CERRITOS COLLEGE

 

MINUTES OF

THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS COMMITTEE

September 21, 2007   10:00-11:00 A.M.

 

ROOM LC-62

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:   Lee Krichmar, Mario Morales, Patrick O’Donnell, Dean Mellas, Bernice Watson, Lamont Freeman, Wes Nance, Kevin Kim (HP), Stephen Monteros (GST E-Systems)

 

MEMBERS ABSENT:   ML Bettino, Deb Moore,  Bernie Negrete, Harry Riegert, Student Representative

 The meeting of September 21, 2007 was called to order at 10:00 a.m.

 

MINUTES OF May 24, 2007

 

The minutes of May 24, 2007 were reviewed by members in attendance.  It was moved by Patrick O'Donnell, seconded by Mario Morales and accepted by attending members to approve the current minutes as presented.  (Dean Mellas and Wes Nance abstained since they were not in attendance at the May meeting.) 

 

Discussion on the HP DC7800 Computer

Kevin Kim from HP and Stephen Monteros from GST E-Systems were invited to the IT Standards committee meeting to introduce the detailed specifications of the DC7800 PC, which is a candidate to replace our current standard DC7700.  Kevin provided a presentation and outlined the improvements, such as the availability of Quad Core processors, the energy efficiency (Star Compliant version 4.0), VPro, and the introduction of the 80 plus power supply.  A two page specification sheet on the DC7800 was distributed to the group for their review.  It was pointed out that the case was 1/4 inch wider, which could pose a problem for E Classrooms and the furniture in the CIS labs.  This needs to be confirmed.  Lee will work with HP on pricing and bring the information back to the group; however, the overall costs are not expected to increase with the adoption of this new platform.

Dean Mellas brought forward a problem he encountered with the DC7700 with video, sound, and network drivers not being recognized by Linux OS.  This was discussed and the problem will probably exist again with the new DC7800 because video, nic, and audio has changed.  Patrick suggested using a virtualized environment to get around this problem.  Dean will test (using release candidate software since the new versions of his software are unavailable) once the demo unit arrives.  Wes Nance brought forward a problem he encountered with the front USB ports being too close together, which sometimes restricts two devices being utilized simultaneously.  We looked at the new case front on the DC7800, but were unable to determine if the USB ports were spaced further apart or not.  A demo unit was requested by Lee Krichmar in August, and is due to arrive next week.  We can test this among other items at that time.  A suggestion to use a USB extender cable was made.  Lee announced she will email the IT Standards committee members once the PC arrives so they can test and demo this PC.  Patrick and his team will work on creating a new image for the DC7800 for GST E-Systems.  Dean questioned the existence of front audio ports (headphone & microphone), which was confirmed.  Wes asked about the performance on the on-board video (Intel GMA 3100) as compared to ATI and Nvidia.  HP responded that the external cards far exceed the on-board capabilities.  Wes and Dean informed about a new application that they might be teaching in CIS having greater video needs.  Lee suggested testing the software on the DC7800.  Patrick mentioned additional video cards could be substituted later.

Lee updated the committee on the 215 installs that were performed as part of the phase 2 replacement plan.  IT put forward a web survey and Lee will provide a report at the next committee meeting so all members could review the aggregate results.

INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE IT STANDARDS COMMITTEE

Lee Krichmar announced that the IT Standards Committee has become an institutionalized committee.  This means that there will be a formal process maintained, including the review and approval of minutes, agendas, and other details related to this process. Lee said she worked with the three groups (CSEA, ACCME, and Faculty Senate) and the committee members are as follows:

  • Lee Krichmar
  • ML Bettino
  • Patrick O'Donnell
  • John McGinnis
  • Bernie Negrete
  • Wes Nance
  • Dean Mellas
  • Deb Moore
  • Mario Morales
  • Lamont Freeman
  • Harry Riegert
  • Bernice Watson
  • Student

Lee reported she is still working with the student government president for the student appointment.

 A new goal has been added to the committee, which is to create a Technology Plan.  The group discussed this goal at length.  We agreed that the entire committee would begin working toward creating a skeleton or outline for a "Master Technology Plan".  Lee will try to get further clarification from Jo Ann and Dr. Vela so their expectations are met during this process.  Dean described his understanding (from his involvement with the Coordinating Committee, Faculty Senate, and other campus venues) regarding this master plan as a place for individuals to bring their issues, as a shared governance committee with oversight, and a transparent way to collaborate and communicate.  Dean also explained about the other "technology" committees and described the concern about overlap of projects as well as the potential lack of communication.  Dean described that if "one" over-arching plan could evolve under shared governance, it could potentially avoid confusion and offer a framework for any such individuals that had issues that needed to be resolved.

 Review Documentation on Current Standards & Pricing

Lee distributed a handout and discussed the current pricing and web documentation available for current desktop PC's, monitors, notebooks, Macintosh computers, printers, scanners, wireless, and software.  We discussed DVI video and clarified that the "base" DC7800 only comes with VGA.  We standardize on an analog monitor for that reason.  HP also has an optional dual DVI card that can be added, as does many other video card vendors.  Lamont discussed the request for Epson printers from Fine Arts.  Lee pointed out that we are not trained or skilled to work on Epson printers, like we are HP printers and suggested recommending HP printers for their area.  At this time IT does not have the manpower to repair and maintain printers other than HP.

A discussion on standard software occurred.  IT informed the committee that they updated IE to version 7 and Outlook to 2007 on the base image.  The current standards on the web page were reviewed.  Continuing to support both Office 2003 and 2007 was confirmed, as well as FrontPage and SharePoint Designer.  Bernice reported an ongoing problem with DVD's not being read and questioned if any additional DVD software was added to the image.  Patrick and Bernice were asked to work together to recreate this problem and work at a solution together.  Dean suggested DivX, which Patrick will review.  Patrick informed the group that Zoom Text was removed from the base image and Premier was installed, but another software option is being reviewed by Tim.

Vista was discussed and it was agreed that we would not be rushing to implement this technology, but we should be ready to teach this technology by Fall 2008 in CIS.

NEXT MEETING

Lee gave the option to meet quarterly, but suggested monthly meetings until the Master Technology Plan was underway.  The group agreed on monthly meetings on the 3rd Friday of every month from 9am to 11am.  Lee will coordinate the meeting with the rest of the group and send out an email update and schedule the room.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 a.m.