1998 Directions Statement | University Committee on Information Systems & Technology

April 13, 1998

Introduction

The University of Waterloo's mission is to advance learning and knowledge through teaching, research, and scholarship, nationally and internationally, in an environment of free inquiry and expression. Increasingly, achieving these goals depends upon equitable access by the university community to a powerful, well-managed electronic information infrastructure, consisting of electronic services, information, systems, and computational resources.

Each member of the university should have the opportunity to be innovative and creative in the application of this infrastructure to individual and institutional goals. The university must encourage the adoption of new technology, through standards and guidelines, and must have enough organizational flexibility to enable this adoption, through distributed responsibility and accountability for the acquisition, development, and use of Information Technology (IT). This responsibility and accountability implies that individuals and units will act to reinforce centrally supported systems and standards.

Individual, departmental and institutional requirements must be satisfied in a harmonized manner. The university must provide adequate training and support so that innovation will be successful, and individuals must ensure they have the skills and knowledge necessary to appreciate how IT can best serve them in their study or work. Further, individuals must help craft, use, and work within the infrastructure in a responsible fashion that reflects well upon themselves and the university. In return, the university must recognize individuals' legitimate rights to freedom of expression and privacy in our increasingly electronic workplace.

Equitable access, efficiency and effectiveness, and harmonization of institutional and individual requirements are the three principles on which University Committee on Information Systems & Technology's (UCIST's) recommendations are based. Fulfilling UCIST's recommendations will involve changes in attitude, reallocation of resources, and rethinking how we do business. Many changes are underway, and significant progress has been made. However, many significant accomplishments are still on the horizon, and the rapid pace of technological change will continue, independent of the university's actions. We must persist in taking timely action on a number of fronts, and take advantage of the wealth of individuals' knowledge, creativity, and energy to achieve our goals more effectively and efficiently than at present.

In presenting the 1998 Directions Statement, UCIST has adopted a two-dimensional conceptual model. One dimension corresponds to the activities involved in the acquisition, creation, and dissemination of knowledge. The activities are categorized into Teaching and Learning, Research, and Administration. In the other dimension, since information systems and technology tend to cut across the activities similarly, we categorize the infrastructure into Technical Infrastructure, Electronic Workplace, User Support and Training, and Management of Infrastructure. In each category, we present a brief description of issues and directions, possibly including some principles that have guided our thinking. This leads to a set of Recommendations for action. The Directions Statement concludes with appendices that summarize changes since the 1996 Directions Statement, progress relative to the 1996 recommendations, and supporting detail on other relevant changes.

Teaching & Learning

We expect rapid increases in applications of IT in teaching and learning. Thoughtful consideration and successful integration of IT into university teaching practice will help us sustain a position of leadership. In order to achieve success, we need to provide direction for the infrastructure support of IT in teaching and learning, including human resources, computing resources, and faculty incentive and recognition programs. In this context, infrastructure includes the artifacts of IT in teaching and learning (such as teaching classrooms and lab environments); the human resources (both technical and conceptual) to support course preparation and delivery; interaction with students; and, the administrative and financial support required to initiate and successfully implement innovations in the use of teaching and learning technologies.

In developing infrastructure, two important strategies should be followed. First, the support infrastructure must be separated from a specific methodology or delivery mechanism. The support infrastructure should provide maximum flexibility for the mode and style of delivery and also for student response and interaction. Second, development of infrastructure should be planned and coordinated at an institutional level. This could be facilitated by a teaching and learning innovation centre that would provide publicity, education and promotion of new teaching and learning technologies to teaching staff.

Professors and instructional support staff need access to appropriate resources to make effective and efficient use of IT. These include support for developing new teaching and learning facilities, personnel resources to support pedagogically useful software and instructional techniques, and help in the creation of new teaching materials. Technology support by itself, however, forms only part of the picture. Another important part is the recognition that cost-effective use of IT likely requires different models for delivery of pedagogical materials. Otherwise, the development or acquisition costs of these materials will be prohibitive. We need to seek a balance between development of our own materials and use of those prepared by others. We need to make use of the same material in different contexts (e.g., on campus, distance, for-credit, continuing). We need to reconsider the roles and responsibilities of learners, professors and teaching staff, in light of what the technology enables.

The university needs to recognize and reward the development and facilitate creative use of IT in teaching and learning. While the potential in this area is widely accepted, the barrier of time required for developing and using new materials and methods prevents their wider acceptance and use. Foremost is the time required to learn the changing technology, closely followed by the time required to create materials using these systems; also, few pedagogical models exist to assist in deploying the teaching materials. Increasing familiarity with the electronic workplace and improved IT-based pedagogical software has reduced the barrier to the technology. However, many faculty members are just beginning to adopt the new tools. In coming years, faculty members will face increasing demands to respond to the new technology-enabled opportunities to improve their effectiveness and efficiency. An explicit program to recognize achievement and evaluate new scholarly accomplishments in this area is required. The university should modify its reward structure to acknowledge the effort and potential benefits of the development of these new modes of teaching and learning.

For learners, developing familiarity and skill in the use of the electronic workplace makes IT a viable and sometimes preferred vehicle for many types of interaction (teacher-student; teacher-teacher; student-student; student-teacher). Concepts such as home-based learning, through campus and Internet connectivity, are important considerations. Further, the electronic workplace is not limited to the office or the lab. It is intimately associated with the concept of the electronic classroom and the electronic library. These resources should also be considered in the evolution of IT teaching and learning modes.

In order for learners to make effective use of IT, they must have appropriate and convenient access to supporting infrastructure. For on-campus users, this means access to sufficiently powerful multimedia hardware and software, network access, and training. For off-campus users, this means access to the campus computing network. The promotion of student-owned computers and the realignment of expenditures on re-equipping student labs offers an opportunity to leverage limited resources to invest in fostering development of IT in teaching and learning. To be successful, this development requires an effectively integrated campus network, both from on-campus and off-campus locations. Key issues that need to be addressed here are software licensing, access control, security, and the provision of easy-to-install connectivity kits that require minimal support.

Recommendations 1998.9 through 1998.12 address recognizing and rewarding the effective use of IT in teaching and learning, developing infrastructure support for use of IT in teaching and learning, and strengthening our strategic role as an innovator in this area. Recommendation 1998.13 suggests the establishment of a Centre for Teaching and Learning Innovation. The centre should increase awareness of the possibilities that IT may provide in enhancing the education environment, and identify key areas where IT can effectively contribute to teaching and learning. Its mandate should include developing faculty and staff expertise in IT-enhanced teaching and in the production of IT-based teaching materials, the development and dissemination of IT-based resources for faculty and student use in the application of learning technologies, and the facilitation of collaborative developments with other institutions and organizations. Consulting on development of course resources would remain with the existing units, including support for instructional design and evaluation [TRACE] and development and management [Information Systems & Technology (IST)].

Guiding principles identified by UCIST include:

Recognize and reward the effective use of IT in teaching and learning.
Encourage preparation of educational materials in digital format to facilitate flexible delivery for private study, tutorials, laboratories, distance education and classroom presentation.
Strengthen our strategic role in the area of innovative education in Canada, including distance education.
Provide adequate student computing lab resources to support teaching and learning activities.

Research

While computing needs vary widely among researchers across the university, they may be roughly divided into three different groups (with the recognition that an individual researcher may fit into more than one group).

General users: Virtually all researchers need a well-provisioned electronic workplace environment, consisting of a modern workstation or terminal on the desktop, connected to and backed up by a network or local server, and supported by a high-bandwidth networking infrastructure, with associated software licensing and support. This environment alone satisfies the computing needs of a substantial percentage of researchers.

Specialized users: A substantial number of researchers also require dedicated computers embedded in experimental apparatus, often running highly specialized, locally written or proprietary software. However, these needs are largely dictated by the nature of the experiment and apparatus, and, other than providing assistance with networking and hardware support, the researchers must be essentially self-supporting.

Heavy users: A third group also requires high-performance computers for a variety of needs, including large-scale numerical or symbolic computation, database development or manipulation, high-quality visualization, and software development. Key hardware capabilities not available in the general-purpose research computing environment include: very large memory, very large disk capacity, very large Central Processing Unit (CPU) throughput, specialized graphics engines, and specialized hardware such as multiple CPUs for parallel processing, software development, and applications.

While the distinct needs of the specialized users must, by nature, be addressed through their own expertise and resources, the work of the general and heavy users can be greatly facilitated through the provision of centralized resources and/or support. For such support to be provided effectively and economically, it is important to encourage the adoption of standard hardware and software configurations wherever possible. However, it is more difficult to apply such restrictions to high-performance computers, as the most cost-effective sources of the required capabilities are often associated with new minority architectures or new vendors.

With rare exceptions, acquisition of the specialized equipment and software required for high-performance computing has been left to individual researchers and groups, who seek the necessary resources from the granting councils, Centres of Excellence, or contract funding. However, such equipment is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain without the existence of at least some local "seed" or "matching" money to stimulate the external donor.

The university has provided researchers with an excellent networking environment and a considerable degree of centralized Unix support, both through the IST/Mathematics Faculty Computing Facility (MFCF) Xhier software support environment, and through IST Unix-support personnel who were available to help and guide individual researchers or groups in setting up managing their facilities. While the strong network remains in place, unintended effects of the IST reorganization over the past year or so have reduced the degree of centralized Unix support, and to remote (non IST/MFCF) groups, even the response to Xhier requests has substantially degraded. This support imbalance needs to be redressed.

Administration

A number of large information systems support the administrative activities of the university, and this sector is in the midst of the most radical changes it has seen in decades. Many changes have been initiated recently, and it is important that the entire university community work together to ensure that they come to fruition, recognizing that successful implementation of such new systems in fact relies on corresponding fundamental changes in the way we administer the university. We must balance visions of how we might wish to "do business" with the twin realities of our current practices and the concrete capabilities of the new systems. Achieving this balance will consume significant resources and much emotional energy from many of us for the next several years.

From the vantage point of today, the most important of these systems are our implementations of Oracle Government Financials, PeopleSoft Human Resources and Payroll, PeopleSoft Student Administration, Endeavor Voyager library system, and the recently approved information system for Cooperative Education and Career Services. All rely on a common infrastructure layer and set of tools so that information can flow among them and be made available for decision support. Important infrastructure and tool components are the campus network, the world wide web, the Oracle relational database management system, Cognos Impromptu for reporting and ad hoc querying, and Cognos PowerPlay for analysis and high-level decision support. Assuming these projects are largely successful, we will have moved into an environment where our information systems are supporting our administrative processes in a fashion that evolves with changes in technology and business practices, provides appropriate information in a timely fashion, and allows us to leverage human resources throughout the institution to provide better, more cost-effective support to our core activities of teaching, learning, and research.

The scope of these projects implies very significant staff commitments from both IST and client administrative departments. IST, in particular, has no capacity to undertake any additional initiatives, in spite of significant pressures to do so. This will likely remain true for several years, unless additional resources are made available to IST.

Guiding principles identified by UCIST include:

Ensure that administrative IS standards, approaches, and infrastructure are consistent with the university IT standards, approaches and infrastructure, and vice versa.
Commit to principles of distributed access, IS integration, and the exploitation of generic solutions and protocols as opposed to customized approaches or development for specific areas.
Ensure that IS projects are supported with appropriate commitment by both the user groups and IT/IS service providers, that priorities are well established through consultation, and that project feasibility, structure, methodology, and evaluation are appropriate.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure is defined broadly to include the aspects of IT required to support Teaching and Learning, Research, and Administration activities. This section is divided into Technical Infrastructure, Electronic Workplace, User Support and Training, and Management of Infrastructure. These four areas are highly interrelated. Networks, hardware, software, and user support are resources available as part of the infrastructure of the institution and used to support the activities of the institution. Management of infrastructure provides the framework by which these resources are organized and delivered to users.

Technical Infrastructure

Technical Infrastructure includes hardware linked together by a communications network and software applications. The technical infrastructure at the University of Waterloo includes:

the campus network;
common mechanisms for the electronic identification and authentication of individuals;
servers for a variety of purposes including e-mail, web, and business functions;
teaching facilities such as videoconferencing classrooms and computer-equipped teaching labs;
public computing labs;
desktop workstations and peripherals in offices and student residences;
general and special-purpose software packages for University activities including software for core business functions;
telephone system.

Of these, the identification and authentication infrastructure is the least well-developed at present. Significant effort needs to be expended on improving it in the near future if the vision of a seamless and integrated computing environment is to be achieved.

In order to achieve equitable access and efficiency, the student computing environment should be integrated as much as possible with the environment used by faculty and staff members. The computing environment should include on-campus computers, off-campus access, and connections of portable computers.

Electronic Workplace

Our work environment has evolved to become an Electronic Workplace as we seek to enhance the way we conduct teaching, research, and administration. This brings about a higher degree of integration of our activities as we strive to meet the university goals of the acquisition, creation, and dissemination of knowledge. An underlying principle of the process should be to make new information systems and technologies accessible to all University of Waterloo faculty, staff and students, and to integrate them into the work environment in a fashion that best meets the nature of each individual's needs and responsibilities. Hence, the focus of the Electronic Workplace should be on the people and not simply on the physical infrastructure. The process of change inherent to the Electronic Workplace has implications for the work environment, and most importantly, its qualityto individuals at University of Waterloo. Among the many issues to consider are:

the broad array of required skills related to the integration of information systems;
increased stress due to rising expectations of functionality (an issue tied in part to training);
the appropriateness of the physicalworking environment in terms of lighting and furniture to avoid problems such as eye strain, repetitive strain injuries, and chronic lower back pain;
the appropriateness of the social working environment to avoid feelings of isolation, loss of community, and loss of collegial interaction;
the appropriateness of the intellectual working environment to avoid promoting style (i.e., what we are capable of technologically) over substance (i.e., what we are capable of intellectually).

While most aspects of the need for and provision of an appropriate electronic workplace environment are discussed elsewhere in this document, one point which remains open is the means by which research faculty who do not have ready access to granting council funds may obtain access to a well-provisioned desktop workstation attached to the university network. For new faculty this may be provided by start-up funds, but this is not done uniformly. Moreover, since such stations have an effective lifetime of at most a few years, some regular means of renewal should also be in place. The existing faculty Professional Allowance provides a partial means of addressing this need, but for active faculty there are numerous other demands on such funds.

Guiding principles identified by UCIST include:

Coordinate resources at all levels to ensure that faculty, staff and students have appropriate access to workstations that will facilitate their required academic and academic-support activities in the Electronic Workplace.
Consult regularly with end-users, and in particular students, to ensure their basic desktop requirements are identified and incorporated in subsequent planning decisions.
Encourage a review of alternative work arrangements such as "telecommuting", in recognition of the changing nature of the workforce (per Recommendation 26 of Building on Accomplishment).

User Support and Training

The provision of adequate user support and training in a proactive fashion can facilitate the effective use of technology and information systems. Beyond the provision of formal support and training through IST, faculty and administrative computing offices, or others, University of Waterloo must also encourage both staff and faculty members to pursue personal development by taking advantage of training opportunities. In a people-centred Electronic Workplace, support and training must be relevant to the working demands and styles of each individual. For staff members in particular, making release time available, designing appropriate training programs, and recognizing their participation in such programs, would facilitate personal growth and contribute to a more effective working environment. Recommendations 1998.3 through 1998.7 suggest concrete actions to be taken in this regard.

A guiding principle identified by UCIST is:

Encourage departments and groups to adjust job responsibilities to establish local staff expertise and thus provide a basic level of local support for the major activities of their unit.

Management of Infrastructure

The technical infrastructure is changing rapidly as information technology itself changes and as members of the University of Waterloo community adapt to new approaches to their work. This poses both opportunities and challenges as we attempt to balance the needs of the individual with the support requirements that this places on the institution. The institution needs to develop a framework for providing the infrastructure. The framework must address the issue of which services should be provided centrally, which services should be provided in the local unit, and how the services should be funded. Budgetary guidelines to provide equitable access to this infrastructure are discussed below.

Guiding principles identified by UCIST include:

Negotiate with vendors to allow the university community to obtain hardware and software at reasonable costs.
Refine the list of standard hardware, operating systems, applications software and networks to be supported by the university. We must reduce the complexity of support caused by diversity.
Pursue technical opportunities and licensing frameworks to enhance off-campus access to the electronic workplace, subject to secure identification and authorization of the user.

Budgetary guidelines

UCIST feels that it is imperative that departments budget annually for the replacement of desktop workstations. Departments should spend approximately 2% of their operating budget each year on workstations (assuming all employees have workstations); this excludes software and support costs. A review of the previous three years of expenditures indicates that University of Waterloo spends between 3% and 3.5% of its operating budget on computer software, hardware, maintenance, and networks. Assuming an annual salary of $40,000, setting aside a budget of 2% would provide $3200 every four years which would be more than adequate to purchase a modern workstation.

Conclusions

Mindful of the three principles which guide our recommendations (i.e., equitable access, efficiency and effectiveness, and harmonization of institutional and individual requirements), the recommendations below are structured along the dimension of the infrastructure, since many of them cut across the dimension of activities. In view of that, it is useful to provide a brief, complementary summary of UCIST's recommendations in that other dimension.

For teaching and learning, we are suggesting significant development of the supporting infrastructure, construed quite broadly to include human, physical, and technical resources, as well as changes to the formal and informal reward systems for faculty and staff. For research, having identified three different categories of research users of computing, we strongly support provision of better access for general research use to the Electronic Workplace, and support of heavy users through provision and management of shared high-performance computing facilities. For administration, the current major information systems efforts must continue to be supported so that their successful implementation can provide better support to the core activities of teaching, learning, and research.

1998 Recommendations

Technical Infrastructure

1998.1: UCIST should work to develop a campus-wide student computing environment, integrated as much as possible with the environment used by faculty and staff.

1998.2: Develop and implement a centralized mechanism for identification and authentication.

User Support and Training

1998.3: Identify core computing skills required to effectively participate in the Electronic Workplace, and develop a program within existing Human Resources training opportunities to effectively provide those skills. Provide faculty and staff members with release time to permit them to take full advantage of training sessions and maintain adequate levels of competency.

1998.4: Explore and expand the opportunities available for self-directed training through such means as instructional CDs and web-based training materials.

1998.5: Develop a plan for training that matches a multi-layered delivery system to group and individual needs within the context and unique demands of their academic and academic-support units. Such a plan would also access and co-ordinate the University of Waterloo computing resources best positioned to meet needs.

1998.6: Improve communications among all groups and individuals involved in support and training, including IST and the faculty and administrative computing offices, to facilitate shared access to training opportunities and expertise across campus.

1998.7: Develop opportunities for ongoing training of the trainers in order to maintain their currency in emerging applications and systems, as well as in effective methods of transferring that knowledge to the University of Waterloo community.

Management of Infrastructure

1998.8: UCIST should further develop the framework for the provision of technical infrastructure and user support and training to balance the needs of the individual with that of the institution. This framework should make specific reference to the Teaching and Learning, Research, and Administrative activities.

1998.9: Ensure recognition, in annual evaluation processes, of innovation in applying IT in teaching and learning.

1998.10: Plan and coordinate teaching and learning infrastructure support, such as electronic classrooms, at an institutional level in conjunction with the development of the Electronic Workplace.

1998.11: Establish a policy for the full exploitation of IT resources in Distance Education courses. Ensure that all new distance education courses fulfill this objective, and establish a schedule for updating existing course resources.

1998.12: Encourage the development of IT-based teaching resources, through for example,

A department assignment of teaching workload time for the production of IT-based course resources.
A faculty-administered incentive fund for IT projects which significantly improve the effectiveness and/or efficiency of teaching and learning.
A competitive centrally-administered incentive fund for leadership projects which further the University's strategic role in the forefront of the application of IT in teaching and learning.

1998.13: Establish a University of Waterloo Centre for Teaching and Learning Innovation as a focus for the University's leadership role in this area (consistent with Recommendation 8 of Building on Accomplishment).

1998.14: Secure both internal and external resources to acquire shared high-performance computing equipment dedicated to research.

1998.15: Continue to allocate resources to provide IST support for common research computing environments.

1998.16: Departmentsshould allocate approximately 2% of their operating budget each year on workstations (assuming all employees have workstations).

Appendix A

This section provides a brief overview of changes since the 1996 Directions Statement, followed by more detailed information on progress relative to the 1996 recommendations, and supporting detail on other relevant changes.

A time of change

There have been dramatic and far-reaching changes in the general information systems and technology environment over the last two years, since the last Directions Statement was drafted by the University Computing Committee (as it was then called). The University of Waterloo budget has been reduced dramatically, leading to the implementation of the Special Early Retirement Program and attendant massive reorganization across the University. Major technical decisions have been made and technical milestones accomplished, for which consequences are beginning to be felt.

Reorganization has had a major impact in information systems and technology in several ways. The new Associate Provost, Information Systems & Technology, was appointed with an explicit mandate to combine the three existing departments (Computing Services, Data Processing, and Telephone Services) into a single organization. By the Fall of 1997, the reorganization of the department, IST, was complete. The IST department is organized into six functional units called groups, each with well-defined areas of technical responsibility. Strategic consultants assist academic-support departments in articulating and achieving University of Waterloo information systems and technology goals, identifying and providing IST support to clients, and managing large projects to achieve major shifts in information systems and technology at a departmental or institutional level. Faculties interact with IST through their associate deans and UCIST, and through other formal and informal venues (e.g., CNAG, CSAG). Individuals contact IST through Client Services and the various interfaces it has for answering questions, processing requests, and providing information. The Associate Provost, Information Systems & Technology (currently, Jay Black), is accountable to the Vice-President, Academic & Provost, for the administration and long-term planning of all information systems and information technology at University of Waterloo.

The University Committee on Information Systems and Technology (UCIST, replacing UCC) now has representation from both academic and academic-support departments across campus; of its 12 members, only four had been on UCC. UCIST is advisory to the Vice-President, Academic & Provost through the Associate Provost, and provides a university-wide forum for the exchange of ideas and for the consideration of questions related to information systems and technology in all sectors of the University. The Associate Provost, IST, chairs the Committee, whose members include the other associate provosts and the Director of Business Operations, the six associate deans of computing, and the Associate University Librarian for Information Services & Systems.

For essentially independent reasons, a number of important technical milestones were achieved and directions were clarified over the same period. The Financial Systems Project began production use of Oracle Government Financials on May 1, 1996. Both the Human Resources Management System Project and the Student Information Systems Project were re-oriented towards implementations of existing and forthcoming products from PeopleSoft. A new telephone switch was purchased as the initial phase of a complete telephone system replacement, and implementation of the next-generation campus data network has also begun. Implementation of the new Tri-Library Group automated library system is also underway. On the academic front, a new version of our locally developed PC network, Waterloo Polaris, is in production use. Many of these technical efforts will have an impact on the community over the coming year.

While much has been accomplished since the last Directions Statement, the accomplishments have required major commitments from many individuals around the University, not only those directly responsible for information systems and technology in general. UCIST is pleased to acknowledge that dedication and commitment, much of it unrecognized.

Progress on 1996 Recommendations

1996.1

Appoint a senior person to provide leadership in IT/IS

Jay Black was appointed Associate Provost, Information Systems & Technology, effective 1996.05.01.

1996.2

Establish a single committee, University Committee on Information Technology and Systems (UCITS), which would be advisory to the senior manager on all matters relating to IT/IS.

The University Committee on Information Systems & Technology (UCIST) was formed with a broader mandate and structure than University Computing Committee (UCC) had in the past, as well as an almost completely new set of members. Of the 12 members, only four had been on UCC (Black, Hall, Kennedy, Walker), and all except Hall and Kennedy were in new jobs. UCIST meets biweekly.

UCIST's main activities have included acting as a forum for communication about the Special Projects, considering various site licenses for software, and setting strategic directions for information systems and technology.

1996.3

Develop special subcommittees and working groups to provide the resources and expertise to address specific IT/Information System (IS) issues and provide advice to the manager and UCITS. UCITS would develop the Terms of Reference, identify the membership, and appoint the Chair for these subcommittees and working groups.

Most existing working groups and subcommittees have continued their work; some new ones have been established and some have had their mandates expanded.

1996.4

Assign management responsibility for the Department of Computing Services, Data Processing and the Library to the senior manager (IT/IS). Other units that should also be considered are: Telephone Services, the Computer Store, Audio Visual and Graphic Services.

The Department of Information Systems & Technology (IST) was created from the former departments of Computing Services, Data Processing, and Telephone Services, effective 1996.05.01.

1996.5

Conduct a review and subsequent re-organization of IT/IS support activities along functional lines, with an emphasis on the ability to support user/university driven needs. This should be done in consideration of the role of some distributed support units.

The IST reorganization began with a series of meetings of IST management to discuss the general approach; they eventually settled on a matrix structure of seven groups plus a number of strategic consultants. One group was subsequently dropped (teaching and learning technology) when it became apparent IST had insufficient resources to devote more than one full-time position to it. Once this high-level design was set, nine working groups were commissioned to discuss operating group structure, mandate, and mode of operation. There was one working group per operating group, plus one each for Oracle support, career paths and career mobility. The working groups met and reported to the Associate Provost over the course of the summer of 1996. Among other advantages, it was extremely useful in beginning the process of merging DCS and DP.

Over the course of the Fall 1996 term, the Associate Provost, using the working group reports, developed job descriptions for the six group directors, three strategic consultants and two senior technologists positions. These were graded and announced internally (some appointments were announced outside IST). This happened in the last half of the Winter 1997 term, and also involved preliminary assignment of staff to the groups. The final phase of this restructuring is now complete, involving the management structure within two IST groups, Systems and Production Support.

1996.6

Recognize and reward the effective use of IT in teaching and learning. This could be via the currently enhanced attention being paid to the teaching component of merit or via special targeted awards.

The 1998 Directions Statement recommends specific means to accomplish this goal. See Recommendations 1998.9 and 1998.13; see also the Teaching and Learning section.

1996.7

Foster the effective use of IT in teaching and learning, by reorganization or coordination of parts of bodies such as TRACE, Audio Visual, and the Library, to provide consultation, design, production and evaluation on the integration of IT into the curriculum.

See Recommendation 1998.13; see also the Teaching and Learning section.

1996.8

Encourage preparation of educational materials in digital format to facilitate flexible delivery using IT for private study, tutorials, laboratories, distance education and classroom presentation. Infrastructure support, such as electronic classrooms, should be planned and coordinated at an institutional level.

IST created a position called "Senior Technologist, Teaching and Learning Technology," reporting through the Electronic Workplace group. Andrea Chappell currently holds the position, reporting to Carol Vogt.

1996.9

Ensure that administrative IS standards, approaches, and infrastructure are consistent with the University IT standards (see 1996.34), approaches and infrastructure, and vice versa.

Ongoing principle.

1996.10

Commit to principles of distributed access, IS integration, and the exploitation of generic solutions and protocols as opposed to customized approaches or development for specific areas.

Ongoing principle.

1996.11

Ensure that IS projects are supported with appropriate commitment by both the user groups and IT/IS service providers, that priorities are well established through consultation, and that project feasibility, structure, methodology, and evaluation are appropriate.

Ongoing principle.

1996.12

Develop and maintain a statement describing the base level of hardware, software, network infrastructure, system support, and training necessary for the electronic workplace.

Each Faculty has defined recommended standards for computers purchased by students, and efforts are underway to develop a training program coordinated by Human Resources and the Staff Association.

1996.13

Develop a plan for the coordination of resources at all levels to ensure that faculty, staff and students have appropriate access to workstations that will facilitate their required academic and academic support activities in the electronic workplace.

Ongoing. See Recommendation 1998.16 and the Electronic Workplace and Budgetary Guidelines Sections.

1996.14

Identify a set of core computer skills required by various user groups and develop training programs designed to help users learn and maintain these skills.

See 1996.13. A joint project has been initiated to define core computing skills and provide training programs to develop these skills. Project participants are: Staff Training and Development Committee, Human Resources, IST's Client Services and Electronic Workplace groups, and other University of Waterloo computing support staff.

1996.15

Build on existing models for training and user support, by maintaining a central group responsible for the development and coordination of high quality IT/IS training programs for faculty, staff and students across the university.

This is now the responsibility of IST Client Services and Electronic Workplace. These two IST groups are responsible for the development and coordination of training programs for faculty, staff and students and the continued expansion of scheduled and on-request courses offered by IST in a hands-on training environment (in 1996 there were 5000 registrants in scheduled courses and 1700 registrants in on-request courses).

1996.16

Provide faculty and staff members with release time to permit them to take full advantage of training sessions and maintain adequate levels of competency.

This recommendation continues to be relevant; see Recommendation 1998.3.

1996.17

Expand the structure of local help desks and support to all Faculties and major administration units. DCS/DP should provide support, coordination, backup, professional development, and training for staff providing local support.

Some progress as IST Client Services begins operation. For example, Client Services has created FACCUS (FACulty Computing User Support Group), a forum where all local support staff can meet and address common issues and share expertise. A similar forum, the Administrative Support Group, has also been created and provides coordination and ongoing training of front-line support coordinators in academic support departments. In the summer of 1997 UCIST reviewed and rationalized IST support to the Faculties to achieve equity and meet individual Faculty requirements. Included in this rationalization was the implementation of an ongoing training program (through FACCUS) for co-op students working in Faculty Help Desks. The Computing Help and Information Place (CHIP) has been established to provide one-stop access to IST services, information and assistance. Old DP and DCS problem tracking systems have been consolidated into a single, integrated, on-line system [send mail to request@uwaterloo.ca].

1996.18

Encourage departments and groups to adjust job responsibilities to establish local staff expertise and thus provide a basic level of local support for the major activities of their unit.

Ongoing principle. See also 1996.17.

1996.19

Provide well-defined information and guidelines on appropriate use of computing, privacy and intellectual freedom issues in the electronic workplace.

In early 1998, UCIST expanded upon the 1991 Use of Computing and Communication Facilities Statement, sought feedback on the draft Statement from members of the University of Waterloo community, and struck a subcommittee to revise the Statement based on the feedback received. UCIST intends to develop guidelines for use by Associate Deans of Computing when dealing with misuse of computing and communication facilities (e.g., a listing of offenses and associated penalties, based on past precedents) to ensure consistent treatment across all Faculties.

1996.20

Constitute a working group to generalize the USAG report of June 1995 to encompass PCs and Macintoshes.

USAG has been reconstituted with responsibility for all computing platforms. No new report has been drafted, as this was subsequently deemed unnecessary. However the responsibility for acting on recommendations such as reducing the 'complexity of diversity' belongs to UCIST and will require that UCIST terminate support for components of the university's information technology which are no longer practical to support.

1996.21

Develop a university-wide policy for infrastructure provision and support, and a charging policy for researchers and others who wish to buy services from various service providers on campus.

Ongoing, but little progress to date. Some discussion of a charging policy for researchers has taken place within UCIST in 1996/l997. Some Faculties have in place their own policies but no campus-wide policy has been formulated to date. There is no University-wide policy for infrastructure provision.

1996.22

Design a procedure whereby UCITS, DCS, and DP can work with individual units to develop local system support expertise.

Significant progress has been made in a number of academic and academic-support departments. While this requires continued attention, the model seems to be working effectively in those departments where it has been implemented. Progress on this recommendation has been limited by the IST reorganization and the shortage of support staff campus-wide. IST has assessed the use of its staff in faculty consulting offices and a program intended to train new staff in the faculty consulting offices was initiated in the fall of 1997.

1996.23

Provide all students with equitable on-campus access to the Electronic Workplace. Users may be charged for activities which result in direct costs to the university such as printing and dial-in access to the campus network.

Ongoing. The lack of sufficient resources dedicated to the provision of computing facilities has created inequities across campus and remains largely unaddressed. Progress in providing for increased access for students in residences has been initiated by wiring approximately 600 of the Village I residence rooms so that students who own computers can access the campus network. Plans have been initiated to wire the remaining Village 1 and Ron Eydt residence rooms and if feasible the Columbia townhouses, Married Students' Apartments, and the federated and affiliated colleges residences. The issue here is a management/political one whereby certain Faculties and administration units have not allocated sufficient resources to the provision of computing facilities.

1996.24

Provide adequate student computing lab resources to support teaching/learning activities. This requires a program for ongoing upgrades to hardware and software.

Ongoing. Once again, this is a management/political issue whereby certain Faculties and administrative units have not allocated sufficient resources to the provision of computing facilities. This has created inequities across campus and remains largely unaddressed.

1996.25

Investigate the feasibility of an integrated, campus-wide student computing environment which is accessible from both on-campus and off-campus.

Ongoing. UCIST established an ad hoc working group to investigate the feasibility of Windows NT server as the basis for the general student computing environment. The working group concluded that Windows NT server would require considerable development before it could satisfy the requirements for the student computing environment. UCIST has recognized both Windows NT server and Waterloo Polaris as supported platforms on campus and IST is supporting development of Waterloo Polaris as the student computing environment in the near future. CSAG has begun deliberations to define the necessary architecture for an integrated, campus-wide student computing environment. Engineering Computing has just released a "Discussion Paper" on the evolution of Waterloo Polaris towards open systems.

1996.26

Negotiate with vendors to allow the University community to obtain hardware and software at reasonable costs.

Ongoing. Significant site licenses have been negotiated this year with Autodesk, Microsoft, and ESRI, to name only a few.

1996.27

Develop an overall policy for campus network, software and data security. Once a policy is in place, a plan should be made to improve the general level of security across campus considering the available technology, resources, and risks.

Ongoing. See Recommendation 1998.2.

1996.28

Establish a working group and forum to review and coordinate IT/IS security.

Done, although the group has yet to complete its report.

1996.29

Assign staff to effectively monitor ongoing security procedures, both internally and externally, and to identify, assess and correct/eliminate new security risks.

Done. The "Senior Technologist, Security" position was created within IST, and Reg Quinton took up the position in January, 1998.

1996.30

Establish a security awareness program for all staff and students with access to campus IT/IS facilities, as part of the general training effort.

Ongoing.

1996.31

Continue the operation of the Computing Network Advisory Group to act as the focal point for network evaluation and planning, making recommendations to UCITS to define operation policies and future planning.

Done.

1996.32

Review the second-level networks and develop an upgrade plan to provide consistent service with appropriate bandwidth to all areas using fibre optic technology. Those areas with the highest demands should have first priority.

More or less complete. The recent Canada-Ontario Infrastructure Works program has allowed us to undertake a massive replacement of core and second-level network devices and cabling over the current year. This is the next-generation campus data network plan. The technologies to enable the next-generation campus network will centre around transmission-layer and network-layer integration comprising Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet switching with IP routing, IP multicast, and IP bandwidth reservation and quality-of service delivery mechanisms. The technologies will extend to include IP address-assignment control, network-port user authentication, and applications software for IP Web-based electronic commerce, for voice-over-IP computer-telephony integration, and for video-over-IP desktop videoconferencing and distance education

1996.33

Examine the potential use of network technology for integration of all communication needs (video, phone, data) on-campus and possibly with key university partners.

IST has appointed Bruce Uttley to the position of Senior Technologist, Computer-Telephone Integration. As part of the telephone system replacement project, these aspects were investigated thoroughly, and migration in this direction will not occur for some time, although both our data and voice equipment and networks are now positioned for this evolution. See also the next-generation campus data network plan.

1996.34

Refine the list of standard hardware, operating systems, applications software and networks to be supported by the University. Maintenance of this list should be the responsibility of UCITS and its working groups, in consultation with the user community.

Ongoing. In early 1998, UCIST released Macintosh Directions and Support.

Other important changes

Financial Systems Project (FSP)

The new Oracle Government Financials system went live on May 1, 1996, and has functioned satisfactorily, although a number of problems remain to be addressed. There continues to be ongoing implementation effort in the FSP that will continue into the foreseeable future.

Perhaps the most significant other accomplishment in the FSP has been our successful negotiation of a site license and first use of Cognos' Impromptu and PowerPlay tools, which should provide many people on campus with vastly superior reporting and analysis tools. Impromptu is currently providing important information to core offices, and prototype projects in Plant Operations, ICR, and Optometry are underway. A data warehouse is being implemented to support their use, and the use of these tools will be expanded across campus in the coming year.

Human Resources Management Systems Project/Student Information Systems Project

It became clear in June 1996 that Oracle was not able to honour its beta partnership agreement with us in a timeframe we would find acceptable. This provided us with the opportunity to adopt an alternative solution -- PeopleSoft. This project is on track for parallel payroll operation and then payroll cutover by the end of 1998. It will imply some dramatic changes to our approach to human resources, not only within the Human Resource (HR) department, but around campus.

The switch in the HR direction brought with it an even more important opportunity - that of acquiring PeopleSoft's new Student Administration System. This is a major improvement in the feasibility of completely renovating our student information systems over the next several years. An expanded project team has been put in place, and activity on this project will be increasing significantly during the next year.

Tri-University Group Library System Project

University of Waterloo is one of the three participants in the Tri-University Group of Libraries, with Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Guelph. The purchase of the Endeavor Voyager system has been completed, and implementation has begun. Production use is anticipated in April 1998.

Telephone System Project

A project has begun to replace our old telephone switch and handsets over a period of about 18 months (and three financial years). This will position us to take advantage of current and future developments in telephony, as well as the expected convergence between the voice and data networks over the next several years.

Business 1999

This project was carried out in order to have a complete inventory and set of contingency plans for how University of Waterloo business would be carried out to ensure we had no major remaining risks due to the well-known "Year 2000" effects in older software. It appears that the risks are now identified and well understood, and progress is being made to resolve all remaining issues.

Waterloo Polaris

Waterloo Polaris is the local area network of PC workstations that provides the computing environment for the majority of undergraduate students at University of Waterloo. It also serves the administrative and academic-support needs of many faculty members and staff members in the Faculties of Engineering, Science and Arts. Waterloo Polaris made its debut in the fall of 1997, replacing the Watstar PC network. Watstar has served the Faculty of Engineering since 1984 and has grown into one of the largest campus microcomputer networks in North America with more than 1800 workstations and over 15000 active user accounts. Waterloo Polaris builds on the existing infrastructure developed by the Watstar network.