University of Minnesota

Institute of Technology

Minutes of the ITICC Meeting,

March 14, 2002

3:35 p.m., 170 Physics

Present: Graham Allan (Phys), Randal Barnes (CE), Andrey Bayrashev (ECE), Evan Bollig (ITSB), Bryan Carlson (ADCS), Tom Chase (ME), John Hall (Math), Peter Hudleston (IT Stud Aff), Satish Kumar (ChemEMatS), Larry LeMay (ADCS), Daniel MacEwan (Chem), Karen Swanberg (Geo), Douglas Victoria (CCE)

1) Status of the Labs and Management

No comments or questions about operation of the labs.

Carlson mentioned that MS Project is now available to departments, through an agreement with Microsoft.

The Walter ADCS lab is partly open; the 15 IT workstations have yet to be purchased and installed.

2) Presentation of Proposal for Lab Improvements for 2002-03

Carlson handed out the list of proposed improvements for 2002-03, to be implemented over the summer. It represents the replacement, on schedule, of computers reaching their retirement age and also the renovation of Lind 26 as a computer classroom/laboratory. The remodeling of Lind 26 is projected to cost somewhat over $100,000, which will mainly be for air conditioning and wiring/networking. The cost should be comparable to that for remodeling Lind 24 [ca. $90,000] two years ago, adding some amount for inflation and the fact that Lind 26 is a little larger. Computer Science & Engineering will be given priority use of this facility, but it will be available for other departments to use as a classroom and for students to use as a lab at other times.

Chase asked if there was any likelihood that we could arrange to have a number of Windows machines set up as a classroom. Hudleston said that the Lind 26 facility will be just such a facility. There should be times when it is available for non CSci use.

A question was raised about the proposal to add GeForce4 graphic cards to 80 computers in EE/CS 3-170. This has been requested for use by the graphics class in Computer Science. The cost of this, at $380 per card or $30,400 total, is a lot for one class. At issue is whether a less state-of-the-art option would suffice, an older version of GeForce being available for a fraction of the cost. This will be checked with the instructor. Whatever is done, we should stick with the principle that all the computers in a given lab be equipped with the same set of software (i.e. we won’t equip a sub-set of computers in EE/CS 3-170 with this software).

Hudleston noted that the sum of the improvements (about $390K) amounts to about half of the funds projected to be available for 2002-03. We will again this year, as in the past few years, have a second round of proposals in the fall, thus distributing the improvements over the year and making it easier for management to make them without significantly disrupting lab operations.

It was noted that 18 of the computers retired from CE 230, with added memory, will be moved to the BAS lab at North Hennepin.

3) Other Business

Hudleston reported that the College of Continuing Education, which runs the Bachelor of Applied Science programs (Information Networking - IN, formerly BIN, and Network Administration - NA) at North Hennepin Community College, has submitted a proposal requesting that ITICC share in the cost of setting up a new lab. Hudleston reminded the committee members that the IN/NA students pay the IT technology fee and that ITICC lab management is responsible for maintaining the North Hennepin lab.

Doug Victoria described the proposal briefly, which is appended to the minutes. The old lab at North Hennepin has only 12 seats (and makes use of computers retired from the IT labs). The new lab will double the number of seats. It must be operational by June 1, 2002. CCE is asking ITICC to fund the installation of network cable for the new lab. It will contribute $10,500 to furnish the lab with new computer desks.

Hudleston said we had sufficient funds to support this request out of this year’s budget, noting that the request is for FY 02. A motion to support the cost of networking in the North Hennepin lab was made, seconded and approved by all voting members present (with one abstention). The request is not to exceed $7,000.

Swanberg offered to demonstrate Geology’s new 3-D visualization instructional facility to any interested party. Please contact Swanberg if interested. Hudleston recommended it.

Attachment: Proposal to ITICC from CCE to support networking costs in the new lab at North Hennepin Community College