Academic IT Committee
May 6, 2005
Present: John T, Mark T, Mark P, Niels J, Betsy D, Barry D, Michelle, Mike C, Karen L, Rhonda F, Teresa T, Susan B, Dick J, Kevin M, J.C. T, Gary L, David B, Shanah M
1. PURCHASING RECOMMENDATION. John gave an update on the Mathematica contract, which is nearing completion. He also explained that Maple is also working on meeting the threshold for a significant level of discounts. It was agreed that additional campus might join such contracts once they are in place.
The group continued to discuss the challenges with staffing services around discounted contracts. A group including Kevin Marsh and Mark Thomas will meet to coordinate these ongoing efforts with the new Strategic Purchasing Group and initiative from the Finance division. Options could include campuses providing staffing or paying for staffing from savings resulting from the discounted contracts.
John reiterated his often-stated position that this kind of work is exactly the kind of system office like the Office of the Chancellor should be providing. Kevin Marsh, new AITC member from the Finance decision, agreed and said that ITS is a leader and pioneer in this area and that this is exactly the kind of thing that Vice Chancellor King is exploring.
Action Item: Kevin Marsh will work on finding ISRS-generating information on existing software purchases to help us identify which software packages are already being purchased and may be clear candidates for seeking volume discounts.
Action Item: Kevin and Matt will meet and develop a list of viable models for moving forward.
2. D2L UPDATE. Dick Johnson and Leslie Blicker gave updates on the status of 7.4.1 testing. There are currently no "show stoppers" to prevent upgrading on the evening of May 24 with campus testing anticipated on May 25 from 9AM through noon. He said that he continues to meet with other large implementations from other states and that he will be part of an advisory board meeting on May 20. Wisconsin is upgrading on June 1, 2005. Dick noted that SCSU will host 7.4.1 training sessions.
D2L 8.0 is targeted to be completed by August 2005, but since this version amounts to re-architecting without additional enhancements, it will not be used by campuses.
D2L 8.1 will be available around December 2005, and our system would possibly upgrade in Summer of 2006. Nothing is firm at this point, and the upgrade could come sooner.
Dick continues to explore the the opportunity for a systemwide license for Respondus, and he has contacted both vendors (D2L and Respondus). A D2L personality would not be available until version 8.1 at the earliest; however, Respondus 3.0 currently works well with D2L even without D2L personality. Lake Superior has campus-wide license including StudyMate which does more than just quiz development. Lesley added that she has seen LODESTAR work, a product that is similar to StudyMate.
The D2L advisory committee met in March and will meet again next week.
Action Item: A motion that the D2L advisory committee should continue to function for next year was made, seconded, and unanimously approved.
Adjourned at 2:25PM, May 6, 2005
John O'Brien and John Truedson
