Technology Fee Advisory Committee
Meeting Notes
Friday, March 28, 2008
IACC 422 - 3:30 - 4:30

Members Present: Kevin Brooks, Geoffrey Childress, Ann Denton, Brian Fier, Gary Fisher, Peter Gregory Jeff Gerst, Cathy Hanson, Abram Jackson, Lalita Jyoti, Christopher McEwen, Britt McAlister, David Whitrock (The names of voting members are presented in regular type. The names of non-voting members are presented in italics type.)

Members Absent: Kalpana Katti, Rian Nostrum

General Discussion:
There was general discussion regarding funding sources for technology. Questions were raised as to whether we can ever get out of the mode that requires the technology fee to pay for many ongoing IT services, leaving little funds for supporting creative and innovative projects. As much as BlackBoard is an essential tool for teaching, is it something the tech fee needs to provide ongoing support for? Are there opportunities for general fund dollars to be attained to support this type of program? Currently, due to limited IT resources, there is no alternative source of funds available to support the core services that students rely, and that includes BlackBoard, wireless, and underlying infrastructure.

By-Laws Discussion:
The students on the committee are interested in reviewing and updating the TFAC By Laws/Policy and some of the procedures. Peter circulated a document proposing some policy guidelines/changes and asked for feedback. He doesn't believe the TFAC actually has such a document. As part of this discussion, the definition of Information Technology was raised. Jeff Gerst had a document from the North Dakota University System Office of CIO (August 1, 2007) that provided for that definition: "The NDUS definition of Information Technology (IT) includes, but is not limited to hardware, software, services, and supporting infrastructure to manage and deliver information using voice, data, and video." It further provided for additional information to help clarify this broad definition.

After review of the document and feedback, more work needs to be done to refine some of the language, and brought back to the committee for another review.

Respectfully submitted,
Cathy Hanson, recorder