McNeese State University

Call to Order
TJ Moore called the meeting to order at 2:33pm. Members present were TJ Moore,
Clayton Moreau, Morgan Verrette, Timothy Rye, Raphiel Heard, Dr. Nikos Kiritsis, Dr. Todd Furman and Mike Graham. Others in attendance were Patrick Eustis, Elijah Bob, Chad Thibodeau and Brenda Gallow. Members absent were John O’Donnell and Bill Mungai.

Minutes
TJ Moore approved the 26OCT07 minutes by acclamation.

CITO Update
Mike Graham supplied the committee with a budget handout and gave a brief explanation. He reported the 07-08 TASC Budget has an available balance of approx. $1,299,801. He asked the committee for their approval so TJ Moore (TASC Chair) could sign the budget, it could be sent thru the system and on to Baton Rouge. After a brief discussion, Timothy Rye motioned to approve the 07-08 TASC Budget. The motion was seconded. The committee voted to approve and motion carries.

Mike Graham asked the members if they would be willing to accept proposals if submitted early. The committee discussed and agreed to accept proposals and take action on each as they come in.

Mike Graham brought an idea to the committee for their thoughts. He asked if anyone has heard of the Light Center. This center is located at ULL in Lafayette. He said essentially what you can do is become immersed into a computerized world. Mike gave a description as well as a short explanation of how the center works. He asked the committee if they would be interested in a field trip to ULL.

Dr. Kiritsis spoke to the committee about an idea he has that supports his college and asked the members to accompany him to Drew Hall, where he could present his ideas on transforming one of the rooms.

Mike Graham asked Chad Thibodeau (one of the guys who originally wrote the constitution for TASC) about his perspective on what the original writers of the constitution wanted to do. Chad said their vision was for big projects that affected the most students, not just for the present time but for years to come.

Mike asked the members to decide if they are interested in a tour at ULL, as well as going to Drew Hall to allow Dr. Kiritsis to present his ideas. He also encouraged the committee to come up with their ideas for discussion that could be beneficial.

Dr. Furman said he would like to see ideas for projects for the Engineering Department and others to make McNeese green or work in those areas. As an example he suggested the Engineering students could set up solar power for water heating, or anything along those lines. He said students could work on applications that would benefit the university and be at the forefront of this new area of importance. Mike liked the idea and said he would move on it and investigate.

Mike Graham announced he has asked Patrick Eustis to serve as the Interim of CoTASCO. Mike said Patrick will be there to coordinate and keep things running as best as possible.

Dr. Furman asked about a Hotel Management Program. Mike liked the idea but said the response from the Board of Regents has not been positive. He said he could ask, but does not think this idea is do-able.

Mike again asked the committee to try and come up with ideas over the next two weeks, or solicit ideas to present to the committee for discussion. Dr. Kiritsis asked Mike how much money is in the budget for big ideas. Mike answered about $500,000-$600,000.

Mike welcomed Patrick Eustis as the Interim and said he will start the official search for the CoTASCO position next week.

Old Business
TJ Moore asked the committee to consider approving the expenditures that were discussed last week pertaining to the Portal Maintenance. TJ said he does not see why TASC could not approve $75,000 to get the Portal up and running for next semester. He said they are not completely sure if McNeese will cover the cost, and feels TASC is in a partnership with the university. TJ said if TASC want’s this to work and make it beneficial to everyone and make it the best it can be, and if McNeese decides not to cover this cost, TASC should cover the cost. Mike said he would take this issue to the Executive Staff on Monday and they would discuss whether the university would pick up the cost. The committee decided to wait for Mike Graham to come back with the Executive Staff’s decision before making a final decision.

Timothy Rye asked Mike what anti-virus is TASC renewing. Mike responded AVG.

New Business
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CoTASCO Update
Mike asked if the lab printers are working and Patrick said yes.

The committee set a possible date of November 30 for the field trip to ULL.
Mike said he would ask for a firm commitment at the next meeting. He also said he would begin the process of setting up the tour with a tentative date of November 30.

Adjournment
A motioned was made and seconded to adjourn the meeting. The committee voted to approve. The meeting was adjourned at 3:28p.m.

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