TASC MEETING
Minutes
February 2, 2007

Call to Order
Mike Duff called the meeting to order at 3:32pm. Members present were Marcus Stein, Patrick Eustis, T.J. Moore, Dr. Wayne Fetter, Janet Woolman, Dr. Todd Furman, Michael Graham and Michael Duff.
Members absent were Ashley Berken
Others in attendance were John Vinson, Raphiel Heard, Joshua “Kujo” Stewart,
Dr. Steven Rainey, Shannon Davis, Chad Thibodeaux and Brenda Gallow.

Minutes
Michael Duff accepted the December 19, 2006 minutes by acclamation.

CITO Update
Mike Graham reported to the committee there was a question about ULM’s practices with their Student Technology Fee. The Inspector General requested information from all of the universities in terms of what they do with the monies from the technology fees. Mike said there were specific items discussed, but McNeese did not get mentioned, which was a good thing. He said this means we are following the guidelines that are established. Mike said this was not an official audit, but we did provide them with a lot of documentation. Mike offered to send an electronic copy of the report to any committee member interested.

Mike Graham informed the committee that the Internal Auditor (Victoria Roach) finished the audit for 2005 and is close to finishing the audit for 2006. Mike asked if the committee wants her to come in or send the report. TJ Moore moved to have the auditor send the report. The committee agreed.

Old Business
Mike Graham updated the committee on the Blackboard pricing. The total cost is $39,440 and the university will pick up $10,000. Mike asked the committee to pick up the remaining $29,440. Mike said he is working on MUTL Moodle and the possibility of implementing it long term to eliminate this cost and still provide the same level of quality. Mike Duff asked how long it would take to get MUTL Moodle up and running. Mike Graham said, there are a handful of faculty that are going to use it on a limited basis this semester. Mike said provided all goes well, we will do probably one or two courses in the summer and then next year we will talk to the faculty senate about it. Mike said he thinks if all goes as planned, next year will be the last year on Blackboard and then we will run dual for one year before going full MUTL Moodle. Dr. Todd Furman moved to continue to fund Blackboard for the remaining amount for the upcoming year. TJ Moore seconded. The committee approved and motion carried.


The following TASC Proposals were reviewed:

Other: Library - Janet Woolman presented more information regarding Requests 3 & 4 that were tabled at the last TASC meeting. Request 3 ($2,250.00) – for two PC3 computers to be used for microfilm reading technology. LSU donated $35,000 worth of equipment. In order to use the equipment, the Library must have two computers. Shannon Davis stated someone at LSU will come here to set up the donated equipment when the computers arrive. One computer will be used in Archive and the other in Serials. Dr. Furman moved to fund the proposal with the change to upgrade from PC3s to PC1s with a 19” monitor. The committee discussed briefly the cost difference of the computers. Dr. Wayne Fetter seconded. The committee approved and motion carried.

Request 4 ($8,339.00) – for a Xerox WorkCenter 7132 and Jamex 6557 with base used by students to make copies of current and bound journals and other copy needs. Janet confirmed the copier is fully compatible with the one-card system and Xerox will install. This copier is on state contract. Marcus Stein moved to approve the copy machine for the Library. Dr. Furman seconded. The committee approved and motion carried.

Janet Woolman thanked the committee.

College of Liberal Arts ($50,000.00) – After a brief discussion, Dr. Furman moved to accept the Liberal Arts proposals. Motion was seconded. The committee approved and motion carried.

College of Engineering (Technology $51,464.42) & (Furniture $10,492) – The committee briefly discussed the furniture items. TJ Moore question whether or not the items should be covered under Campus Development and the committee agreed. As a result, the proposal for furniture was not approved. Mike Graham will relay the suggestion at the next CDC Meeting.

The committee discussed the technology proposals and Mike Duff questioned the total cost. Mike Graham assured the committee he felt the total cost would be lower than the proposal indicates. Dr. Furman moved to accept the Engineering proposals (without furniture). The motion was seconded. The committee approved and motion carried.

Mike Graham introduced the handout information on some ideas from past meetings. They consisted of: the 2 kiosk (Arch and Stealth series), the print management system (Pharos system), the budget which is $881,481.60 available now, the Howard Computing/help desk support (off-site for remote management for Blackboard, Banner, Portal System, Email and MS office), a request from the Enrollment Information Center that was tabled due to Enrollment not having space, but now the building is finished and the network is almost complete and lastly the information about the commencement. Dr. Steven Rainey is present to answer any questions concerning the graduation monitors.

Mike Graham informed the committee because of the antivirus licensing with McAfee, TASC is able to purchase student take home copies @ $0.50 per license and provide this service to each student for an approximate cost $4,500 - $5,000. The dorms will have this included as part of their fee. Mike said he is working on getting an official quote to present to the committee to consider.

Dr. Furman told the committee he solicited ideas from several people asking for ideas on spending money to make improvements on campus. Dr. Furman received idea proposals from Dr. Darbeau for a forensics lab and from Liberal Arts for the band and passed those ideas out to the committee members for consideration.

Mike Graham mentioned two more ideas, i.e. making another $50,000 available to each college and to reconsider the telescope.

TJ Moore introduced SGA Senator Raphiel Heard to the committee to present a few ideas. Raphiel said he and some other officers got together and came up with the following ideas, i.e. swipe-card vending machines, student voting devices for the SGA and getting WiFi available campus-wide because at the Library there are some students having problems and other than the Library, it is also only available at the Ranch. Mike Graham responded the one-card system has been talked about, and he would love to do it, but even if TASC committed $500,000, the operating cost alone are enormous and this project would have to go to Student Government and they would have to want to put in money to operate on a continuing basis. He said the electronic voting system is not a big deal. Mike also stated it’s never going to be WiFi, because of security we will not leave it wide open. If it has not been working in the Library, have someone report problem to the help desk and we will come and look at it. Mike said another $20,000 was just received to expand the wireless network and probably next year we will get some more money to expand the quad. If this is something the committee wants to do, the quad could be done this year. Mike said this has been an ongoing investment that will continue.

There was some discussion about the electronic voting system and Mike Graham suggested the committee go to Farrar Hall to look at the one there and maybe have the next meeting at Farrar Hall and do a demo. Dr. Fetter agreed.

Mike Graham introduced Dr. Steven Rainey to talk about the graduation commencement ceremony. Dr. Rainey explained the equipment would include a camera and 4ea - 12X16’ screens, with the screens being positioned one on each side of the stage adjacent so people can see from the corners (these could be put away after each use) and two permanent screens (that would roll down) and be back projected. He also commented since graduation is only twice a year, this equipment could be used in different student events, for example an athletic event such as the playoffs. A screen could be set up in the Parra Ballroom or some other large venue where students could come to watch or (another idea) the international club could show foreign movies. Dr. Rainey said the Committee Support Fund has funded this project with $35,000, but the actual cost is $73,426. Dr. Rainey said they did look at the possibility of only 2 screens which would bring the cost down to somewhere around $45,000, but everyone in attendance would not be able to see the screens. Thus, 4 screens would be better.

The committee discussed more in some detail.

Dr. Furman motioned to extend the meeting another 10 minutes. The committee agreed.

Marcus Stein introduced one of his senators, John Vinson, to present some additional ideas. John suggested an internet radio station that Mass Comm could run. He contacted another university (similar size as McNeese) that implemented one about 10 years ago. They told John the upstart cost was 1.1 million, but they did not have the servers or any of the equipment. John stated since McNeese has one of the best servers (10GB) in the state, the internet radio station could possibly be streamed thru that. He said it could be used for hourly information, news, etc. This would be a great learning experience for Mass Comm and a great recruiting tool to bring students in, as well as lifting McNeese to a different category of college. The committee discussed briefly.

New Business


CoTASCO Update
Shannon Davis requested permission to purchase a new laptop. The TASC laptop is no longer usable. Dr. Furman moved to accept the purchase of a new TASC laptop. TJ Moore seconded. The committee approved and motion carried.

The next TASC Meeting will be on Friday, February 23, 2007 at 3:30pm in Baker Auditorium.

Adjournment
Meeting was adjourned at 4:41pm.