To:       Dr. Rosemary Allen
Chair, Academic Support Committee

 From:    Grover Hibberd
            Director, Information Technology Services

 Re:       Annual Report To Faculty

 Date:    April 18, 2000

 As in almost all administrative areas of Georgetown College, this was a year of budget cuts.  During the preparation for the current year’s budget, requests for computer upgrades through expired computer leases were denied, resulting in only a few computer upgrades for faculty.  In addition, the original budget created for 1999/2000 was reduced by $64,000.  This reduction will result in no upgrades being made to our campus network, or application file servers.  Georgetown College has basically the same network that was installed in 1996, with the exception of one 100 Mb segment between the LRC and Giddings.*  Since then, the number of computers supported by our network has grown from 500 to 1,000 and each new semester brings more students with computers to campus.  Our current computing infrastructure consists of the following:

 

·         10 Mb Ethernet network to all administrative, academic, and resident halls *

·         9 NT servers (applications, network, web servers, logon authentication, etc.)

·         3 HP-UX servers (CARS, Tiger, and G-Card)

·         Approximately 400 institutional pc’s (100 faculty, 200 LRC and labs, and 100 staff)

·         CARS software support (product maintenance)

·         Microsoft campus agreement

·         Internet access via a T-1 (1.5 Mb) link (supporting 1,000 computers)

 The danger of postponing upgrades in our environment is in the cumulative effect of the eventual obsolescence of the infrastructure.  The budget proposed for the year 2000/2001 calls for a cut of $30,000 from the 1999/2000 original budget (prior to the $64,000 reduction).  I foresee another year of very few computers being distributed to faculty and staff, and little to no upgrades to the network or application file servers.  I understand the need to do whatever it takes to balance the budget, but I feel it is important to understand future budget ramifications of deferred maintenance to the technology infrastructure.  In two years, Georgetown College will need to upgrade all areas mentioned above at the same time, or in a relatively short period of time.  This is not an attempt to scare anyone, but to help everyone understand the impact of deferred maintenance to the technology infrastructure.

 Attached are two reports (John Jones and Andrea Peach) concerning support to academics during the 1999/2000 academic year.  Despite the reductions in the ITS budget significant accomplishments were achieved.