Attending: Ed Anapol, Pakis Bessias, Grady Powell (for Kevin Cheung who arrived for the 2nd part of the meeting), Dick Danner, David Ferriero, Diane Reynolds for Nevin Fouts, Alan Halachmi, David Jamieson-Drake, Ken Knoerr, Betty Leydon, Roger Loyd, Melissa Mills, Caroline Nisbet, John Oates, Lynne O'Brien, Clark Smith, Robert Wolpert.
Guests: Ginny Cake, Chris Cramer.
Call to Order: Meeting called to order by Robert Wolpert at 4:04 pm.
Review of Minutes and Announcements:
(Announcements were delayed until the arrival of David Jamieson-Drake at 4:35)
- David announced that SISS would go into operation next week. The upgrade to system 7.6 went well. Testing will be extensive but no hitches are anticipated this time.
- Betty also reported that at the Administrative Council luncheon meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 3, 1999, President Keohane mentioned that the communications people at the John F. Kennedy school of Government at Harvard, where she serves on the Visiting Committee, had praised our University web site. The experts there used Duke's web site as an example of one that is well done, elegant, easy to use, and informative.
Update - External Review of the IT Support Process
Ginny Cake gave us an update on the External Review of the IT Support Process. Five of the firms that do business with Duke IT were invited to submit proposals to conduct the review. IBM seemed to have the greatest experience with and understanding of the academic research environment such as that at Duke. They will conduct the study sending a team for a week in mid-November. They will report by the end of the year. The report will largely concentrate on the internal processes at the IT support section.
A 30-minute discussion followed Ginny's presentation. The question most persistently raised concerned where and at what level - department, school or OIT - did people turn to first.
Digital Millennium Act
This item concerned Duke's policy when it receives complaints that copyright is being violated on a computer at Duke. The Act calls for the University to remove the material. The difficulties being that in so doing we might violate due process, particularly if action involves rescinding a student's access to DukeNet that might bar the student from required course material.
A proposed policy outlining a series of steps that might be taken was read. This proposal met with opposition from most of those in attendance. Academic wisdom prevailed and Chair Wolpert was advised to appoint a small but representative committee to resolve these issues. Chair Wolpert was in the process of putting the committee together even as the meeting wound down.
Continuing discussion on Security
Since the Security Officer was ill and could not attend, this item was postponed.
The meeting rose at 5 p.m.
amid a chorus of congratulations to Betty on her first wedding anniversary.