The Online Learning and Digital Initiatives committee met six times throughout the course of year. The committee focused on four main issues:
In its efforts, the committee met with:
Its members included:
Clifford Siskin, Coilin S Parsons, David Magier, George Hripcsak, Herve Varenne, John Scanlon, Kate Wittenberg, Mercy Davidson, Noah Raizman, Sharyn O'Halloran, and Stephen Negron
The committee began the year with a deluge of complaints from every quarter of the university regarding the failure of the network to deliver email, allow for remote access, and generally perform during peak-load periods. After a series of meetings with key personnel, the problems seemed to have been abated. We closed the year, however, with another round of discontented users: CourseWorks discussion groups failed to function properly, email was again disrupted, and little gains had been made in providing timely and adequate support. Much of the necessary maintenance has been put off, in anticipation of the reorganization.
A formal announcement has been made that many of the functions of ACIS and AIS will be merged under a single entity. Currently, a national search is underway to hire a VP for Information Technology. The Center for New Media Teaching and Learning, along with EPIC, will remain with the libraries, while network systems and the technical support component of ACIS will migrate to the combined entity. The intended goal of the reorganization is to renew the university’s commitment to helpdesks and faculty support, to reduce redundancy in the system, and, hopefully, make the network and utilities more stable.
The committee vetted the student initiative for a research portal and worked to bring DKV and AIS together to help in its development. The proposal is currently under consideration by the provost’s office.
The Online committee also looked into the ongoing activities
of CCNMTL, Digital Knowledge Networks, and other providers of digital medial at