ls.berkeley.edu/coc/report.html
It emerged from lengthy discussions among ourselves, fact finding, consultation with colleagues, and meetings with campus administrative officers responsible for various aspects of computing and educational technology. I want to thank everyone we talked with and sought information from for their helpful cooperation and assistance. After we completed a draft of our report, we had the benefit of the advice and review by a panel of external reviewers. Their comments are attached as 25 Appendix A to the report. For many years computing has been a contentious issue on campus and one that is capable of evoking strong opinions, often derived from years of frustration. There is a general view that our computing infrastructure is inadequate to support our role as a leading research university. Although the Commission membership represented diverse constituencies on campus, and we had many vigorous discussions in Commission meetings, we did in the end arrive at a clear consensus in our recommendations. These recommendations look to the future and urge that substantial additional resources be allocated to support the computing infrastructure. We believe that once adequate resources are in place, and the appropriate mechanisms that we are recommending for ensuring accountability are implemented, we will see great improvement. Ultimately we need to take every step to ensure that we meet the overriding goal that computing effectively serves the fundamental teaching, research, and service missions of the campus. A premier computing infrastructure is vital to support a premier University. I want to thank the Commission members for many hours of dedicated service. I also want to thank the Commission staff (Richard Henderson, Tom Holub, Carolyn Katz, Sam Scalise, and Charles Upshaw) for their invaluable assistance. Moore Commission Chair cc: Commission Members MEMBERS, COMMISSION ON CAMPUS COMPUTING Calvin C. Moore, Commission Chair Professor and Chair of Mathematics John Radke Professor of Landscape Architecture; Padilla Professor of English and Vice Chancellor-Undergraduate Affairs COMMISSION STAFF Richard Henderson Director of Computer & Information Services, Haas School of Business Samuel Scalise Former Director, Letters and Science Computer Resources Tom Holub Programmer/Analyst, Letters and Science Computer Resources Charles Upshaw Executive Assistant to the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Carolyn Katz MSO/Business Manager, Department of Mathematics INTRODUCTION The Commission on Campus Computing was appointed by Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Carol T. The commission was given a broad mandate to review the current state of academic computing on campus and propose principles to guide campus wide planning for information technology. This commission is the first comprehensive review of academic computing on the Berkeley campus since the review chaired by Professor Eugene Hammel in 1990. The commission used many sources of information as input to our discussions, including the report of the Hammel committee, similar documents produced by various committees and organizations, and testimony by representatives of various groups. In addition, a public discussion of ET was held at the 28 Berkeley Multimedia Research Center retreat in January 1998. Particular documents that influenced our thinking in addition to the Hammel report included: 1. The 29 faculty survey conducted by the Instructional Technology committee of the 30 Chancellor's Computer and Communications Policy Board (IT-CCCPB) that was completed during the spring 1998 semester; Reports and studies done by the 31 Library on the role of the Library in ET; Reports and memos prepared by 32 Information Systems and Technology (IST) on issues relating to computing policy, budget, and infrastructure; The Task Force on Scalable Funding Models for Network Computing (SFMNC) report completed in early 1998. The Commission also conducted a survey of department chairs to gather information on departmental computing. A commission member conducted an interview, which lasted about an hour, with each department chair, along with any staff or faculty colleagues with computing expertise selected by the chair. In addition to answers to the specific questions sought by the Commission (see Appendix C for the list of questions), the interviews provided the opportunity for the various departments confidentially to articulate their most important concerns. The results of these interviews were summarized, and these data provided an invaluable basis for Commission deliberations. Following our charge, the Commission formulated several principles to guide campus wide planning for educational technology and which served as a basis of our report. It is an essential tool for all aspects of campus activities. The use of computers, particularly email and the web, has become a critical tool for communication and work between all members of the campus community. Consequently, it is essential that everyone have easy access to computers with network connections and be trained to use them. Although computers have been used in instruction in some fields for many years, such use is just beginning in others. The commission believes computers will play an increasingly important role in educational delivery in all fields. Some lectures are delivered using electronic presentation tools and dynamic simulations and animations. Over time the commission anticipates that more educational material will be digitized, including exams, audio/video recordings of lectures, demonstrations, and interviews, and interactive multimedia courseware. The use of computers and information technology is bringing about dramatic changes in education, research, and the everyday conduct of university business, and we need to make sure that this technology is available to all members of the campus community equitably. We must keep up with and adapt to a technology that is rapidly evolving and making possible new capabilities. Unfortunately, these new capabilities come with a price tag. Part of this price tag is the cost of upgrading and maintaining the computing and networking infrastructure. The commission believes the campus administration must continue to support improvements in technology and infrastructure and actively encourage experimentation with and deployment of these developing technologies, always striking an appropriate balance between the two. Computing technology should be delivered as seamlessly and transparently as possible to the user. The user should be able to find help readily and simply when there are problems. Achieving this goal will involve careful coordination between those groups on campus that deliver computing resources and services. In addition we have a major institutional responsibility to educate our faculty, students, and staff to use these new resources effectively. Providers of computing resources and services must be accountable to their customers for the quality of services and for the rates that are charged. Present arrangements on campus are not adequate for achieving the objectives we have in mind. One mechanism is to empower the free market to work by providing funding to operating units and allowing them to choose from among competing providers of services, both on and off the campus. In instances where there is a natural monopoly, mechanisms of regulation have to be put in place to enhance accountability to the customer. As a general principle we believe that providers should become more customer oriented, while fully recognizing that this will not be an easy transition for all to make. Summary of Recommendations Based on our interviews, the data we collected, and these principles, the Commission makes fourteen basic recommendations. The first recommendation 37 urges the campus to recognize the ubiquity of computing and the need to include it in all aspects of campus planning. The next eight recommendations concern various aspects of educational technology and include the recommendation 38 (II) that, starting in the fall of 2000, the campus should as a matter of policy require all student to possess a computer...
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