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Academic IT Committee Minutes

March 5, 2007

12:00 NN to 3:00 PM, ETC 304 and Remote Locations 

Present: Barry D (Chair), John O, Faye N, Dick J, Scott F, John T, Qwesi T, J.C. T, Mike C, Rhonda F, David B, Chris A, Linda T (for Teresa T)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Next meetings are June 4, September 9 (*CHANGE* from 9/3), and December 3.

All meetings are ETC 304 and Remote Locations. Be sure to notify ITV folks on campus and Teresa Durant (Teresa.Durant@csu.mnscu.edu) in advance if you plan to join any meetings via ITV.

John O'Brien chaired the meeting at Barry Dahl's request, as Barry was unable to join the meeting in person at ETC due to an overnight snowstorm.

1. Plagiarism Detection Software. John O reported that he is continuing to explore options in this area, though there has not yet been a groundswell of campus interest in a systemwide contract of this kind.He has been talking with TurnItIn.com at the request of a vice president from MSU, Mankato, and will report further details as they emerge. This and a related issue were brought up ata recent MnOnline Council meeting, and action may be taken there.
2. John O'Brien provided members with an overview of the new IT governance structure, which includes the new IT Management Council and Student IT Advisory Committee, as well as the transformation of the IT Roundtable into the Systemwide Technology Strategy Council.
3. John O'Brien referred members to Mark Thomas's written contracts update and stressed the importance of Academic IT members promoting GIS software availability on their campuses.
4. The committee discussed the request for consideration of a systemwide contract for Mathmatica software. ACTION: John T will contact Matt Dempsey at Normandale Community College and explore options in this area for physics and mathematics programs statewide.
5. The committee discussed Respondus software (quiz management software), which this committee has taken up in the past, finding there was not enough interest statewide to justify pursuit of a systemwide contract. With the Desire2Learn implementation, however, there may be a new opportunity for considering a systemwide option.A single user license is currently available, with the advantage of a perpetual license. The advantages of a site license, along with the universal availability, is the fact that it would make work at home use possible. Respondus has indicated that it may be interested in fully integrating D2L, though perhaps this might require a systemwide contract from their perspective. ACTION:Barry D will learn from CIOs the systemwide interest in use of Respondus (i.e., how close are we to the number of individual licenses that would make a systemwide site license cost-efficient?). ACTION:John O/staff will approach Respondus to learn what it would take for them to fully integrate with D2L. The result could be a shared investment of Respondus, D2L, and, to a lesser extent, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. ACTION: Dick J will approach the UW system to learn how they are handling the Respondus issue.
6. E-Packs were discussed and the possible workarounds needed in the conversion process to Desire2Learn.
7. In the context of recent IFO concerns raised about D2L implementation teams, John O asked the committee if they were satisfied with the process followed for D2L implementation-in particular the D2L implementation teams--to date.The committee agreed without objection that the current approach, inviting volunteers systemwide from faculty and other ranks, was acceptable. John noted, and the committee agreed, that after the D2L implementation process is complete there would likely be a need for a standing sub-committee of the Academic IT Cmte with faculty association appointees to consider on-going academic issues with the Desire2Learn platform. This group could be comprised of current Academic IT members.ACTION: John agreed to bring a proposal for this sub-committee to the next Academic IT meeting.
8. A possible Desire2Learn users conference (tentative date: August 2-3) was discussed. More information will be forthcoming.Barry Dahl and Chris Austin agreed to possibly serving on a planning committee for this conference.John O said it was his hope and expectation that the 2005 users conference would be in Minnesota. ACTION: Information on this conference, once it is official, will be disseminated via existing listservs, etc.
9. Learning Object Repositories (LOR) was an issue of considerable discussion by committee members.Dick Johnson explained that the LOR arrangements with Desire2Learn have grown more complicated than was originally assumed, and there will likely be additional charges for this capability. RCTC is very interested in LOR technology, as is MnOnline. Negotiations are on-going on this subject. The consensus view of the committee is that a pilot project with RCTC and perhaps one or two others makes sense; however, the committee is concerned about any long-term commitment of funds for LOR until use levels would make this investment worthwhile. Concern was explicitly raised about using finite D2L funds for LOR that might take funding from other possibilities of potentially greater systemwide application, such as Respondus licenses. John O and others stressed that LOR is very much the technology of the future.
10. Various conversations took up the status of E-Packs.Mike noted that only 2-3% of courses being converted included publishers materials, yet all acknowledged the importance of working asking publishers to support D2L for their materials.ACTION: John O/Staff will ask D2L for an update on their efforts with publishers.
11. D2L Implementation Update reports were made by ITS staff:
    1. Product Team Update:this work has been divided into two groups, those concerned with desired enhancements and those looking at identifying best practices (templates, security, consistent look and feel, etc.).
    2. Conversion Team Update:this team is exploring pre-conversion steps needed for WebCT, including the creation of a checklist. It was agreed that pre-conversion offered an excellent opportunity for cleaning up courses prior to conversion. Work is progressing on a conversion utility for Educator and Anlon.
    3. System Integration Team Update:It was stressed that this group is exploring technical solutions - "how to" issues and priorities such as integration of D2L with ISRS, integration with local services (e.g., LDAP), and email options and implications.It was agreed that the D2L implementation should be aligned with the portal project.
    4. Help Desk Update:The Embanet contract expires in September. The team is currently looking at best practices for help desk nationwide, in part through the help of Gartner.Options for D2L help desk include RightNow, in house services, dot.edu in WI, and others.It is expected that the team will make recommendations for help desk in May.
    5. Training Team Update: D2L materials can be improved, and this group is working on an improved manual and a course (in D2L) on D2L.John stressed that training is critical to success of the implementation.
    6. Hosting Team Update: Concerns were expressed that the D2L central hosting should be as "generous" as the arrangements currently provided by MetNET, including the option of archiving full courses (especially important in the event of a student complaint or litigation of one kind or another). Preliminary discussion followed about whether D2L hosting will include consideration of streaming media hosting-including Tegrity.
12. The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 sharp.

John O'Brien, Recorder

Minutes will be approved by members via listserv before posting. Deadline for edits: March 12, 2004, noon

Next Meeting: June 4, 2004