CCFIT > Calendar & Minutes > 1998-2003 Minutes > October 28, 2002 AdC3 Minutes

1. Approval of Minutes
2. Announcements
3. Updates
4. Enterprise Research Administration System
5. Student & Exchange Visitor Information Sytem
6. NBA Update

Excused: Lynne Chronister, Judy Sakaki, Brinda Unterleitner, Abby Zubov, Babette Schmitt, and Julie Saylor

Absent: Janet Hamilton, John Meyer, Celeste Rose, and Steve Roth

Guests: Anne George, Bill Grabert, Kent Kuo, Sandra Stewart, and Marian Wong

Staff to the Council: Randy Moory.

The meeting began at 3:00 p.m.

I. APPROVAL OF SEPTEMBER MINUTES - CHAIR SMILEY

Chair Smiley asked whether there were any edits or amendments to the minutes from the September meeting. Council approved the minutes as submitted.

II. ANNOUNCEMENTS - CHAIR SMILEY

Chair Smiley acknowledged the appointment of Brenda Unterleitner as the new AdMAN representative on the Council.

III. UPDATES - VICE PROVOST BRUNO

• IT Strategic Plan
  Vice Provost Bruno reported that the IT Strategic Plan proposal was presented at the Academic Computing Coordinating Council meeting in September. Since then, Bruno and Vice Chancellor Meyer have been moving forward with the planning effort. Bruno reported that he and Vice Chancellor Meyer will be contacting Council members to get them involved with groups engaged in the planning effort.

• Mass Electronic Communications Policy
  Vice Provost Bruno reported progress made to the draft Mass Electronic Communication Policy since receiving comments at the September AdC3 Council meeting. Bruno reported that the recommendations of the Council have been addressed. The policy was simplified, and it now features a new category, mandatory list, that identifies the department head as the required approver of requests for mass communications to mandatory lists.

  Council asked that vice chancellors and vice provosts be added to the list of individuals who may approve mass communications to administrative offices.

• Person Registry Project
  Vice Provost Bruno informed the Council about the status of the Enterprise Directory Services project. The project is now focused on accurately identifying persons affiliated with the campus. Accurate identification is important for both current campus systems and upcoming systems (such as the one-card system and the SEVIS system).

  Bruno reported that the focus for the Enterprise Directory Services project is development of a campuswide person registry. The person registry will serve to strengthen the campus processes for identifying person records within campus systems and linking person records between campus systems. Currently, the project is focused on the integration of PPS and Banner with the campus registry. Bruno is coordinating with the directory services project at the Office of the President. The project is investigating commercial solutions for the UC-wide identity management project. Identity management is a problem for many organizations (including for the management of patient records), and an industry has grown to address the problem. UCOP is preparing a Request for Information; it should be issued soon.

• Intrusion Detection
  Security Coordinator Ono informed the Council about the availability of the final report for the Intrusion Detection Advanced Technology Project. The report is available at http://vpiet.ucdavis.edu/advancedprojects/IDS_ATP_Final.pdf.

  Ono reported that the report makes three major recommendations, as follows:

  • Appoint a policy group for intrusion detection use and administration,
  • Conduct a pilot investigation to develop a "proof of concept" for intrusion detection, and
  • Deploy limited intrusion detection on the campus network.

  Ono indicated that IET has begun working on the implementation of these recommendations.

  Council questions focused on the need to better control spam. Council members commented on the recent increase in spam being sent to campus lists. Ono replied that IET is aware of the problem and is evaluating solutions.

• Status of Fiber Link to UCDMC
  Vice Provost Bruno reported that dark fiber networking capabilities will be available between the UC Davis campus and the UC Davis Medical Center by the end of next year. Bruno will give a complete report to the Council at an upcoming meeting.

Handouts: ERAS PowerPoint Presentation
The Possible Benefits of Expanding DaFIS to Include Pre- and Post-Award C&G Functionality

Assistant Vice Provost Shelby informed the Council about the Enterprise Research Administration System (ERAS). ERAS is a new system being proposed by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research. It will provide the campus with an integrated approach to administer the pre- and post- processes for contracts and grants related to campus research activities. Shelby reported that IET, the Office of Administration, and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research were working together to bring a solution to the campus. Shelby's presentation identified critical considerations under investigation: Policy and Procedures, Staffing and Infrastructure, the campus culture and structure, the regulatory environment, and existing technology. Each of these considerations will impact the selection of a solution for the campus. Shelby described the processes as viewed by the researcher obtaining and completing a grant and the grant administrator.

Shelby reported that the campus is investigating whether it should build or buy a system. The campus is considering 3 products for purchase. There is also the opportunity to collaborate with Indiana University and build the system on our campus financial information system (DaFIS). The project team has completed an initial survey of other UC campuses. Five of the campuses surveyed have purchased a system, 2 decided to build their systems, and 2 others are reviewing systems. Of the 5 campuses purchasing systems, 4 chose a product called Coeus and 1 selected PeopleSoft. Shelby outlined the criteria that will be used to evaluate the solutions. Associate Vice Chancellor Allred then focused the presentation on the possible expansion of DaFIS to provide the campus solution.

Allred handed out a document explaining the benefits of expanding DaFIS to include the pre- and post-award contracts and grants functionality. Allred told members that expanding DaFIS as the grants and contracts administration system made good sense. DaFIS currently performs much of the post-award tasks. DaFIS also integrates with the budget process. A DaFIS solution would provide a single system for campus users.

Allred identified the pre-award processes as the system tasks that would be developed into DaFIS to make the enterprise research administration system. Allred reported that Indiana University has worked on the development of the pre-award modules. Allred informed the Council about a demonstration of the Indiana University modules and reported that the Indiana system has pretty good functionality.

Council asked several questions about the Coeus software and how UC Davis might use it. Sandra Stewart, IET Project Manager, indicated that the survey of other UC campuses' experiences with Coeus suggests that increased functionality is being made available in the Coeus software. Stewart commented that Oracle has developed a complete solution based upon Coeus and is marketing it as an Enterprise Research Administration System. Steward responded to a question about the integration with campus financial systems, noting that this was still being investigated. Stewart also explained that Coeus includes source-code so that significant independence can be developed with the software. Coeus is an inexpensive solution though it will require an investment by the campus in adapting it to the campus environment and integrating it with the existing systems.

Council members asked about the DaFIS build option and whether the DaFIS team looked at using an Open Source software product for the pre-award modules needing to be developed. Allred replied that this was a good idea. Allred commented that Indiana has a labor distribution module that they are investigating. Allred was also asked about the integration of personnel information into the system. Allred replied that personnel information would be obtained from the campus enterprise directory.

V. STUDENT & EXCHANGE VISITOR INFORMATION SYSTEM (SEVIS) -- ASSISTANT DIRECTOR GEORGE, SERVICES FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AND SCHOLARS

SEVIS Presentation to AdC3

Anne George, Assistant Director for Services for International Students and Scholars, provided an overview of the Student & Visitor Information System (SEVIS). (See PowerPoint Presentation). SEVIS is a program sponsored by the INS and Department of Justice to automate the process of tracking international students and visitors. George reported that the University has until January 30, 2003 to implement the tracking of international students and scholars. The impetuses behind this completion date were the requirements set by Congress in the passage of the Patriot Act and the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act. Failure of the University to meet this deadline could result in a 1-year suspension in admitting or inviting international students and scholars.

George described what SEVIS will track and what the University must report to the federal government. The campus selected a software product, FSA Atlas, to perform the reporting. This tool will need to be integrated with campus business systems to track change in the status of an international student, scholar, or their dependents.

Council asked how realistic it was for the campus to meet the January 30, 2003 deadline and if the date would be extended by INS. George replied that the campus would meet the reporting date requirement and that it was unlikely that INS could change the date requirement. George pointed out that there could be significant implications if the campus did not meet the date.

Council commented that the campus is being made a gatekeeper, which presents significant implications to campus business systems. George acknowledged that there were implications since changes to a person's status are noted in these business systems. These status changes need to be triggered back to SISS so that the changes can be reported to INS. George also reiterated the need to track status changes of persons that share the same visa. If the visiting scholar's or international student's dependents enter the US on the same visa, the campus will be required to track and report the status of those dependents to the INS.

Other Council questions focused on how the campus will validate the status of international students or visiting scholars. George replied that the campus would use the documents presented by the students or scholars. Council asked about what other UC schools were doing. George replied that all were using the FSA Atlas software, except for San Diego.

VI. NBA UPDATE -- ASSOCIATE VICE CHANCELLOR ALLRED AND ASSISTANT VICE PROVOST SHELBY

Dave Shelby and Mike Allred announced the hiring of Deborah Flagg-Parker as the New Business Architecture (NBA) project manager. Flagg-Parker comes to UC Davis from UC Berkeley where she served as the technical lead for the PeopleSoft HR implementation. Prior to joining UC Berkeley, Flagg-Parker was a technical project manager at UC Davis where she worked on projects for Banner, PPS, DaFIS, and other campus business systems. Flagg-Parker will start in her new position on November 1, 2002.

Council asked whether Flagg-Parker would join the Council. Allred and Shelby replied that they thought that it would be a good idea.

The meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m.