Currently the University is a heavy user of information technology resources. Frequently, individual units develop their own applications, policies, facilities, and support structure with little or no consideration to what is happening in other parts of the University. Consistent procedures for handling the licensing, purchase, and distribution of software covered by University-wide licenses do not exist. The University has neither a clearly-defined set of basic services nor a process for assigning responsibilities for services and support. No forum exists for proposing and discussing University-wide polices on information technologies and services. General users of information technology have limited opportunity to discuss the impacts of University-wide directives. A properly run repair auxiliary is needed to reduce cost of maintenance of University-owned computer hardware. 

This lack of coordination of information technology activities leads to excessive costs, redundancy of activities, needless expenditure of human capital, and purchase of marginally effective equipment. In addition, the current lack of processes and guidelines leads to confusion among users and providers alike. 

3.4.1. Establish a University-wide Telecommunications and Computing Coordinator

Progress in coordinating computing and networking activities will require the University to establish a focal point for discussion and resolution of issues. The Task Force sees this function being performed by a full time coordinator. This coordinator must have University-wide responsibilities for bringing together resource managers and users to discuss these issues, make plans, and oversee implementation. Computer and information technology is too dynamic to expect that a committee which meets only periodically will be able to keep up with the decisions which must be made. 

The job of University-wide telecommunications and computing coordinator is a full-time undertaking. The coordinator should chair the Council on Information Technologies and Services and be responsible for the activities of this Council. The Coordinator should also be responsible for seeing that the other support coordination committees recommended in section 3.4.3 meet regularly and address pressing issues. The Coordinator should develop, in conjunction with the Council, a campus-wide telecommunications and computing strategic plan, and be responsible for monitoring adherence with the plan. Finally, the Coordinator should be responsible for representing telecommunications and computing interests and needs in all campus-wide discussions of budget and resource allocation. Staff will need to be assigned to support the coordinator in carrying out these activities and responsibilities. 

3.4.2. Establish a University-wide Council on Information Technologies and Services to oversee all aspects of computing and networking for the University.

The purpose of this council shall be: 

• To centralize coordination of all aspects of information technology support to the University community, 
  
• To establish responsibilities for providing specific services to users and resolve conflicts which may arise in the provision of these services by University and college providers, 
  
• To establish and modify policies on information technology use, 
  
• To develop and monitor a University-wide strategic plan for information technology resources and security, 
  
• To review and approve the budgets of the Computing Support Services Center, the Network Management Center, and the Computer Engineering Technical Services Auxiliary (see recommendation 3.4.9), 
  
• To develop, promote, monitor, and establish priorities for major initiatives related to computing and networking, including the telephone network, and the major capital projects proposed in this report, and 
  
• To review administrative and academic information systems and services, including that provided by the University libraries, and approve all major new additions to these systems and services. 
  

The Council should consist of representatives from the four support coordinating committees recommended in the next section, the Computing Support Services Center director, the director of NERDC, the University Library director, director of Physical Plant, and representatives from Academic Affairs, Administrative Affairs, IFAS, and the Health Sciences Center. The Provost should appoint the Council Chair. Operational support for the Council will be provided by the Office of the Provost. 

3.4.3. Establish Coordinating Committees for Academic, Administrative and Student Computing, and Networking Support.

The University currently lacks sufficient forums for discussion of the many issues related to information technology. The Task Force recommends the creation of four committees, which report to, and act on behalf of the Council on Information Technologies and Services, to serve as the mechanism for providing user views to resource managers. The Council on Information Technologies and Services will establish the boundaries of responsibilities for each committee as well-as determine how each committee will interact with the overall Council. 

Academic Computing Coordinating Committee.

The purpose of this committee shall be to oversee computing support services to faculty, academic technical staff, and graduate students, to identify the computing and networking needs of academics, and to facilitate coordination and cooperation among college and University facilities and programs. 

The committee shall consist of faculty, staff, and student representatives appointed by the vice presidents of Academic Affairs, IFAS, and the Health Sciences Center, and a representative each from the Computing Support Services Center, NERDC, and the University Library. Operational support for the committee will be provided by the Computing Support Services Center. 

Administrative Computing Coordinating Committee.

The purpose of this committee shall be to oversee computing support services for administration, to identify the computing and networking needs for administration and administrative staff, and to facilitate coordination and cooperation among applications developers, users, resource providers, and support staff. 

The committee shall consist of representatives from the colleges, the Computing Support Services Center, NERDC, and representatives from applications development staff. Operational support for the committee shall be provided by the Computing Support Services Center. 

Student Computing Coordinating Committee.

The purpose of this committee shall be to oversee computing support services to students, to identify the computing and networking needs of students, and to facilitate coordination and cooperation among college- managed shared-use computing laboratories and University-managed shared- use facilities. In particular, this group should coordinate efforts to network and provide computing services to students in on-campus and off-campus housing. 

The committee shall consist of representatives from the colleges, from the Computing Support Services Center, and from Student Services. Operational support for the committee shall be provided by the Computing Support Services Center. 

Networking Coordinating Committee. 

The purpose of this committee shall be to oversee networking support services to the University, to identify networking goals and develop projects to accomplish those goals, to develop and maintain networking standards, and to facilitate coordination and cooperation among college-managed networks and the University-managed backbone network. The committee shall examine all aspects of networking, including voice, video, and data networking. 

The committee shall consist of representatives from the colleges and administrative units, the Computing Support Services Center, NERDC, Telecommunications Office in Physical Plant Division, and the Network Management Center. Operational support for the committee will be provided by the Network Management Center. 

3.4.4. Establish a Computing Support Services Center to manage and provide user support, training, shared-use computing facilities, and information dissemination.

The complexity of the current University computing support system and the difficulty users experience in identifying and obtaining effective help from this system are the major reasons for recommending consolidation of support resources. The consolidation places support personnel and resources into an identifiable unit so that users do not have to differentiate between types of problems in order to find answers to their computing, networking, and access problems. A consolidated unit can avoid the problem of dilution of responsibility and is better able to support the wide diversity of computing which exists at the University. 

The mission of the Computing Support Services Center shall be: 

• To provide support to users of all aspects of computing at the University of Florida, including software, hardware, access to systems, emerging technologies, training, documentation, and consulting. 
  
• To represent the user viewpoint in discussions on telecommunications and computing resources allocation within the University. 
  
• To support and encourage the use of computers for research, instruction, service, and administration. 
  
• To coordinate faculty, staff, and student access to computing and information resources. 
  
• To be the single point of contact for user support through a full service help- desk and referral service when answers are not available within the Center. 
  
• To coordinate access, use, and security of database-related applications provided for administrative and academic staff use, and specifically to manage administrative system passwords. 
  
• To provide management for computer labs and facilities targeted for use by students and faculty from more than one college. That is, the Computing Support Services Center will provide facilities management for University- wide computing resources, but not college specific computing resources, administrative computing resources, or NERDC computing resources. 
  

The Computing Support Services Center should have as its core the personnel and facilities of CIRCA and the Faculty Support Center. Specific individuals who currently are assigned to support administrative applications use and training will need to be identified and, where appropriate, transferred into this unit. All of the units currently identified as information resource providers should be examined as part of this consolidation. 

The Computing Support Services Center should have staff and facilities spread throughout the University in order to support the specific needs of different types of users. The consolidation is for management purposes and not necessarily to physically bring together service providers. It is envisioned that a large fraction of the Center staff will be engaged in training and support at user locations. 

3.4.5. Institute and manage University-wide programs for volume purchasing of computer hardware and software.

Because we have a very limited, under-supported, and distributed program for initiating and managing volume purchasing of computer hardware and software, the University probably pays more than it should for these information technology resources. Vendors must deal with multiple individuals when attempting to negotiate purchasing programs. Multiple groups perform follow-up on completed agreements, with nobody responsible for informing colleges and administrative units of the existence of new purchasing programs, of procedures for participating in these programs, and of the potential savings which could accrue to the unit when using these agreements. Potential University customers of these purchase programs cannot easily review which programs are available. 

It is recommended that the University give serious consideration to this problem. The Task Force is undecided on whether this task should be assigned to the Computing Support Services Center, to a separate Computer Technology Store, or to Purchasing. It is dear that the current activities of CIRCA and the Campus Shop and Bookstore in providing a place to display technology need to be expanded. It is also clear that Purchasing should become more involved in negotiating agreements and will need to interact with the Computing Support Service Center to become more aware oi what users need and what programs are being offered by vendors, as well as to disseminate information on new and existing agreements. The University should be proactive, rather than being passive, in the management of these agreements. 

3.4.6. Actively pursue and manage University-wide site-license agreements for widely-used hardware and software.

Getting site-license agreements for hardware and software use for the whole university community is currently a time-consuming and frustrating process. In many cases, while University staff and technology vendors argue over various terms of these agreements, research and administrative staff productivity is reduced and additional costs are incurred. In the worst situations, research projects are stalled or abandoned because agreements are not negotiated in a short enough time frame. The legal issues are usually well understood, but there seems to be no way of factoring into the discussions the expected benefits and expected liability exposure to the University. While some of the legal roadblocks are created by State of Florida rules and official positions, the University has made no attempt to change these rules in order to allow us the flexibility needed to get on with the tasks for which these licenses are required. It does not help that faculty and staff hear that other SUS institutions have managed to overcome these hurdles, sign agreements, and move on in a reasonable time frame. The current small number of site-license agreements for widely used software is a direct result of the negative effect of the process on staff and vendors alike. 
The Task Force recommends that the Provost and the University-wide Council on Information Technologies and Services examine this matter carefully and develop a plan for expediting the process of negotiating these agreements. 

3.4.7. Establish a University-wide computing and networking hardware support service.

The Computer Engineering Technical Support (CETS) Auxiliary within the Digital Design Facility of the College of Engineering has provided these services and is capable of providing more services if called upon to do so. CETS services to the University community are on a fee-for-service basis, which means it is ' capable of growing to meet the necessary demands. The services CETS provides need to be coordinated with the other aspects of computing and networking support on campus. It is for this reason that the Council on Information Technologies and Services should have some say in the activities of CETS. In addition, information of CETS offerings needs to be better disseminated within the University community. At some point, an analysis will have to be made of whether this support auxiliary should remain in the College of Engineering, or move to more direct management by the Provost. 

3.4.8. Develop a University-wide electronic mail system and associated on-line University directory of faculty, staff, students, and services providers.

There is a general consensus that few technical barriers but many organizational and cultural barriers exist to development of a University-wide electronic mail system and on-line directory. These barriers will only be overcome through a more formal system of coordination, a more centralized system of user support and network management, and a commitment to providing services to users. Implementation of an effective electronic mail system will require a level of cooperation rarely seen at the University of Florida. It will require agreement on standards, a centralized database management system, and information dissemination. It will also require that we have staff whose job it is to accomplish the continual task of maintaining the databases and security systems, and user follow-up necessary to make these systems useable. Establishment of an electronic mail system and on-line directory will signal the start of many University-wide information services delivered by computers and networks.