Review of Prior Information Technology Reports |
Budget
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| Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 1 | ITR Task Force | | Administrative strategies which facilitate acquiring, maintaining, and enhancing computer hardware, software, and networking. As the University matures in its use of information technology, it will be necessary to develop strategies for encouraging the adoption of new hardware and software while simultaneously moving displaced hardware and software to locations where they can be put to productive use. In addition, the University needs to develop strategies to maintain its current base of computer electronics and software in a more efficient and cost-effective manner. More attention will need to be directed to the purchasing and management of information technology resources. | Done and later disbanded |
| | 2 | ITR Task Force | | Implement a computer lab use fee. The Task Force recommends that serious consideration be given to implementation of a computer lab use fee. The use fee would be used by the University to assure some level of access to computing, functionality, and support for all students. The revenue raised by this fee would have to be shared among University-managed facilities, college-managed facilities, user support activities, and network enhancement according to a negotiated formula. | Done and later rescinded |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 3 | ITR Task Force | | Increase resources to the University libraries to enhance academic information systems. A major role of the University libraries is to provide access to information to faculty, staff, and students. It is critically important that the libraries become more active in networking and providing information in electronic form to users on the campus network. Faculty and students are already using such technology tools as CD ROM-based bibliographies and full-text information systems on the stand-alone computers in the libraries. The next logical step in this process is to make these information systems part of the campus network, but to do this will require the continued involvement of library staff. [Not included here are some editorial comments and implementation recommendations for library service.] | Progress made and work continuing |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 4 | Strategic Plan | | The central service provider needs to have a test implementation site and needs to determine a price for providing the services that might be available. Once it is determined that the university can offer a viable central solution, we can begin to offer this provider as an alternative to other campus sites. | Needs further assessment |
| | 5 | NET 99 | | The University needs to utilize a funding model which provides an annual budget for core operations, a separate budget for required adjustments to the core service and which will charge recipients for enhanced services | Progress made and work continuing |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 6 | McClure | | CIRCA appears to be a high quality user support and academic computing unit. The new integrated Help Desk is a very positive step forward. CIRCA needs to have its microcomputer labs established on a regular budget of replacement, not to exceed three to four years. CIRCA should promote and support personal ownership of microcomputers by students, but this will not decrease the need for computer labs in the next few years. In fact some universities are finding just the opposite. Students who become active users of computers through ownership want even more support when they are on campus and not in their own housing | Progress made and work continuing |
| | 7 | McClure | | The University should develop a program to put microcomputer and network support all across the institution on a solid fiscal footing. At present, as is true in most institutions, equipment is being purchased through one-time funds. There is no ongoing budget to cover upgrades, maintenance, and replacement. There is inadequate funding for local support personnel in schools and departments, and so faculty and others assume these roles. The magnitude of the unfunded information technology needs in many institutions approaches the magnitude of deferred maintenance of the physical plant. The new office should develop a model for remedying this problem and pursue the development of a multi-year program to make the necessary funding available. | Not done but should be |
Communications
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| Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 8 | ITR Task Force | | An organized approach to the dissemination of information on computing and computing support for all members of the University community. Computer and networking technology rapidly changes, making the task of keeping users informed of new developments very important. In addition, users need to be kept aware of plans, directions, and services related to information technology. An organized approach to dissemination of information on computing and computing support will ensure that the majority of the University community is moving together in planned directions.
| Progress made and work continuing |
| | 9 | ITR Task Force | | Identify computing advocates/advisors in each college and administrative unit and coordinate their activities regarding reporting and dissemination of information. At present, dissemination of information on computing, training opportunities, and applications use is uncoordinated, with many users receiving little or none of the information which they should receive. This problem is particularly severe in many of the smaller units. Only through establishing a more formal process of dissemination of information can the problem be overcome. Nearly every college and administrative unit has a local computer advocate/advisor. Such an individual may have very specific job responsibilities related to computer support or may simply be an experienced user. These individuals need to be identified and used as conduits for channeling computer and network information and support into the unit. The Task Force favors requiring every unit head to assign someone the task of acting as unit advocate/advisor. This way there is some local recognition of who is responsible as well as official recognition of the time and effort the individual spends in supporting this task. | Needs further assessment |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 10 | NET 99 | | User needs and network plans need to be reviewed at least annually by CITS and analyzed in view of the know needs and possibilities. It is recommended that CITS keep in touch with the user community as user application needs become apparent and network resources become available. | Not done but should be |
| | 11 | NET 99 | | NTSC shall be briefed regularly of changes in management procedures and network design activities by Network Services. Similarly, other major network providers are encouraged to report on modifications in their activities. | Substantial progress |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 12 | NET 99 | | The UF Computing Help Desk should establish a web site or listserv for network personnel and end users in order to communicate about the status of our networks. | Substantial progress |
Infrastructure
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| Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 13 | ITR Task Force | | Administrative data and applications integrated into an understandable, user-friendly system, capable of supporting the administrative needs of the University. Administration of the University would be impossible without the computer applications, databases, and networks which have been installed over the years. The inevitable growth of the University will place further demands on a system which is currently barely adequate for the job. Where the University was once a leader in computerized administrative systems, it has not made the technology and applications development investments necessary to keep up with other institutions of higher education. A much more integrated approach to administrative information and a much more flexible and user-friendly interface will be required if administrators, faculty, staff, and students are to have access to the information needed to make good decisions. | Progress made and work continuing |
| | 14 | ITR Task Force | | An academic information system capable of supporting the research and instruction needs of the University. At the heart of academic research, instruction, and service is information. It is a key input to the academic process and a major end product. Recent advances in imaging and computer technology indicate that future information will be delivered to faculty, staff, and students in electronic form over high speed data and video networks. The University must integrate the services of the University libraries with computing and networking services into an academic information delivery system. | Progress made and work continuing |
| | 15 | ITR Task Force | | Develop a University-wide electronic mail system and associated on-line University directory of faculty, staff, students, and services providers. There is a general consensus that few technical barriers but many organizational and cultural barriers exist to development of a University-wide electronic mail system and on-line directory. These barriers will only be overcome through a more formal system of coordination, a more centralized systeth’ of user support and network management, and a commitment to providing services to users. Implementation of an effective electronic mail system will require a level of cooperation rarely seen at the University of Florida. It will require agreement on standards, a centralized database management system, and information dissemination. It will also require that we have staff whose job it is to accomplish the continual task of maintaining the databases and security systems, and user follow-up necessary to make these systems useable. Establishment of an electronic mail system and on-line directory will signal the start of many University-wide information services delivered by computers and networks | Progress made and work continuing |
| | 16 | ITR Task Force | | Establish a common user view for administrative applications. It is important that the University establish a common interface for applications for individuals who do not wish direct access to the database, but require a more standard view of the data for daily administrative tasks. This common interface must provide the same view regardless of the type of computer system being used to access the system. It is strongly recommended that the interface be graphical in nature. A graphical interface requires a higher level of intelligence than is currently found in the computer terminals and workstations used for administrative work. Before a common user interface can be implemented, the University will need to “retire” hundreds of non-intelligent terminals and replace all administrative workstations with personal computers or “processing terminals.” The capital costs are high for a project of this magnitude, but, depending on how the CDBMS and the common user interface are implemented, the processing power of the personal computer could be used in such a way as to share some of the computing load with the mainframe computer, hence delaying the nee4 to upgrade the mainframe. | Progress made and work continuing |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 17 | ITR Task Force | | Assign responsibilities, set deadlines, and fund systems development to move all major administrative information into a centralized database management system. Users expressed major concern about the general lack of access to information on administrative and academic processes and programs. Academic and administrative staff cannot examine alternate views of existing databases or easily down-load data/information to a personal workstation for further examination and analysis. Duplication of data elements across a large number of separate files exists, increasing the difficulty of managing the data as well as increasing storage requirements, and hence storage costs. All of these actions are increasing the chances of misinterpretation and improper use of the information in the University’s data files. The Task Torce recommends that the University begin immediately to move all major administrative information into a centralized database management system (CDBMS). This system should allow sharing of common data elements across applications, improve access to data, and improve the applications development environment. The establishment of a CDBMS would require the designation of one individual as Database Manager who would be responsible for the coordination of data element naming and placement, maintenance of required standards of access to and security of the database, and maintenance of the directory of information available in the database. The Database Manager should not exercise policy control over the development of applications which access the CDBMS, nor should the Database Manager have policy control over who has access to the information in the system. The providers of information into the CDBMS should maintain responsibility for security and access to the data elements provided. The structure of the CDBMS should be planned to accommodate both data provider and user needs. Because movement to a centralized database management system represents a radical change in direction for administrative computing at the University, it needs careful planning and measured implementation. While the whole process cannot be done in a month or even in a year, the commitment to move in this direction must be established now. The current method of paying for administrative computing is incapable of covering the cost of making this transition (see recommendation 3.2.4). During the transition, additional technical personnel will be needed to supplement current staff who are consumed with the day-to-day activities of their respective administrative units. Along with additional personnel, funds will be needed to purchase state-of-the-art database and applications development tools. | Progress made and work continuing |
| | 18 | ITR Task Force | | Establish a multi-platform query system as the standard for access to administrative information. It is imperative that the CDBMS selected include a query system that is capable of running on most of the personal computers and local area network systems that exist on this campus. A number of mainframe database management systems provide “query system front ends” that allow for access from within a number of software packages running on personal computers or network servers. With appropriate access authorization, a non-programmer may use these query systems to access individual data elements and records in the CDBMS and down-load the information to a personal computer for further analysis and graphical display. Because of the flexibility in this approach, existing data can be used more effectively and with less dependence on the database provider, a programmer, or mainframe computing resources. | Not done but should be |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 19 | ITR Task Force | | A healthy and safe work place for users of information technology resources. The health and safety of information technology users is of primary importance to the University. While the Task Force found no major health and safety problems, there is concern that a more proactive approach is needed if we are to avoid problems in the future. | Substantial progress |
| | 20 | ITR Task Force | | Encourage students to acquire personal computers. We need to encourage students at the time they enter the University to acquire personal computers. It is important for all students to learn how to use a computer for basic word processing and information management. A personal computer allows the student more flexible access to the library on-line catalog, other academic information sources, campus computing resources, and electronic mail. The personal computer, connected to the University network, is considered the single most effective tool for increasing personal productivity for the student. With more students entering with their own computers, the University commitment to shared-use computer labs can be kept to a manageable level. The University will never be able to meet all student demands for computer access through shared-use labs. Student requirements for access to computers will continue to grow because networks will offer more services that students need, and more academic information will be available in electronic form. Only by actively encouraging students to acquire their own computers can the University hope to keep pace with the expected needs. Encouraging students to acquire personal computers implies that the University must work more closely with computer hardware and software vendors to offer students competitive prices. It includes identifying hardware and software products which are fully supported by the proposed Computing Support Services Center and by college labs. It also includes establishing mechanisms to protect the students’ investment by helping them maintain the currency of their hardware and software. Responsibility for this activity should be shared among the Campus Bookstore, the Computing Support Services Center, and the Student Computing Coordinating Committee. (recommendation 3.4.3). | Substantial progress |
| | 21 | ITR Task Force | | Increase number and currency of computers in shared-use computer labs. While it is assumed that more students will come to the University with their own computer systems, there are still many valid reasons for continuing to expand and upgrade the shared-use computer labs. The large general-use labs define the basic computer hardware and software upon which instructors can develop course, assignments and projects with some confidence that the students will have access to computing to do the project. On the other hand, many colleges have a definite need for students to work on more advanced computer systems than are available in the general-use labs. The cost of this advanced technology is currently, and will probably continue to be, more than the University can realistically expect the student to afford. The University needs to increase its investment in both general and college shared-use computer labs. Too many of the computers in the shared-use labs are obsolete by today’s standards, and they need immediate upgrading. With the expected growth in the size of the student body, the University will need to create ,more computer labs. This recommendation calls for a long-term commitment to maintaining and upgrading these key facilities. | Progress made and work continuing |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 22 | ITR Task Force | | Renovate classroom space to accommodate projection, networking, and computing technologies. A major impediment to bringing technology into the classroom is that the University’s classrooms are ill-equipped to deliver that technology. Most of the classrooms have problems accommodating an overhead or slide projector. Using computers in the classroom requires not only better projection systems, but network access as well. Renovation is a major one-time capital investment which will multiply other efforts at improving the general instructional program of the University. Renovation planning and implementation is a Facilities Planning Division responsibility, but in this case they must work closely with the Computing Support Service Center staff, the Council on Information Technologies and Services, and faculty who regularly use these classrooms. | Progress made and work continuing |
| | 23 | ITR Task Force | | Classroom space capable of accommodating projection and information technology. Classrooms designed for blackboard teaching cannot easily accommodate overhead projectors and slides, nor, for that matter, can they effectively deal with computer-related instruction. Classroom renovation is a major capital expense, but is critical if the benefits of the computer are to be brought into the educational process. | Progress made and work continuing |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 24 | ITR Task Force | | Provide network access to all residence halls. Student access from campus housing is closely tied to telephone services, dial-up ports on the shared-use minicomputers, and the way student activities are funded. Assuming that more students will enter the University with their own personal computer systems, access from residence halls will be the bottleneck in facilitating effective use of these systems in the instructional program. The Task Force recommends that the University plan to invest in dramatically increasing computer networking and access in residence halls. The network should be based on the most current computer and networking technology and not just an increase in access to dial-up ports. A significant one-time up-front capital investment by the University will be required to reach “most-current technology” standards, but nevertheless will represent a significant increase to connectivity and information technology use on campus. New residence halls must be required to make accommodation for voice, video, and data networking in their plans and to ‘have these plans fully realized when the facility is first occupied. Responsibility for developing this plan should reside with the Housing Division of Student Affairs in conjunction with the Student Computing Support Coordinating Committee and the Computer Network Support Coordinating Committee (recommendation 3.4.3) Housing should be allowed to recover the cost for maintaining network access from residence halls as well as the cost of continually upgrading access as technology changes. In this way, the University can hope to avoid having to make significant up-front capital investments every five years. | Substantial progress |
| | 25 | ITR Task Force | | A campus network which extends to the work place of each member of the University community who needs access to perform required tasks.Getting information in a timely and appropriate manner to users who require it means extending University data and video networking. to the work place. The University has actively extended data networking to the workplace of many administrative users, but this goal has not been generally adopted for all users. Only by extending the network to every work place can the full benefits of computing and information systems be realized. | Substantial progress |
| | 26 | ITR Task Force | | Increase support to colleges and administrative units in the design,’ management, and use of voice, video, and data networks. While the Network Management Center and Telecommunications Office have responsibility for inter-building networking, colleges and administrative units will remain responsible for intra-building networking. This system provides flexibility to college and administrative unit managers to tailor their local communications systems to their unit needs while retaining some degree of control in the overall system. More input into the design and management of networks than is currently available will be needed to reach “most-current technology” standards. It is especially important that consultants who are familiar with networking rules and practice at the University be available during the design stage. In this way we can ensure that the initial investment in networking will fit with the rest of the University and be able to grow with the rest of the University. It is recommended that responsibility for network design support be assigned to the Computing Support Services Center and that individuals from the Network Management Center, the Telecommunications Office, and the Computer Engineering Technical Services Center be brought in, as needed, to design the electronics and media structure needed to support identified functions. | Needs further assessment |
| | 27 | NET 99 | | Since network equipment is placed in every building which is connected to the network, it is necessary that space be allocated for the equipment. NTSC should continue the study it began in this report to create criteria for the kind and quality of the communications space. Network providers can then use these criteria to inform users of the requirements for space and how this may affect their quality of service | Progress made and work continuing |
| | 28 | Strategic Plan | | The university should provide a central connection service to the Internet with redundancy when needed. | Substantial progress |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 29 | ITR Task Force | | Increase access to University computing resources for faculty, staff, and students from off-campus locations. In general, the University provides very little in the way of support for off-campus access to its computing resources. Not being able to access on-campus computers and the campus data network from off-campus residences represents an impediment to the efficient use of these resources by students, faculty, and staff. Better connectivity is technically feasible in a community the size of Gainesville. A minor investment in planning and equipment on campus and some hard negotiation with the local telephone or cable utilities should produce significantly improved access. Responsibility for the technical plans should lie with the Network Management Center (recommendation 3.3.1) and the Telecommunications Office in Physical Plant Division. Responsibility for development of agreements with the local telephone and cable utilities should lie with the Provost and the Council on Information Technologies and Services (3.4.2). | Progress made and work continuing |
| | 30 | ITR Task Force | | A consistent level of computing and networking support for all faculty and staff, both on- and off-campus. The University currently has many faculty, staff, and students at locations other than the main campus in Gainesville. Faculty, staff, and students not located on the Gainesville campus should have the same services and support benefits as if they were located in Gainesville. Resources should be allocated to provide similar levels of support and services to all faculty, staff, and students in order to ensure a unified and productive University community. | Progress made and work continuing |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 31 | Strategic Plan | | Identify lab locations for hands-on training and multimedia presentations | Done |
| | 32 | ITR Task Force | | Improve and expand training facilities. As a corollary to recommendation 3.2.2, effective training will require improved and expanded training facilities. Because administrative staff are direct and intensive users of computer equipment, training needs to be hands-on and in small groups to be most. effective. Currently no training facilities are dedicated to training and developing computing skills of staff. By placing training as a major responsibility of the Computing Support Services Center, the Task Force expects to see more intensive use of available training facilities and consideration of administrative staff needs when new facilities for training are developed. New training facilities should address the development needs of staff as well as faculty and students. | Done |
Organization
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| Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 33 | McClure | | The new organization must have at least a small applications and data administration staff. Providing access to institutional data in a coherent fashion needs to be a high priority of the unit. In addition, there are institutional applications such as email and directory services that must be managed by the institution as a whole. The staff for applications and data administration could be derived from current units reporting to administrative affairs, the registrar, financial aid and others. I am unclear how planning and institutional research and records management are managed at the university, but these functions might also provide some synergy with this new group | Not done but should be |
| | 34 | Strategic Plan | | The university should create a central office for the development of university publications (forms, newsletters, brochures, catalogs, etc.) that now are being produced by many different administrative areas. This office should be provided the resources to develop a strategy that will allow production of publications directly to the web so as to reduce the critical time to make the information available on the web. UF should pursue a strategy of using the web to collect the information contained in the publications from various departments and colleges. | Not done and not recommended |
| | 35 | Strategic Plan | | The university should develop a CIO-based university-wide project management team organized and empowered to: develop central systems (backups, support, etc.) and applications; develop warehouses of critical data for end user query access; do projects that provide a common solution for problems that affect more than one administrative area but do not fit in the mission of any one administrative group; choose an interactive query tool and distribute its use campus-wide; provide access to common information (directory information, calendaring, etc.); evaluate new technologies and promote their integration into an overall computing strategy; develop measures for assessing the success of the administrative strategies; provide a unified and cohesive web presence for the University of Florida | Needs further assessment |
| | 36 | Strategic Plan | | The university should embrace the central-distributed model for administrative computing so that we have central guidance with local support. This would allow each administrative area to have access to local resources to best accomplish the tasks of each of those areas. At the same time, a central CIO-based group can be created to provide the services that are not specific to any particular development group but affect multiple development groups. | Needs further assessment |
| | 37 | Strategic Plan | | The university should provide a central maintenance site for document imaging, using EAGLE as a web delivery method. Document imaging should be considered a campus-wide utility for any group that has document retention needs. The Office of the CIO will provide the necessary technical expertise and infrastructure knowledge to bring new groups onto the system and upgrade the system as necessary when new technologies become available or changes need to be made. This system should be funded from a central source and provided as a shared resource. | Needs further assessment |
| | 38 | McClure | | There may be an opportunity for cost reduction if the applications development and support staff from administrative affairs, the registrar, financial aid, and others were to be centralized and managed as a single unit. I counted close to 100 FTEs in these dispersed units. As a point of comparison, the University of Virginia, Indiana University, Purdue Universtiy and Pennsylvania State University alll manage administrative applications as a single department and their current staff sizes are 27, 42, 46, and 42 (in random order). It was clear from conversations with the units affected that they view the current arrangement as being very successful and would resist the centralization suggested. The Provost and President will have to decide whether the local optimization of these administrative units is sufficiently important to merit the cost they are paying. | Needs further assessment |
| | 39 | Strategic Plan | | The members of the CIOMP team will include these existing positions, new positions or reassigned positions: EAGLE support (existing, 2 positions not including the Assistant CIO); Project manager; Project team analysts and programmers (2); Database administrator; University webmaster (existing) | Needs further assessment |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 40 | ITR Task Force | | Establish a University-wide computing and networking hardware support service. The Computer Engineering Technical Support (CETS) Auxiliary within the Digital Design Facility of the College of Engineering has provided these services and is capable of providing more services if called upon to do so. CETS services to the University community are on a fee-for-service basis, which means it is capable of growing to meet the necessary demands. The services CETS provides need to be coordinated with the other aspects of computing and networking support on campus. It is for this reason that the Council on Information Technologies and Services should have some say in the activities of CETS. In addition, information of CETS offerings needs to be better disseminated within the University community. At some point, an analysis will have to be made of whether this support auxiliary should remain in the College of Engineering, or move to more direct management by the Provost. | Needs further assessment |
| | 41 | McClure | | The CETS organization that currently reports to the School of Engineering should be made into a university-level auxiliary, reporting to the new office. | Needs further assessment |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 42 | ITR Task Force | | Establish a University-wide Telecommunications and ‘Computing Coordinator. Progress in coordinating computing and networking activities will require the University to establish a focal point for discussion and resolution of issues. The Task Force sees this function being performed by a full time coordinator. This coordinator must have University-wide responsibilities for bringing togethei~ resource managers and users to discuss these issues, make plans, and oversee implementation. Computer and information technology is too dynamic to expect that a committee which meets only periodically will be able to keep up with the decisions which must be made. The job of University-wide telecommunications and computing coordinator is a full-time undertaking. The coordinator should chair the Council on Information Technologies and Services and be responsible for the activities of this Council. The Coordinator should also be responsible for seeing that the other support coordination committees recommended in section 3.4.3 meet regularly and address pressing issues. The Coordinator should develop, in conjunction with the Council, a campus-wise telecommunications and computing strategic plan, and be responsible for monitoring adherence with the plan. Finally, the Coordinator should be responsible for representing telecommunications and computing interests and needs in all campus-wide discussions of budget and resource allocation. Staff will need to be assigned to support the coordinator in carrying out these activities and responsibilities. | Not done but should be |
| | 43 | McClure | | Reporting to this office should be organizations focused on communications, computing, applications, and user support (including microcomputing, student computing and instructional technology support). The office does not need to have responsibility directly for managing IT services in individual schools and departments, but it must have effective control over institutional standards, conventions, and IT architecture. Local department -based user support, in particular, should be encouraged and promoted. The central user support organization should position itself as an effective agent to support and coordinate departmental support staff. | Not done but should be |
| | 44 | McClure | | The University needs to establish a position at a high level in the institution for a full-time manager and leader of information technology (a CIO). This position could be a vice president, associate provost, or other appropriate designation but it must be clear that the entire institution's direction in IT is in the hands of this office. The office does not need to directly manage all technology functions but it has to be an effective leader, advocate, and coordinator, not only for the units it directs but others as well. This role is best established through the formal delegation of responsibility and authority and selection of a person to fill the position who is effective in both leading and managing. | Not done but should be |
| | 45 | ITR Task Force | | Coordinated computing and networking activities. Efforts to coordinate activities among the various colleges, administrative units, and support groups involved in information technology have not kept pace with the level of activity in these units. As a result, the University has not been able to manage its computing and telecommunications environment to make the best use of its resources. Duplication of effort is not the problem. Rather, key services are not being offered, or offered to only part of the University user community. In addition, no single unit or group can clearly and effectively state policies related to the use of information technology resources. Lack of coordination has led to uneven access to and. support for information technology resources for faculty, staff and students. There exists very little structure within which institutional planning can occur, and thus it is very difficult to implement new computing environments and services to the university as a whole. Without coordination, the University is divided in its dealings with outside vendors and hence is unable to obtain the best discounts in its purchases of information technology resources. | Not done but should be |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 46 | ITR Task Force | | Establish a University-wide Council on Information Technologies and Services to oversee all aspects of computing and networking for the University. The purpose of this council shall be: To centralize coordination of all aspects of information technology support to the University community; To establish responsibilities for providing specific services to users and resolve conflicts which may arise in the provision of these services by University and college providers; To establish and modify policies on information technology use; To develop and monitor a University-wide strategic plan for information technology resources and security; To review and approve the budgets of the Computing Support Services Center, the Network Management Center, and the Computer Engineering Technical Services Auxiliary (see recommendation 3.4.9); To develop, promote, monitor, and establish priorities for major initiatives related to computing and networking, including the telephone network, and the major capital projects proposed in this report, and; To review administrative and academic information systems and services, including that provided by the University libraries, and approve all major new additions to these systems and services. … specific implementation recommendations included. | Done and later disbanded |
| | 47 | ITR Task Force | | Establish Coordinating Committees for Academic, Administrative, and Student Computing, and Networking Support. The University currently lacks sufficient forums for discussion of the many issues related to information technology. The Task Force recommends the creation of four committees, which report to, and act on behalf of the Council on Information Technologies and Services, to serve as the mechanism for providing user views to resource managers. The Council on Information Technologies and Services will establish the boundaries of responsibilities for each committee as well as determine how each committee will interact with the overall Council. Note: Report contains specific implementation recommendations. | Done and later disbanded |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 48 | Strategic Plan | | The university should provide a central resource for building administrative databases and coordinating databases among the various development entities | Not done but should be |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 49 | ITR Task Force | | An integrated voice, video, and data network management system. It is very clear that soon voice, video and data networks will be integrated into a common media and transport structure. The University must begin to integrate network management into a single unit if it is to take full advantage of network integration. Such a unit should have as one major characteristic the ability to deal with the many different computing and networking systems currently used at the University of Florida, while remaining flexible enough to accommodate new systems as they emerge. | Not done but should be |
| | 50 | ITR Task Force | | An integrated computing and networking support structure. It is becoming increasingly difficult to separate computing support from networking support. Computing applications and information are being delivered by networks to the intelligent computer workstation in a technically integrated fashion which incorporates the concepts of distributed processing and shared data. Progress in this direction requires that support for computing and networking be integrated. | Not done but should be |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 51 | McClure | | Several parts of the Office of Instructional Resources dealing with faculty support, multimedia, and audio visual services should report to the new unit. The traditionally analog technologies supported by these units are very rapidly becoming digital and need to be managed with the rest of microcomputing and user support in a coherent model | Needs further assessment |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 52 | Strategic Plan | | The University of Florida should negotiate a contract with NERDC for campus networking services. The campus would then do its business with a central UF organization, not NERDC. NERDC would become a service provider for UF and would expand its service as UF moves toward a more centralized approach to network computing. | Needs further assessment |
| | 53 | McClure | | NERDC needs to be managed more effectively as an integral part of the University technology function. Its "arm's length" relationship to the University of Florida is contributing to the slow progress. An ideal relationship would be if it could become a fully integrated part of the new organization and contract with other institutions and FCLA for the services it provides to them. | Needs further assessment |
| | 54 | Strategic Plan | | A quality control specialist for monitoring the NERDC BURC compliance and resource consumption | Done |
| | 55 | ITR Task Force | | Develop a contract-based system for acquiring NERDC mainframe computing and file resources for administrative production and development systems. The current method of charging for computing services at the NERDC is perceived by users and developers as being a major stumbling block to full use of current administrative information systems, as well as to innovation and change. The combination of a transaction-based charging algorithm and increased demands for information management has left University data managers and administrators unable to predict annual mainframe computing charges. At the same time, NERDC management is struggling to keep charges in line with its approved budgets while simultaneously trying to’ satisfy a very diverse user community. The result is periodic manipulation of the charging algorithm which provides budget relief to one user/provider while doing little to help another user/provider. Add to this the need for the University to begin a major administrative system overhaul (see recommendation 3.2.6), and it becomes clear that the current system must change. The Task Force recommends that the University move to a contract-based system for paying for NERDC mainframe services and support. Such a system would have the dual benefit of guaranteeing NERDC income for the year while at the same time allowing data managers and developers at the University to budget and plan. It is recognized that NERDC, as an SUS auxiliary, has responsibilities which lie outside the University of Florida. It is felt that these outside users, most of which are part of the SUS, DOE, or another state agency, would also benefit from a contract-based charging system. The NERDC Policy Board must approve all major changes to the NERDC operating environment, and the proposed contract-based system is certainly a major change. Responsibility for developing the proposed contract-based charging system shall lie with the NERDC director, the University Comptroller, the University Auditor, and the Provost as Chair of the NERDC Policy Board. The policy should be fully defined and implemented in the 1992-93 fiscal year. | Substantial progress |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 56 | Strategic Plan | | A CIO-based university-wide networking facilitator and planner should be appointed or reassigned to advise the CIO in networking matters and assist in: negotiating a central services contract with NERDC; managing the development and maintenance of university-side standards and promoting a collaborative effort to ensure reasonable compliance; developing and implementing a plan for continuous performance and security monitoring, as well participating in campus security audits (planned and ad-hoc); coordinating new and existing network installations and ensuring compliance with required security and communication standards; maintaining an inventory and auditing current network installations; promoting campus-wise awareness of safe security practices; offering network consultation services to identify and promote technical solutions in the best interest of the local users; pursuing a single point of contact for computing problems, questions and concerns; developing and promoting a central network service that offers competitive services to all academic and business units; evaluating new network technologies and maintaining an ongoing plan for network services; developing UF's Internet access strategy, including Internet II; identifying and promoting training opportunities and development tasks as new technologies emerge; promoting a "one system" ideology for security verification;
developing standards and practices for walk-up ports; developing key measures for assessing the success of network strategies and employing those measures
| Needs further assessment |
| | 57 | ITR Task Force | | Consolidate management of backbone data networking, video networking, and telephone networking into a Network Management Center. The campus backbone data and video network, currently referred to as the UFNET backbone, provides interconnectivity among local area networks at the University, the Internet, and other state and national networks. - Telephone networking and support is managed by the Telecommunications Office of the Physical Plant Division. Technology is driving toward providing voice, video, and data enterprise-wide networking on common physical media, with shared common building-level electronics and common protocols. This combined network will be the beltway of the future and needs to be planned and coordinated with various providers and users. These networks must be managed as a unit for the University to expand voice, video, and data network services. The Task Force recommends that a Network Management Center be created and be given the responsibility and budget to maintain the current data and video media and electronics, manage the various protocols of the backbone data and video network, and extend this network to all academic buildings and residence halls. The Network Management Center should also have responsibility for inter-building media and infrastructure for data and video networking. The Telecommunications Office should retain responsibility for all inter-building and intra-building media and infrastructure for voice networking. As soon as the operational details are decided, the University should combine the Telecommunications Office with the Network Management Center. The units directly affected by this recommendation are the UFNET group currently funded by Academic Affairs, and the Telecommunications Office in Administrative Affairs. This consolidation will affect college and/or department local area networks through their connection to the University-wide data and video network. College or departmental networks which must span multiple buildings using the University’s in-ground conduit system shall be required to coordinate media placement and management with the Network Management Office. The combined Network Management Center/Telecommunications Office director should report to the Provost or the Provost’s designee. | Not done but should be |
| | 58 | NET 99 | | Every department should designate a network support person who will provide basic training, troubleshooting, problem determination and resolution for the users of that unit. The designee's job description should reflect these responsibilities. | Not done but should be |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 59 | NET 99 | | The role of the network administrator is increasingly important to a properly functioning department. Designation of where, or from whom, a unit gets its network support needs to be made by the unit executive. This designation should be made explicit in the job description of the designee and appear as part of the evaluation process. The unit should be prepared to ,make release time and training opportunities available to the designee. | Not done and not recommended |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 60 | ITR Task Force | | Institute and manage University-wide programs for volume purchasing of computer hardware and software. Because we have a very limited, under-supported, and distributed program for initiating and managing volume purchasing of computer hardware and software, the University probably pays more than it should for these information technology resources. Vendors must deal with multiple individuals when attempting to negotiate purchasing programs. Multiple groups perform follow-up on completed agreements, with nobody responsible for informing colleges and administrative units of the existence of new purchasing programs, of procedures for participating in these programs, and of the potential savings which could accrue to the unit when using these agreements. Potential University customers of these purchase programs cannot easily review which programs are available. It is recommended that the University give serious consideration to this problem. The Tank. Force is undecided on whether this task should be assigned to the Computing Support Services Center, to a separate Computer Technology Store, or to Purchasing. It is clear that the current activities of CIRCA and the Campus Shop and Bookstore in providing a place to display technology need to be expanded. It is also clear that Purchasing should become more involved in negotiating agreements and will need to interact with the Computing Support Service Center to become more aware of what users need and what programs are being offered by vendors, as well as to disseminate information on new and existing agreements. The University should be proactive, rather than being passive, in the management of these agreements. | Substantial progress |
| | 61 | ITR Task Force | | Actively pursue and manage University-wide site-license agreements for widely-used hardware and software. Getting site-license agreements for hardware and software use for the whole university community is currently a time-consuming and frustrating process. In many cases, while University staff and technology vendors argue over various terms of these agreements, research and administrative staff productivity is reduced and additional costs are incurred. In the worst situations, research projects are stalled or abandoned because agreements are not negotiated in a short enough time frame. The legal issues are usually well understood, but there seems to be no way of factoring into the discussions the expected benefits and expected liability exposure to the University. While some of the legal roadblocks are created by State of Florida rules and official positions, the University has made no attempt to change these rules in order to allow us the flexibility needed to get on with the tasks for which these licenses are required. It does not help that faculty and staff hear that other SUS institutions have managed to overcome these hurdles, sign agreements, and move on in a reasonable time frame. The current small number of site-license agreements for widely used software is a direct result of the negative effect of the process on staff and vendors alike. The Task Force recommends that the Provost and the University-wide Council on Information Technologies and Services examine this matter carefully and develop •a plan for expediting the process of negotiating these agreements. | Substantial progress |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 62 | ITR Task Force | | Establish clear lines of authority for official certification of new standards, guidelines, and services for the network. A major reason for the confusion and wide disparity in data networking implementations is that nobody is certain who has authority for approving new standards, guidelines, or shared services on the network. While it is understood that the University President has ultimate authority, no one expects the President to work at this level. An individual or group must be assigned authority on these issues and must be given sufficient support from administration to make these decisions hold. The general feeling was that top-down directives are essential if networking is to move forward. The Task Force recommends that the Chair of the Council on Information Technologies and Services be giv.en the authority to make final decisions on standards, guidelines, or shared services on the network. This individual will be receiving continuous input from users, technicians, and managers and thus will be in the best position to weigh the factors which go into making these decisions. | Not done but should be |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 63 | NET 99 | | The UF Computing Help Desk should be given the resources and responsibility to be the single point of contact for all users, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The Help Desk should also be responsible for maintaining a list of departmental user support personnel and should have access to network personnel who can provide 24/7 problem resolution. | Needs further assessment |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 64 | McClure | | The highest priority should be the consolidation of communications. The telecommunications unit currently reporting to the physical plant should be moved to the new department. The construction related functions in that unit do not need to move, but the staff who service users, manage the telephone contracts, and provide telephone billing and maintenance should be moved to report to the CIO. The new department should focus on building an integrated communications function, incorporating telephone, data and video. A plan for installing structured wiring in all buildings should be developed. A plan should be devised that will allow the central unit to manage connectivity of voice, video and data all the way to the wall plate. The current "POP" model will fail under increasing pressure for reliability and when integrated transmission is possible. The new communications organization should build a business plan that can deliver integrated services under a coherent financial model. A five to seven year agenda for creating the physical infrastructure to support data, voice and video could be funded through a modest increase in current telephone rates. These charges should be repositioned as "communications rates". In suggestinga five to seven year time horizon for support of itengrated communcations, I do not intend to imply that Florida can wait for firve to seven years to gain control of its communications infrastructure. Even as I was on campus, there were several outages of the data network and people told me that this was not uncommon. I would put a very high priority on making the campus data communications environment ubiquitous and highly reliable. NOTE: There are several other paragraphs commenting on organization at that time. | Not done but should be |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 65 | NET 99 | | Network Services should be given the resources and responsibility to serve as the campus-wide coordinator of training for technical and department network support personnel. Resources should also be made available to those units that provide the training. | Needs further assessment |
Planning
| |
| Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 66 | ITR Task Force | | Establish administrative strategies to handle major new applications development. The centralized database management system project and associated * upgrading of administrative workstations are very important to the future of the University. A number of other major projects were not examined in detail by the Task Force but were identified as having the potential to beneficially change the University. These include a telephone registration system, an optical. disk-based document management system, replacement of older rotary telephone handsets and key systems, a campus-wide video system, and the University ID card system. Each of these projects must be undertaken if the University is to improve its administrative and academic services. In each case, failure of the University to move forward on these projects will result in lost productivity or competitiveness. Other, more innovative uses for information technology resources, such as a network of information kiosks to provide information to students and visitors, have not even been discussed at the University of Florida because of the perceived and actual limitations of resources for projects of this size and complexity. There currently exists no easy way for these projects Needs further assessment, prioritized, and eventually funded. All of these projects involve basic activities or tasks which are currently being performed without the benefits of current technology. They each involve major investments in money and personnel as well as major changes to many related activities and tasks. While the support and coordination structure recommended in this report can handle the operational details of each project, administrative strategies for mandating and funding this level of project must be developed. Discussions of funding major information technology projects and setting priorities for these projects within the context of all of the other types of major projects within the University are outside the scope of this report. | Progress made and work continuing |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 67 | NET 99 | | OITS should assess, with broad user input, what applications users need now and applications they can predict they will need in future years. The results of this study can then be used by campus technical personnel to assess which technologies might be needed to support those applications. | Needs further assessment |
| | 68 | Strategic Plan | | The University should develop a strategy for infrastructure support including: developing objectives and standards for technology replacement; coordinating technology replacement, enhancement, migration and advancement; developing strategic alliances with key vendors for technology support; coordinating the facilities management effort; coordinating and funding the needed support for NERDC; providing a policy for laying fiber and maintaining and expanding the fiber network; negotiating the new telephone contract for telephone support that will free the university from telephone infrastructure maintenance and allow UF to take advantage of new technologies as they mature | Not done but should be |
| | 69 | Strategic Plan | | The university should move toward voice communication with computers to improve mobility and usability. | Needs further assessment |
| | 70 | ITR Task Force | | Develop and maintain a strategic plan for information technology for the University. The State of Florida has always been interested in how the universities spend money on technology. To assure that this information is provided, they require each University to prepare a strategic plan for information technology resources. The current University-wide information technology resources planning is little more than an exercise in wishful accounting. The University must develop a true strategic planning process which identifies projects which must be funded and actions which must be taken to accomplish generally accepted short-term and long-term strategic goals. The development of this plan must begin with a clear identification of overall strategic directions for the University. The Council on Information Technologies and Services is the appropriate group to develop an overall strategic plan for information technology for the University. The document finally produced from this process will more than satisfy SUS requirements | Not done but should be |
| | 71 | Strategic Plan | | The university should develop a collaborative effort for workflow processing, moving in the direction of a paper-less environment and providing much needed relief from many manual and resource-intensive processes. | Progress made and work continuing |
| | 72 | ITR Task Force | | Coordinate University-wide Computing and Networking Goals into College and Administrative Unit Goals. It was clear from the Task Force discussions with users that only a few colleges and administrative units have established clear goals related to computing and networking. At best, some have short-term purchasing plans, but only a few have given significant thought to the full range of issues which must be addressed in order to develop and maintain a computing and networking infrastructure which facilitates productive work by faculty, staff, and students. It is the recommendation of the Task Force that the University require computing and networking issues be considered in all future planning and evaluations of colleges and administrative units. | Not done but should be |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 73 | Strategic Plan | | A CIO based coordination should be undertaken to provide: a coordinated effort to procure the tools, equipment and production of technology-based instruction; a unified plan for offering non-location based instruction, including the administrative infrastructure to support students who are not traditional and/or residential; investigation of new and existing technologies to make UF's instruction a leader in the educational industry; promotion of the availability of UF technology-supported instruction; cooperation with other campus entities (i.e., DOCE, Executive Program) to coordinate the efforts of those groups and the various methods of offering distance education; integration of all the components of a technology-based instruction system into current administrative structures | Not done but should be |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 74 | NET 99 | | Network Services should develop procedures for keeping abreast of Wide-Area Networking (WAN) trends as they relate to long-distance carriers, to cultivate beneficial relationships with the carriers, and to provide a campus-wide clearing house for WAN-related activities | Substantial progress |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 75 | NET 99 | | A risk audit should be sanctioned by the ISM and be performed by the SCIS to analyze those areas where the University is exposed to security threats. This audit should include a study both of the types of data that require specific security measures and the delivery methods that are used to deliver these data to appropriate faculty, staff and students. The audit should specify action items such as those recommended in the NTSC report which should be implemented for handling security risks. | Substantial progress |
| | 76 | NET 99 | | Disaster recovery plans should be made for the voice, video and data networks. The role of communications is critical in the event of a disaster; however such plans only make sense within the context of a larger University plan sanctioned by the Provost. In particular, some understanding needs to be reached about what constitutes a disaster for a university and what is the role of the University in the event of a disaster. | Substantial progress |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 77 | ITR Task Force | | Establish standards, guidelines, and directions for voice, video, and data networking. Because of the way telephone services have developed in the United States, voice networking has grown within a framework of fairly rigid standards and guidelines. With the breakup of AT&T, this framework of standards has come under attack, with a number of developers and vendors offering non-standard products and services. Data and video networking, on the other hand, is the product of a large number of entrepreneurs, developers, and vendors, with little in the way of generally accepted standards and guidelines. While diversity offers much in the way of functionality to the individual users, it creates a large stumbling block to effective intercommunications. It is recommended that the Network Management Center/ Telecommunications Office develop standards and guidelines which establish the technical foundations for voice, video, and data networks at the University. After review by the Network Support Coordination Committee (see recommendation 3.4.2) and the general computing and networking community of the University, these standards and guidelines will be modified and become the basis for all future planning and discussions of interconnectivity projects. Recognizing the dynamic nature of networking, these standards and guidelines shall be reviewed on a continual basis, and if necessary, modified. The standards, and guidelines should identify which combinations of hardware, operating systems, and software are supportable within the structure and technology of the current network. As the network grows, the combinations supported should increase rather than decrease. Incentives and funding should be provided to change the systems of units which currently own and operate systems which are not compatible with current networking technology. The guidelines and standards should accommodate the needs and capabilities of the state-of-the-art computer users as well as the needs of the routine and low-end users. | Needs further assessment |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 78 | McClure | | Within the next year or two, Florida needs to make a decision about whether it intends to continue to purchase telephone services from Southern Bell or whether it wants to in-source that function. The current contract runs until 1999, but it is not too soon to start to plan if in-sourcing is a possibility. There are excellent consultants that could assist with an analysis of the options, costs, benefits and issues raised. | Needs further assessment |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 79 | Strategic Plan | | Campus development strategies need to be developed and training provided for the skill sets used in those strategies | Progress made and work continuing |
| | 80 | Strategic Plan | | In conjunction with management training, organizational development objectives should be established to guide management in: assessing resource deployment; identifying goals and objectives; creating a solution-oriented, project-based work environment; offering certificates of competency for staff | Progress made and work continuing |
| | 81 | Strategic Plan | | Management training objectives should be established to: increase productivity at all levels of the university; establish a common vision and mission; encourage proactive planning; increase employee satisfaction; require minimum technical proficiency for all campus groups | Progress made and work continuing |
Policy
| |
| Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 82 | Strategic Plan | | Further, the university should mandate for all faculty and staff: Gatorlink accounts; maintenance of current e-mail address | Substantial progress |
| | 83 | Strategic Plan | | Several other initiatives should be considered and/or adopted: mandate a Gatorlink account for all students; mandate maintenance of an e-mail address for all students; develop a unified strategy for offering admission, registration, fee payment, grades and online courses as a package to UF students over the Internet using ISIS; make Gatorlink a free ISP service supported by advertisers who would fund infrastructure costs | Substantial progress |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 84 | Strategic Plan | | The university should develop a central data warehouse and provide web query tools for all end users, including departments, colleges, administrative offices and individuals who need access to aggregate UF data. | Not done but should be |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 85 | Strategic Plan | | UF should support continued EAGLE development and training for access to and maintenance of administrative information. UF also should recommend EAGLE as the central piece of a unified UF web presence. | Needs further assessment |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 86 | Strategic Plan | | To help eliminate the current inherent platform inequities, the university should promote NERDC as its preferred administrative computing engine by negotiating a Bulk User Rate Charge (BURC) contract for all University of Florida administrative computing | Progress made and work continuing |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 87 | Strategic Plan | | A set of standards, developed as consensus among the technical staffs at the university, needs to be promoted to support the cooperative communication and computing efforts of faculty, staff, students and external constituents of the university. Toward this effort, several strategies should be developed: creating and managing network policies, procedures and performance measures that promote the teaching and research missions of the university; offering centralized, customer-oriented local area network services to the academic and business units at a fair and reasonable price; including representation of all university groups to evaluate the direction and performance of the network, either directly or by proxy; ensuring network security that includes the proper hardware, software and training; funding existing organizations to allow flexibility, but offering a central solution where appropriate | Not done but should be |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 88 | Strategic Plan | | Pursue a change to personnel rules to allow a retention contract so we do not simply turn into a training facility for other organizations | Needs further assessment |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 89 | NET 99 | | A University security policy should be established which addresses policy and procedure issues as raised in the NTSC report in the subsection titled "Security Policy." The policy should be concise and enforceable. Specific guidelines should be provided separately where necessary to assist personnel in complying with the policy. This policy should be reviewed regularly. | Not done but should be |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 90 | Strategic Plan | | In conjunction with the administrative objectives of the university, standards should be established for systems such as: email; calendaring; work flow management; word processing; data warehouse and query tools; e-commerce; imaging; access to administrative functions )one signon) addresses; database administration; decision support functions; web development; security; end user interface; tools for software maintenance (Tivoli, Unicenter, etc.) and distribution | Needs further assessment |
| | 91 | Strategic Plan | | In conjunction with the training objectives of the university, administrative and educational software standards should be established for such skills as: e-mail; EAGLE; calendaring; DB2 and other databases; work flow management; HTML; project management; XML; word processing; C/C++; data analysis(spreadsheets and statistical analysis); JAVA; multimedia; administrative applications; web use | Needs further assessment |
| | 92 | Strategic Plan | | The university should consider providing all administrative forms and processes via the web, for access at all times. This should be a primary objective. | Not done but should be |
| | 93 | ITR Task Force | | Development and use of internal and international standards in hardware, software, and networking. The University cannot provide effective support without establishing some internal standards on hardware, software, and networking protocols. A balance must be maintained between establishing narrowly defined standards which are more efficient to support, and establishing very broad standards which only minimally constrain users’ desires, but which place impossible demands on support organizations. | Needs further assessment |
Security
| |
| Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 94 | ITR Task Force | | Establish a uniform security system for administrative and academic information access that is manageable and maintainable. The current system for controlling access to administrative and academic on-line information works but has been described as a crisis waiting to happen. Because access to applications is currently controlled via passwords assigned by database developers, users are often faced with having to remember which of their multiple passwords will allow access to which information. It is a time- consuming task to obtain approval and a password for a new application or item on the “Deans’ Menu.” Only a few individuals can establish or replace passwords. The state accounting system, SAMAS, requires a completely separate authorization code for access. The mechanisms for “deactivating” access privileges for employees who transfer to a different job within the University or leave the University entirely are not automatic, and often result in accounts being active long after the employee has moved on. The Task Force recommends that the administration of access control and security management be consolidated and that information and application security be a necessary and planned component for all future development. Once an agreed upon solution is reached and specifications developed, a uniform security system can be implemented within a year. A number of systems have been proposed but since no one system is unanimously supported, nothing has been done. It is recommended that the University make the administration of access control and security the responsibility of the Computing Support Services Center, and that a group of technical staff be appointed to define and develop a plan for an access control system for review and approval by appropriate information systems and University administrators. The cost of implementing the system should be covered by the University, and all applications developers and administrative users will be required to use this system. It should be noted that implementation of a uniform security system will require that current applications be rewritten to access the system. One characteristic of this access control system should be that each user has one access code to remember which provides access to all necessary information. The developers of the CDBMS will have to define data element security along with the developers of the individual applications which use the databases. These developers should not be involved in the day-to-day maintenance of the security access system, since maintenance activities such as password control, and providing access mechanisms, are service-oriented and not database management oriented. | Progress made and work continuing |
| | 95 | NET 99 | | A Standing Committee on Information Security (SCIS) be established that permits regular interaction, communication, and cooperative activity among those who are responsible for ("owners" of) private, non-public proprietary data; those who are responsible for facilitating the implementation of network hardware and software network components required to secure these data; and those who are needed to participate in ensuring the authenticity of all data. It should also be the responsibility of this committee to communicate with the managers of local area networks on the campus decisions which impact the local area networks or require security measures by them. This committee should be chaired by the campus ISM | Needs further assessment |
| | 96 | ITR Task Force | | Administrative strategies and procedures to protect the integrity of academic and administrative information (security). As networks have grown to enable users to more rapidly and reliably access academic and administrative computing services and databases, our ability to manage that access has decreased. It is imperative that the University maintain control of access to information, not only to assure the integrity and reliability of databases, but to assure appropriate use of public resources. Security management is one of. the most important characteristics of an integrated data and applications system. | Substantial progress |
Support
| |
| Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 97 | ITR Task Force | | Expand the Basic Access Account ‘Program to include graduate students and academic staff. The Basic Access Account Program is a block-funded set of computing resources provided on NERDC to any faculty member wishing to participate. The objective of this program is to assure all faculty access to sufficient computing resources to allow participation in electronic mail, on-line library catalog access, and the storage and management of a few files. With proper management, faculty are also able to perform other tasks within the set of resources given them, including but not limited to simple computations. This program represents the University’s attempt to establish a baseline of support for computing for all faculty. Participation is not mandatory, and many colleges have provided alternate services for their faculty. Faculty who have participated in this program have benefited greatly from the access and services offered. Use of computing by graduate students and academic staff is virtually identical to that of faculty. The Task Force recommends that the basic computing support services provided under the Basic Access Account Program be extended to graduate students and academic staff in order to facilitate electronic communications across campus and generally to aid the research, instruction, and service programs. | Not done and not recommended |
| | 98 | ITR Task Force | | Student access to academic and administrative information in a convenient and cost-effective manner. Students must have access to their official academic records to negotiate the complexities of the academic programs and rules at the University of Florida. This information should be provided in a convenient and cost-effective manner and in such a way that access is managed and controlled. | Progress made and work continuing |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 99 | ITR Task Force | | Develop catalogs and dissemination systems for information on support services, offices, personnel, and lab facilities. Information on the various aspects of information technology resources and support at the University of Florida is very difficult to find. Users in general indicated to the Task Force their frustrations with trying to find help in computer hardware and software use, documentation, policy statements, and facilities. The effectiveness of faculty and staff is decreased because of the amount of time spent either looking for help/information or in figuring out a solution themselves. While universal support is not possible, there are some simple actions and work products which would greatly facilitate access to support and information. … specific implementation recommendations included. The long-term solution to this problem lies in having some group responsible for defining the boundaries of support and services at the University of Florida. Recommendation 3.4.1 addresses this need. | Substantial progress |
| | 100 | ITR Task Force | | Provide incoming students with up-to-date descriptions of where they can get support and services in computing. Students are particularly in need of support for computing during their stay at the University. Students are often confused on where to go for computing support and services. The rules on appropriate use of general and college computer lab facilities are not clear. Students wishing to purchase computers and software do not get a clear statement of which systems will most effectively support their academic studies. All of these issues involve students’ money, time, and academic competitiveness, and hence lack of adequate information on these issues increases student stress. … specific implementation recommendations included. | Substantial progress |
| | 101 | Strategic Plan | | Where possible, strategic partnerships should be developed with campus development groups and vendors to enhance the training mission of the university. | Progress made and work continuing |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 102 | Strategic Plan | | The university should adopt standards and objectives toward a more proactive and structured classroom technology management process, including: developing an inventory of all current instructional technology, accessible to all faculty; collecting, measuring and evaluating the use of technology for instructional efforts; coordinating the support of the technology, with guaranteed operation as a primary goal; evaluating and promoting new products in instructional technology; integrating technology-supported instruction into Telegator and ISIS; coordinating technology-based instructional effort reporting with the state (SDCF, etc.) | Progress made and work continuing |
| | 103 | Strategic Plan | | The university should encourage innovation of technology-assisted instruction by: considering developing a peer-reviewed, university funded program offering grants for equipment, expertise and training for exceptional, technology-based instructional projects; encouraging and assisting faculty in developing grant proposals for new instructional technologies; consider establishing rewards for teaching innovations that involve creative uses of instructional technologies | Needs further assessment |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 104 | NET 99 | | There should be a resource for LAN managers to call to receive trouble-shooting assistance 24/7. | Not done but should be |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 105 | NET 99 | | Network Services should be given the resources and responsibility to establish an 800-number modem pool to provide access to faculty, staff and students from off-campus locations, both local and statewide, including remote IFAS and Health Center locations. | Done |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 106 | ITR Task Force | | Expand the Research Computing Initiative to include research projects of graduate students. The Research Computing Initiative involves the allocation of a fixed fraction of the NERDC mainframe/supercomputing processing power for numerically intensive computing projects. The program is administered in a manner similar to that used at national supercomputer centers in that participation is via submitted proposals with each proposal being reviewed by an advisory board of researchers. The RCI is funded in cooperation with IBM Corporation on a two-year agreement which ends in 1992. The program has been very successful, with a large number of research publications being generated from the research performed. The cost of the program to the University is very small compared to the benefits received. The Task Force recommends that this program be continued indefinitely beyond 1992, and that graduate students be allowed and encouraged to participate in the program. | Needs further assessment |
| | 107 | Strategic Plan | | To develop a better understanding of the state of research computing at the university, several ideas should be considered: conduct focus groups among faculty and graduate students, consider developing a governance and policy board to review instructional technology support, develop expert knowledge in key research tools that address the computing needs of the faculty, augment the grant writing process with a coordinated technology review (ensure compliance proactively), sponsor the development of standards for sharing successful practices in technology-support research | Not done but should be |
| | Item | Source | Ref? | Recommendation | Status |
| 108 | ITR Task Force | | Administrative staff having defined computer skills and access to appropriate training on the databases and/or systems provided to them to perform assigned tasks. The tasks involved in administering the University are currently highly computerized. As time goes on, administrative staff will depend even more on computer and networking technology, and they will be expected to do more with these tools. The requirement of basic computer skills upon entry into a University staff position coupled with an ongoing training program in the use of computer technology and computer applications will ensure a productive and effective group of administrative users. | Needs further assessment |
| | 109 | Strategic Plan | | Emerging technologies should be identified and training should be offered continuously for the skills required. Current and new employees should be trained and redirected as needed. | Needs further assessment |
| | 110 | ITR Task Force | | Establish a Computing Support Services Center to manage and provide user support, training, shared-use computing facilities, and information dissemination. The complexity of the current University computing support system and the difficulty users experience in identifying and obtaining effective help from this system are the major reasons for recommending consolidation of support resources. The consolidation places support personnel and resources into an identifiable unit so that users do not have to differentiate between types of problems in order to find answers to their computing, networking, and access problems. A consolidated unit can avoid the problem of dilution of responsibility and is better able to support the wide diversity of computing which exists at the University. … includes mission details for the Center. The Computing Support Services Center should have as its core the personnel and facilities of CIRCA and the Faculty Support Center. Specific individuals who currently are assigned to support administrative applications use and training will need to be identified and, where appropriate, transferred into this unit. All of the units currently identified as information resource providers should be examined as part of this consolidation. The Computing Support Services Center should have staff and facilities spread throughout the University in order to support the specific needs of different types of users. The consolidation is for management purposes and fbi necessarily to physically bring together service providers. It is envisioned that a large fraction of the Center staff will be engaged in training and support at user locations. The complexity of the current University computing support system and the difficulty users experience in identifying and obtaining effective help from this system are the major reasons for recommending consolidation of support resources. The consolidation places support personnel and resources into an identifiable unit so that users do not have to differentiate between types of problems in order to find answers to their computing, networking, and access problems. A consolidated unit can avoid the problem of dilution of responsibility and is better able to support the wide diversity of computing which exists at the University. … includes mission details for the Center. The Computing Support Services Center should have as its core the personnel and facilities of CIRCA and the Faculty Support Center. Specific individuals who currently are assigned to support administrative applications use and training will need to be identified and, where appropriate, transferred into this unit. All of the units currently identified as information resource providers should be examined as part of this consolidation. The Computing Support Services Center should have staff and facilities spread throughout the University in order to support the specific needs of different types of users. The consolidation is for management purposes and fbi necessarily to physically bring together service providers. It is envisioned that a large fraction of the Center staff will be engaged in training and support at user locations. | Needs further assessment |
| | 111 | ITR Task Force | | Expand training and one-on-one user support for administrative staff. Administrative staff consistently mention the need for access to more training and support for computing. Staff said that they were not properly trained in the use of administrative applications programs and that they did not have a clear understanding of the scope of capabilities of the computing and networking technology with which they were working. Many expressed the desire to continually increase their knowledge and skill in the use of computers. Most saw increased knowledge of computing as the key to becoming more effective and efficient in their current jobs and as something which would help them get better jobs. In some cases, it was felt that when a problem occurs in using an application, access to experts would greatly increase productivity. This recommendation addresses the need to raise the level of computer use training and support for administrative staff as one way of increasing the productivity and efficiency of University administration in general. Because turnover and movement within the ranks of administrative staff is high, training is a constant and large task which must be managed if it is to be effective. specific implementation recommendations included . | Progress made and work continuing |
| | 112 | ITR Task Force | | Expand training support for faculty, academic staff, and graduate students. Through the Faculty Support Center, the University has established its leadership role in providing training to faculty. Educating faculty alone in the use of computer technology is not sufficient to support the research and instructional needs of our academic programs. Academic staff and graduate students do very much the same types of computing as do faculty, and in many cases do much more of it. The overall goal should be to have similar training available to all three groups. It is not required that programs necessarily integrate all three groups, since there is demonstrated evidence that some faculty are more likely to take advantage of computer training when the class contains only other faculty members. As an adjunct to the training programs, some follow-up support should be provided to solidify and extend in the appropriate direction what is presented in the more formal classroom setting. Accomplishing this set of recommendations should be the responsibility of the Computing Support Services Center (recommendation 3.4.1). | Progress made and work continuing |
| | 113 | ITR Task Force | | Faculty and academic technical staff having defined computer skills and access to training.The University of Florida is a leader in providing faculty with training to upgrade their computing skills. The Faculty Support Center, while focusing and coordinating these activities, has struggled to maintain state-of-the-art technology for its training and demonstration programs. The staff which support the research and instructional activities of faculty have not generally had access to the programs of the Faculty Support Center and hence have only been able to keep up with technology through self study or through training provided by their faculty supervisors. | Needs further assessment |
| | 114 | ITR Task Force | | Offer basic computer skills courses to all students. Faculty must be able to assume that students have some basic computer skills upon entry into a course if they are to effectively utilize computer technology as part of the educational process. The alternative is to have instructors spending time teaching and re-teaching basic skills at the expense of more advanced topics. The University should announce that all incoming students will be assumed to have certain defined basic computing skills and that inètructors will build from these skills. The Task Force recommends that basic computer skills courses be offered to help students without basic skills acquire them rapidly and with minimum disruption of their academic program. It is further recommended that a fee be charged for University-provided courses, but that the fee should be as small as possible so as to not discourage students from taking the courses. The Computing Support Services Center shall have responsibility for providing these courses to the general student body. Colleges will be encouraged to offer more advanced courses to their students. There should be only one common fee structure for the whole campus, regardless of course sponsor, location, and purpose. Basic computer skills involve functions and activities related to computer use which could be taught to a student in four to six hours of hands-on instruction. This course should include some discussion about personal computing in general, the different types of personal computing systems available, limited word processing and file management skills, and access to University computing resources and networks. The objective is for students to be relatively comfortable with personal computing; to produce simple reports on the computer, to store and maintain personal files, and to access academic information over the University data network. As information services on the campus computer network increase, additional courses could be added to introduce students to more advanced networking applications. Students should also be offered an introduction to spreadsheet-based computing and simple computer-generated graphics. | Done |
| | 115 | ITR Task Force | | Undergraduate, graduate, and professional students having defined computer skills upon or soon after entry to the University. The University must start with students already acquainted with computer technology and basic personal computing applications, like word processing, spreadsheet, and graphics programs if computer and networking technologies are to be used in the classroom in any significant way. Eventually all students will enter the University with basic knowledge of computing use, but only some current students have these skills. Rather than deny entrance to the University to otherwise qualified students, efforts should be made to help students acquire these skills immediately after entering the University. | Done |
| | 116 | Strategic Plan | | A training philosophy should be adopted to: develop university-wide standards for technical and management training; develop a strategy for offering individual, group, instructor-lead and computer-based training opportunities; promote and encourage unified training efforts among UF's faculty, staff and students; develop evaluation standards to assess technical proficiency; coordinate and/or offer advanced training for individuals or groups; develop and maintain a warehouse of training opportunities; coordinate the development of a training database for tracking all training efforts and to make all students, staff and faculty aware of training availability; evaluate new technologies and management ideology for maintaining an ongoing training plan; develop key measures for assessing the success of the training strategies | Needs further assessment |
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