Page updated: April 15, 2001
		28th Annual Computer Services Management Symposium (CSMS 2001) March 18 - 20, 2001 Program Notes
		CSMS 2001 is a small "discussion" conference of higher education information technology professionals, consisting of chief information officers (CIO's), directors, and mid-level managers. In addition to two plenary sessions, CSMS 2001 has been organized as a series of facilitated discussion groups (as contrasted with formal presentations), in order to provide maximum opportunity for Symposium participants to share ideas on a host of subjects. As a result, the session participants determine how the discussion goes. Below are descriptions of the various discussion groups, along with some possible questions that might be addressed in each. Following the tradition of the past 27 years, CSMS 2001 is a small, comfortable conference, designed to provide ample opportunities for one-on-one conversation, as well as facilitated larger discussions. Unlike many other IT conferences, the CSMS 2001 is intended to provide you with informal, close-up opportunities to talk with colleagues from both large and small institutions, public and private. The CSMS 2001 program presents plenty of opportunities for IT professionals in higher education to share ideas, concerns, and solutions in helping to maintain baseline services as we stretch to provide new services. The following is the CSMS 2001 program with links to available plenary and discussion session notes.
		Opening Plenary Session Sunday, March 18, 2001 Planning for Campus IT Services: A Practical Guide [PDF] Jack McCredie University of California, Berkeley Jack McCredie is the Associate Vice Chancellor, Information Systems and the Chief Information Officer for the University of California, Berkeley. He is responsible for leading all central computing and communication activities including the campus data and voice network and support for academic and administrative programs. Previously he directed the External Research Program at Digital Equipment Corporation, and before that he served as president of EDUCOM and vice provost for computing and planning at Carnegie Mellon University. Jack is a charter member of the board of directors of the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC) where he currently serves as the vice chair of the board and a chair of the Program Steering Committee for the Digital California Project. He is a member of the University of California Systemwide Communications Planning Group and the California Systemwide Library and Scholarly Information Advisory Board. He is a member of the Yale University Council Committee on Information Technology and co-chairs the Carnegie Mellon Computing Service Review Committee. In addition, he chairs the sub-panel reviewing the Information Services and Computing Division for the National Research Council Panel for Information Technology. He is a member of the Microsoft Higher Education Advisory Board and has participated in dozens of consulting assignments at universities.
		Parallel Session I Sunday, March 18, 2001
		Managing User Support Facilitator: Linda Hutchison, Iowa State University What are the major challenges in today's user services? How are various organizations changing to meet these challenges? Are there new ways of looking at distributed support? What role do Help Desks play? How are colleges and universities maintaining their "classic" services, while ramping up for new support roles in classroom and curricular support? Are there new organizational constructs that can be advantageous in this regard? Are you providing and advertising 24 x 7 support? Survival techniques and Strategies for New CIOs Facilitator: Robert Paterson, Salem State College and John Bucher, Oberlin College What are the essential survival strategies for new and relatively-new CIOs? What techniques and methods should CIOs employ within the first few months or year of stepping into a new CIO-type of position at a higher education institution? What potential trouble areas should be investigated and explored? How should a new CIO get started with the boss, the faculty, staff, and student relationships? What are some of the difficult budget issues that should be researched? Managing and Growing the Network Facilitator: Margaret Cline, Eastern Michigan University The demand for expanding use of data networks grows constantly. Therefore the infrastructure of campus data networks is constantly growing, constantly evolving. How are campuses dealing with these changes? What tools and methods are network administrators using to shape bandwidth? How are policies formed? What sort of planning methodology are campuses using for future networks? What role is wireless networking playing in overall campus planning?
		Parallel Session II Monday, March 19, 2001
		Organizing for Success Facilitator: Robert C. Weeks Jr., Rochester Institute of Technology This will be a discussion of ideas about how best to organize an IT support unit in order to provide the best possible service. Why do some organization always seem to be in a state of flux? Is constant reorganization necessary in this fast paced IT business? When is it best to "stay put" with an existing organization? What role does institutional history play in this area? What about the institutional ethos? Ubiquitous Computing on Campus; Mandated Computer Ownership Facilitator: Al Herbert, University of Akron Although still not a majority, many institutions have initiated programs to mandate computer ownership by their students, in one fashion or another? What are the ways to get such a program started? What are the management concerns? What have institutions learned? New Strategies: Open Source Software in Higher Ed Facilitators: Henry Schaffer, North Carolina State University and Carl Malstrom, North Carolina State University Is it supported? What is it, really? What does it cost? Why is it important? Do you have to choose "all or none"? How does it impact your IT organization? What does it mean?
		Parallel Session III Monday, March 19, 2001
		Lifecycle Funding Strategies for Campus Technologies Facilitator: Greg Burris, Southwest Missouri State University Which, if any, information technology expenses are one-time expenses? How much of your technology budget is comprised of one-time funds? What has been the impact? How are institutions budgeting for the periodic replacement of their technology infrastructures? How are they creating revenue streams? What estimated lifecycles are being used for computing and networking items? How are institutions making the case for lifecycle funding? Directories, PKI, Authentication, Certificates, etc. Facilitator: Jim Kerlin, Pennsylvania State University How are campuses planning for a solid and secure Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)? Or are they planning at all? What is the current state of this area on our campuses? How much should we worry about this and how fast should we implement a PKI at our institutions? Are there some solid and proven approaches to getting this done? Can parts of the development of a PKI be outsourced in any way? Administrative Computing Issues: Where Are We? Facilitator: Phil Isensee, Oregon State University Many campuses, large and small, implemented some sort of institution-wide administrative systems in the mid-to-late 1990's. Some were quite successful, but there widespread stories of major challenges and difficulties. How are we doing now? Are we finished, and simply waiting for the next great migration? Have these new systems been properly leveraged into new capabilities for the institutions? Are the institutions working better, working smarter? What are the ongoing support issues?
		Parallel Session IV Monday, March 19, 2001
		Building Support on Campus (Public Relations) Facilitator: Steven Sather, Princeton University What are you doing to improve your It unit's reputation on campus? How are you setting expectations? Are newsletters still important, or have they all be replaced by web pages? What can IT managers do to improve their department's image on campus? Educational Technology Support: Part 1 Facilities Facilitator: Richard Nelson, Furman University What are various campuses doing with regard to new facilities to support classroom technology? Are "smart classrooms" still the way to approach this need? Are traditional computer labs still being employed? What are the major things to consider when participating in the discussion for new campus classroom facilities? How should the IT staff be involved and at what level? Technology Tools for Better Service Facilitator: Sue Hales, Bucknell University What technology tools are people using to provide better service? Are there efficient "remote control" software products that assist Help Desk staff? What knowledgebase tools are people using? Are you using network management tools? Server management tools?
		Parallel Sessions V Monday, March 19, 2001
		Portals, E-Business, New Web Applications Facilitator: Keiko Pitter, Whitman College Campus portals are popping up all over. Some colleges and universities and colleges are making great strides in this other while others haven't started at all. What does it take to create a portal presence on a campus? Is it necessary to first create a solid PKI and directory services? How are campuses using portals? Is it better to buy than build a portal? Educational Technology Issues: Part 2 Faculty Training and Support Facilitator: Linda Downing, California State University, Sacramento Many different approaches to the support of educational technology can be seen in higher education. What models work best? Is there a particular support model that works best for smaller institutions? How do these support units find staff? To whom do they report and how do they fit in the IT organization? What are some of the strategies that institutions have successfully used to involve faculty? How is this changing? Are consortial arrangements between institutions a reasonable way to construct faculty support facilities and services? New and Emerging Technologies Facilitator: Larry Haffner, Fairmont State College Is your campus investigating or exploring new technologies such as e-books, smart cards, wireless computing, and others? How should we approach these new areas? What risks are there? Which technologies will impact us the most?
		Birds of Feather Sessions Monday, March 19, 2001
		Parallel Session Tuesday, March 20, 2001
		Desktop Standards - Practices and Procedures Facilitator: Linda Hutchison, Iowa State University As institutions establish minimum purchase and minimum support standards for their clients, it's very important to establish just what practices and procedures must be employed to pull this off successfully. How should you get started? What role does the campus history play in this regard? Do these methods change from campus to campus? Who and how should these standards be determined? Does a highly distributed support structure have an influence in how these standards and services get deployed?
		Plenary Session Tuesday, March 20, 2001 The Digital Divide Gary Beach, Publisher CIO Magazine Gary Beach has over seventeen years of information technology (IT) publishing experience. A prolific presenter, Beach is a coveted spokesman throughout the United States. He has testified before both the U.S. House and Senate on the Year 2000 technology problem and is frequently quoted by major media organizations such as CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, C-SPAN and MSNBC. Further, Beach is a commentator for National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." Mr. Beach has been involved in many educational efforts. In 1994, he founded a national nonprofit organization dedicated to coordinating the education technology efforts of 10,000 volunteers in the United States; currently, he serves as chairman of this organization, the United States Tech Corps.
		Comments and questions about the CSMS program may be directed to John Bucher, CSMS 2001 Program Chair.