to emeritus faculty is offered is reasonable. Anne Michelson noted that the times should not be rigid so that when CUS staff is overwhelmed, they are able to postpone providing support to emeritus faculty. M. Ringle agreed to draft a revision to the Emeritus support policy and bring it back to the CPC for approval.
5. CER update memo — M. Ringle suggested that the committee read this document and that at a subsequent CPC meeting the CER budget model will be discussed.
M. Ringle then noted that CIS is currently searching for a Director of CUS, that Johanna Colgrove will be leaving in December to begin a family, and that in December Chris Lasell will also be leaving Reed as he has planned to do for several years. There might also be another CUS departure. There might be short-term support issues as a result of these departures and M. Ringle cautioned that it might take as much as a year for the new staff to become sufficiently familiar with CUS operations to achieve a stable support environment.
R. Knapp called the meeting to a close at 10:00 am.
Last modified: October 15, 2003