Annual Report ACPB 2003-04
Academic Computing Policy Board: Annual Report, 2003-2004 ACPB's general charge is to provide faculty leadership and establish priorities for academic computing activities at St. Olaf. The Board's more specific responsibilities are listed below, along with a brief description of the pertinent work in each area accomplished this year.
· Review annual budget proposals prepared by the IIT Director o The Board reviewed two rounds of computer requests from faculty each year, in October and April. o The Board reaffirmed IIT's policies of purchasing desktops rather than laptops for faculty (in light of the cost) except in unusual circumstances, and of replacing faculty computers on a 5-year rotating schedule. o The Board supported IIT's efforts on behalf of new tenure-track hires by reminding Departments of the need to plan ahead in order to accommodate the specific technology start-up needs of these new faculty.
· Advise the IIT Director on issues relating to IIT o Major issues for our discussion this year included § "Fair use" guidelines and intellectual property for faculty § Illegal downloading of copyrighted material by students § Security for technology installed in classrooms § Appropriate IIT responses to the rapidly increasing number of SPAM and pornographic email messages
· Develop and approve IIT policies for academic computing o In response to changes in federal legislation, campus practices, and institutional demands, in 2002-03 ACPB began reviewing and updating a number of policies related to academic computing. The most significant of these related to § revision of the Faculty Manual describing ACPB's responsibilities, § the privacy of electronic communications for faculty, § printing fees for student printing in public labs, and § the charge-back policy for use of A/V equipment. o Continuing this year, the Board developed new policies regarding: § Conditions and considerations for shutting down the College's network and computing systems for maintenance; and § Conditions and considerations under which IIT may disconnect faculty and student PCs infected with viruses or worms and posing a threat to the security of other networked PCs. · Prepare and periodically update long-range planning for academic computing at the College o To aid in allocating its resources, identifying directions for future development, and designing workshops to train faculty on new technology, IIT periodically surveys the faculty on the use of technology in teaching and research. Faculty were surveyed in 1996 and 2001; given the pace of change in recent years, the Board decided not to wait five years for the next survey. We therefore spent a good deal of time updating questions on an appropriate survey that would allow us to continue to compare data longitudinally as well as to identify new uses of technology in teaching and research. The on-line survey was completed in early June. · Stimulate faculty development in the area of academic computing o In light of the alarming rate at which fees for course management tools (e.g., WebCT, Blackboard) are increasing, the Board approved IIT's plans to cooperate with CILA in the evaluation of Open-source (low-cost or free) course management software as an inexpensive alternative to these commercial packages. · Work with other units of the College to ensure appropriate planning for campus-wide development of technology services affecting the academic program o ACPB met with the following individuals during the year: § David Schodt (CILA), to discuss the relationship between technology and pedagogy; to discuss future trends regarding faculty use of technology in the classroom. § Greg Kneser (Dean of Students), to discuss policies regarding the illegal downloading of copyrighted material by students. § Bryn Geffert and Bruce Anderson (Rolvaag Library), to discuss issues related to the Library's piloting of an electronic 'Reserve.' · Serve as an advocate for academic computing at St. Olaf o Monitoring the level of funding of IIT at St. Olaf relative to its counterparts in CLAC (Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges), the Board agreed that the level at which IIT continues to outperform its resources reflects the creative, responsive leadership of the Director and the talent and diligence of the staff. § Budget ratios: The CLAC average (2002-03) for IIT funding is 5.42% of the institutional budget compared to a funding level of 3.5% for IIT at St. Olaf. § Staffing ratios: The number of students supported per IIT staff member at St. Olaf (152..10) continues to run significantly above the CLAC average (78.50). Likewise for the number of faculty supported per IIT staff member (St. Olaf=19.00; CLAC average=8.30). § Computer ratios: The number of students per accessible institutional computer at St. Olaf=3.78; CLAC average=5.80. The number of employees + students per number of institutional computers ar St. Olaf=2.08; CLAC average=2.30. o Given that 'fair use' guidelines regarding the use of copyrighted material are open to a wide range of interpretation, ACPB strongly recommends the adoption of a standard understanding of 'fair use' policies and practices among all members of the St. Olaf community. ACPB further recommends all haste in the appointment of a task force that would include representatives of IIT, the Libraries, other faculty, administration, and staff to develop such a statement of community standards. o ACPB recommends the development and adoption of a set of best practices by all members of the St. Olaf community to insure the security of technology installed in the classrooms. Further details on ACPB's work can be found in the minutes posted on the Web. ACPB Members, 2003-04 · Roberta Lembke, Director
Submitted by Dolores Peters, 21 June 2004
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