Institute of Technology
Minutes of the ITICC Meeting,
January 30, 2003
3:35 p.m., Physics 133
Present: Rahul Akolkar (ME), Graham Allen (Phys), John Baxter (Math),
Evan Bollig (ITSB), Bryan Carlson (ADCS), Tom Chase (ME), Ben Cosgrove (BME), Tracy DeLaney (Astro), John Hall (Math), Peter Hudleston (IT Stud Aff),
Phil Kachelmyer (ADCS), Kent Kirkby (Geol), Satish Kumar (CEMS),
Jerry Larson (ADCS), Larry LeMay (ADCS), Jim MacDonald (ITLabs & CSciE), Dan MacEwan (Chem), Mark Nicosia (BME), Greg Sherar (CE), Karen Swanberg (Geol), Lucas Veverka (ITSB)
1) Status Reports from CSciE and ADCS
MacDonald reported that charges for printing are now being handled by card swipe in EE/CS 3-170. Eventually printing in all labs will be done this way, and the old system of purchasing cards for printing will be abandoned. Students will be able to get reimbursement for unused portions of the old cards, which cannot now be used in EE/CS 3-170. He also reported that the two new computer classrooms (EE/CS 2-170 and 2-172) are up and running. They are being used this term by 4 CSci classes and 1 EE class. They are not yet being used as general labs outside class times because the security system has not yet been set up.
Jerry Larson informed the committee that the Walter public computer lab is open 24 hours a day during most of the week. Also, the new lab in Coffman Union will be opening soon. In answer to the question of whether or not IT would be asked to contribute to the support of the Coffman lab, Hudleston said that this issue had not been revisited since the discussions of several years ago. He did not now anticipate IT being asked to contribute to the costs of maintaining this lab. Larson noted that the lab is considerable smaller than originally planned.
MacDonald said he was planning to have a system set up for providing regular summary reports on lab usage to ITICC. He said there have been a few gaps in the recording of data, but we do have a tremendous amount of data that needs to be summarized in some way.
2) Status of CE 230 Project
MacDonald said that he had received more details about the cost of solving the air conditioning problem in CE 230. The estimate is $175,000, which includes duct work from the room to the roof and a Liebert cooling unit (cost $65,000) big enough to serve both CE 230 and the adjacent room the Civil Engineering department plans to develop as a computer lab. One good feature is that there is a small separate room where the cooling unit can be placed. It makes most sense to share costs with CE, so that the cooling unit and duct work would serve both and the costs to each party be reduced. If ITICC goes ahead alone the cost will be less than $175, 000, but probably not substantially so. Hudleston said he thought the cost under the current scenario was excessive and that ways must be sought for reducing it. He did not feel comfortable in asking ITICC to approve funding at this high level. Sherar suggested doing the ductwork now and installing the A/C unit later. One problem with not installing the A/C unit now is that air quality is quite bad and the current unit could break down any time. Hudleston said we needed renewed efforts to coordinate with the department and try to get both jobs done at once, if possible, to save money.
On a related topic MacDonald distributed a list of proposed improvements for the second part of the 2002-03 fiscal year, including the funds for air conditioning CE 230. Other costs include: installing Uniprint software in all the IT labs (see the first sentences of item #1 above); installing security systems in the labs; and rack hardware for mounting servers in the CSE machine room. All but the last of these are part of an initiative for improving the efficiency of the labs. The subcommittee chaired by Chase will formally present its recommendations for this at the next ITICC meeting. Hudleston said he would bring back the proposals listed by MacDonald to the next meeting for a formal vote He did say, however, that he had given approval to make initial expenditures for these projects so we can see how well they are likely to work.
3) Budget Issues
Since its inception, ITICC has received a portion of its funding from instructional equipment funds made available to the college by central administration. Hudleston warned the committee that there likely will be a reduction in this contribution next year, as the university and college find ways to trim budgets as a result of state budget cuts, which are expected to be severe. The current annual allocation of instructional equipment funds to ITICC is $500,000, which is split between central labs and the departments on a 75% - 25% basis. Any cut in this will be shared proportionally between the central labs and the departments.
4) Spring Schedule of Reporting and Planning for 2003-04
Hudleston handed out a timetable (attached and copied below) for the remaining ITICC meetings of the year, together with the deadlines for receiving proposals for public lab improvements and management contracts.
5) Other Business
None
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January 30 Regular
meeting
February 20 Regular
meeting
March 20 Discussion
of proposals for lab improvements for 2003-04
April 17 IT
Tech Committee presents its prioritized list of proposals for final discussion
Mail vote on proposals
May 8 Discussion
of management proposals and wrap us
Mail
vote on
proposals
March 5 General proposals,
suggestions for improving
the public labs for 03-04 to PJH; forwarded
to Technical Committee; put on web
April 25 Management reports on 02-03
and proposals for 30-04;
put on web
May 9 Departmental
reports on use of 02-03 funds,
and proposals for use of 03-04 funds to PJH