September 30, 2004
Tech committees promote cooperation, communication, coordination
A-TAC, I-TAC and U-TAC. They sound like airports, or maybe carpeting supplies. But they are in fact three UW committees that comprise a relatively new campuswide approach to technology planning.
The idea for such committees arose in the 2001-2002 school year, when the UW regents and a number of deans and administrators agreed that the University needs a more cohesive approach to technology use on campus.” Former UW President Lee Huntsman appointed members to the three committees in 2003 and approved their initial marching orders — to provide campuswide coordination for future technology plans. The committees began meeting during the last school year, and continue to meet quarterly.
The three committees are:
- Academic Technology Advisory Committee (A-TAC) — Discusses academic, teaching, learning and research technologies as well as the academic aspects of clinical technologies. Chaired by Michael Eisenberg, dean and professor, The Information School.
- Information Technology Advisory Committee (I-TAC) — discusses administrative and business technologies, processes and systems. Chaired by Weldon Ihrig, UW executive vice president.
- University Technology Advisory Committee (U-TAC) — Chaired by David Thorud, acting provost and dean emeretis of the College of Forest Resources. This committee is universitywide, and largely made up of members of the other two committees. It has oversight of UW information technology strategies and policies across the University.
The committees, their explanatory Web site states, were designed to help achieve “better cooperation, communication, and coordination concerning all UW information technology, services, functions and support.”
Thorud, who heads the U-TAC committee, has a lead role among the three. He said the committees will take on some important new tasks as the new school year unfolds.
About the committees: Learn more about the UW’s three technology committees at: |
“We’ll be looking at how the institution will provide servers and in what form for the University campus,” Thorud said. And given concurrence from the U-TAC committee, he said, the campus also will see more more wireless technology implemented in the coming year and beyond.
“And because of all the complexities of computer security, we will be hiring and establishing a new office with an Information Security Officer in charge of it. It will be independent, and will report to the provost’s office.” He said a search already has started for this position. He said the committees also will discuss “minimum security standards” across the campus.
Michael Eisenberg, dean of the Information School and chairman of the Academic Technology Committee, said many decisions in the ever-evolving arena of technology planning were made as many as 10 to 15 years back, and that personnel and circumstances have changed since then.
“All of a sudden people realized that only one or two of the deans who are in place now were here then, and that there was a lot of baseline understandings that Computing & Communications were operating under that no one really knew about,” Eisenberg said. He praised the C & C department for “tremendous support for technology … a fine job” over the years, but added, “There are a lot of questions about what the future should be.”
For example, he said, there may be a lot of duplicate effort across campus in providing support for desktop computer systems, which raises a concern about what is the most efficient way to provide such support. Many years ago, he said, “a decision was made that C & C would not do desktop support. Some are concerned and ask, Is that the best way to go?” So, C & C is now experimenting with different options for desktop support.
Technology in academics, the charge of Eisenberg’s committee, poses another challenge for the future, he said. With the constant evolution of technology, what will computer-enhanced instruction even look like in years to come?
Thorud said technology changes that need consideration by these committees, and thus the campus, are critical not only because of the programs they support but also because of their relatively high cost.
“These are big, big numbers, so we’ve got to do it right,” Thorud said. “And Computing & Communications recognized this and wanted a broader vetting of these issues.”
