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Technology Advisory Council (TAC) Notes

May 7, 2009 Meeting Notes

Members Present: Warren Ashley, Ron Bergmann, Kim Clark, Mohammad Eyadat, Farah Fisher, Raoul Freeman, Kazimierz Kowalski, Wei Ma, Marion Smith, Yvette Velarde

Guests: Linda Goldman

The meeting was chaired by Dr. Ron Bergmann, CSUDH CIO and Acting Associate Vice President, Information Technology.

Status of Campuswide Wireless Network - Ron Bergmann

  • Access points are being paid for by the Chancellor's Office (CO). We pay for the installation, and it is expensive. The new network uses Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology--the new generation of wireless technology. Some of our buildings require an amp certification, and work on those buildings is being done by a second contractor since our preferred contractor does not do that certification. Eighty access points are on hold while the CO waits for the May budget revise.
  • The University Library and instructional areas have priority in the installations.
  • Each smart classroom has three drops. As other classrooms become smart, they will not require the three drops because of the wireless technology. Further, students are asking for wireless access in classrooms, though they are told that it's up to their faculty members to say whether or not they can be online during class meetings.
  • Kim asks about the Cisco technology in LUSU. Ron says he will get back to her on that.

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Status of Data Center Redesign - Ron Bergmann

  • The data center is being redesigned for security reasons. Servers will be placed into zones (e.g., confidential zone and vendor zone), and servers in one zone can't talk to servers in a different zone. Installation of the design will require that the network be down for at least a day. Some servers and ports outside of the data center will have new IP addresses. The original date for the installation was Memorial Day weekend, but that will not be the weekend after all, and a new date would have to be approved by the Cabinet.
  • A Juniper firewall project is on hold.

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Blackboard Task Force - Ron Bergmann

  • The Bb Task Force is on track. President Garcia is pleased. The task force meets next on May 28.
  • Blackboard says it will take three days to perform the data export/import described in the April 9 notes. Ron has requested of Blackboard that the data move be scheduled around the December holiday season.

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Other Topics

  • Ron has purchased 75 laptops with money set aside for rollouts. The laptops are equipped with docking stations and Lo-Jacks. The deans will decide who gets the machines. Replaced machines will trickle down to replace older machines.
  • Laptops for smart classrooms will be purchased next. The podia will retain the DVD players ($80 each) so that captioning can be displayed with videos. Captions are not displayed when a video is played from a laptop's built-in device.
  • President Garcia has indicated an interest in e-portfolios. Student Development is purchasing an e-portfolio system.
  • The Cabinet approved the purchase of EMS calendaring software for LUSU and the Home Depot Center but not for Academic Affairs. Ron will bring this up with the provost.
  • Linda reminds everyone that the online 2009 CSU CATS conference is underway today and includes a session on e-portfolios.

Open Forum

  • The Office of the General Counsel at the CO is reviewing the adoption of Google Apps by campuses. If/when approved, Ron plans to sign us up for the calendaring and e-mail features for our students. Our contract with Mirapoint, due to expire on June 30, has been renewed for six months. The biggest challenge in moving students from Mirapoint to Gmail will be publicity and marketing.
  • Ron wishes us a happy summer. TAC meets next in September.

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Next meeting: Thursday, September 3, 2009