Meeting Minutes: November 3, 2016

Present

  • Stephen Blosser, ATC Chair
  • Graham Pierce, ATC Vice Chair
  • Rob McCurdy, MSU Interim CIO
  • Brendan Guenther, MSU Director for Academic Technology
  • Phil Deaton
  • Nate Evans
  • Danielle Fowler
  • Mike Hudson
  • James Jackson
  • Ranti Junus
  • Emilia Marcyk
  • Ginger Martz
  • Tyler Smeltekop

Minutes

  1. Blosser called meeting to order at 1:00 PM
  2. Discussion with Rob McCurdy, Interim CIO
    • General discussion
      • Accessibility is a main concern in meeting community IT needs
      • McCurdy wants ATC to continue to play a role in advising on accessibility issues
      • McCurdy discusses strengthening core services (network and mail systems)
      • General conversation on state of IT at MSU
    • CART
      • Smeltekop provides overview
      • "Communication Access Realtime Translation"
      • CART provides real-time text of meetings and other events for individuals with hearing impairments
      • CART results in transcripts, which could present privacy and security concerns
      • CART transcripts not generally retained unless requested
      • Potential legal issues
      • Pierce requests CIO and General Counsel draft an MSU-wide policy to ensure transcripts are handled appropriately
      • McCurdy notes importance of reminding everyone in room when conversations are being recorded or documented
      • CART is also used in MSU classes, and transcripts can be aligned with audio files
    • ATC support from IT Services
      • ATC doesn't have a budget, but serves the CIO
      • ATC requests continued support for listserv, requests IT Services provide ATC with a web page
      • McCurdy agrees
    • IT Council
      • McCurdy suggests ATC be placed under IT Council instead of CIO
      • Allows ATC to be more broadly connected throughout MSU
      • McCurdy will make proposal to IT Council
    • OneDrive
      • McCurdy indicates that OneDrive will be available soon, will have appropriate security
      • McCurdy indicates that Skype for Business will be available first
    • Sharing accessibility information
      • Hudson asks about sharing information related to software and service accessibility with other higher education institutions
      • Digital Content & Accessibility team is working on business analysis, expects information sharing to provide additional leverage in getting products to be more accessible
      • Benefits all institutions to have better alignment and data sharing
      • Microsoft products are generally accessible, but Office 365 has not been fully evaluated
      • McCurdy suggests connecting with Matt Stehouwer to get access to Office 365
      • McCurdy notes that some parts of Office 365 should not be used with production data yet
      • McCurdy reminds group that the MSU Institutional Data Policy governs use of cloud services
    • RCPD accessible book storage
      • Blosser asks whether RCPD can store accessible books on Google Docs
      • Only authorized students with disabilities have access
      • Block size of current storage system is creating difficulties
      • McCurdy suggests trying OneDrive or Google Drive
    • ATC thanks McCurdy for attending
  3. Further discussion of accessibility information sharing
    • Guenther discusses platforms used to share data and benefits of common databases
  4. Further discussion of ATC placement under IT Council
    • ATC would benefit from more connections at MSU
  5. Continued discussion of accessibility information sharing
    • Other universities request information from MSU
    • Guenther discusses information from ITAG, Libraries, Purchasing
    • Guenther notes that many contracts do not allow information sharing (vendors require confidentiality about product details)
    • Guenther stresses difference between factual statements and endorsements (which MSU employees cannot make)
    • Guenther indicates need for input from General Counsel and others before action is taken
    • Discussion of legal risks
    • Potential use of shared information includes product improvements
  6. Plans for next meeting
    • Deaton suggests continuing discussion of accessibility information sharing, intended to generate recommendations and questions for General Counsel
    • Jackson suggests inviting Sean from security team
  7. The meeting is adjourned (Pierce) at 2:30pm

Respectfully submitted,
Jessy Hirsch