Present: Shel Sax, Mike Roy, Mary Backus, Mike Lynch, Danna Gianforte, Chris Norris, Terry Simpkins and Doreen Bernier
Chris Norris gave the group an update on the Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery Plan. Chris, Danna and Mike L. have reviewed the policy and discussed possible outcomes. We need to identify Tier 1 services and create an RFP for a combined security risk assessment and gap analysis to send out for bid. CMD also need to propose a budget for this project, and add the project to the project directory (done). Chris, Danna and Mike L. will be meeting weekly through December.This was followed by a discussion of communication of updates and information, focusing on what the admin group needs in order to do its work. We noted that there could be improvement in how college-wide initiatives (e.g. changes to the academic program that might require library or IT support) could be brought to the ADs sooner than is the current norm, and that it would be helpful for us to be “at the table” before decisions are made. Two specific suggestions: 1) ask Joy Pile (Foreign Languages liaison) to meet with Dana Barrow in the Language Schools on a regular basis to discuss any upcoming changes and report back to the ADs; 2) ask Joseph Watson (building coordinator) to meet regularly with Mary Stanley in facilities.
Next up was a discussion of some Security Team recommendations. Chris noted that an action plan has been created for the CAS-ification of the Middlebury Google Apps instance. Manual password resets will no longer be needed, post CAS-ification. Chris and Adam Franco will be responsible for the change. This change will need to be communicated to the current users of the MGA instance, and also put into a change management document (done).
The admin group will invite managers and team leaders to the January AD retreat.
The ADs accepted the recommendation of the Discovery Tool TF to move ahead with a budget request for Summon, 360 Link, and 360 Counter. We did not agree to the suggestion of a head-to-head trial of Summon and EBSCOhost, since the TF seemed united in its preference for Summon. We also talked about the recommendations from the DAT, which were also generally accepted. Specifically, we
- need to allocate space and money, and personnel for the creation of a Digital Center.
- agreed to the concept of a Digital Committee to prioritize projects; the precise details of both still need to be fleshed out.
- accepted the recommendation that DSpace be phased out as a content management system, with existing content to be migrated to ContentDM
- accepted several specific recommendations regarding individual digital projects.
This completes the DAT’s charge, and we also accepted their proposal to disband with gratitude for the good work they accomplished. Thank you to Mike L., Rachel Manning, and the team members for the time and energy they invested in this.
Thanks for reading,
Terry