December 8, 1995
This draft document is intended to serve as a starting point
for discussions among campus managers and faculty about the of
electronic environment within which educational activities can
occur. The document is an attempt to identify many of the components
of an electronic educational environment, the campus organizations
with some responsibility for activities related to this environment,
and an aggressive schedule for the completion of these activities.
Since this document is intended to provoke discussion, some of
the statements are probably overly ambitious and simplistic.
Summary Statement
In order to provide quality education to enrolled students, UCI
must provide all faculty and students with a set of reliable,
basic, and pervasive capabilities for electronic communication,
access to electronic information, and access to academic computing
services.
Expanded Statements
1) Electronic Mail A successful university must provide
electronic communication capability between and among faculty
and students, including course-centered communication capabilities.
Faculty need convenient and effective mechanisms to communicate
individually and collectively with students enrolled in their
courses. Students need a convenient mechanism to communicate with
other students.
2) World-Wide Web Access Access to information in electronic
form is a second essential capability provided by the University
to all faculty and students. UCI must provide access to the Internet
for all faculty and students and provide selected information
locally.
3) Heterogeneous Environment UCI has a distributed, heterogeneous
computer environment. Therefore, the provision and support of
computer access and use are a shared responsibility of all academic
units and other units that directly support instruction.
4) Academic Content vs. Infrastructure It
is appropriate to separate the issues related to an electronic
infrastructure from issues related to the content of electronic
communication. The guiding principles in this document address
only the electronic infrastructure. The selection and use of academic
content are the responsibility of faculty, subject only to broad
guidelines about legal constraints and appropriate use (e.g.,
copyright and nondiscrimination).
5) Basic vs. Advanced Services Reliable and basic services
for all faculty and students are more important than advanced
services for a few. Electronic educational activities require
a reasonable expectation that every instructor and all students
in their courses can participate in electronic communication and
have access to information in electronic form. Some faculty and
students need support for more advanced educational activities
utilizing computing and communication technology.
Detailed Statements
I. Universal Access (any time, any where access to electronic
educational resources)
a) Provide a UCInetID to all students upon registration. The
UCInetID is an electronic identifier needed to access UCI information
and communication resources. The UCInetID is a prerequisite for
a campus-wide authentication service. (Responsibility and status:
OAC, to be completed by fall 1995)
b) Provide Educational Access (EA) accounts to all students upon
registration; the EA account provides a default electronic mail
delivery point and an account from which students can access UCI
electronic information resources, communication software, the
Internet, and selected software applications. (Responsibility
and status: OAC, to be completed by fall 1995)
c) Maintain a data base of an email delivery point for all enrolled
students. (Responsibility and status: OAC and Registar, to be
completed by winter 1996)
d) Provide ethernet connectivity to all student on-campus residences
and other campus locations such as the Student Center, Library
and classrooms; provide the training and support services to enable
effective student use of this communication capability including
dynamic IP address assignment. (Responsibility and status: Student
Services, Housing, Library, and OAC, to be completed by fall 1996)
e) Provide remote access from off-campus residences to UCInet
and Internet; UCI to provide a limited modem pool for default
services; and UCI to encourage personal accounts with preferred
commercial vendor(s) providing dial-up access to the Internet.
(Responsibility and status: OAC, to be completed by winter 1996)
f) Provide an adequate number of student access points suitably
distributed around the campus. Today, UCI provides approximately
one terminal for every 20 students. Current experience suggests
that this should be improved to one for every 15 students. Access
points should provide color, sound, and graphical capabilities
(i.e., a terminal capable of supporting a full featured Internet
browser). (Responsibility and status: all campus academic departments,
OAC, Library and Student Services; marginally adequate today,
no specific plans for significant improvement in the near future.)
II Computer Mediated Communication
a) Provide an email delivery point for all registered students
(see I.b and I.c above); develop a mechanism for easy access to
lists of email delivery points by anyone with a legitimate need
for this information. Maintain lists of email addresses for enrollment
in each course, for each major, and for other categories of value
to the faculty and academic departments. (Responsibility and status:
OAC, to be completed by winter 1996)
b) Develop course centered communication mechanisms; provide
the ability for every instructor to easily distribute announcements
to students registered in a course; enable every instructor to
create hyperlinks to reference materials; provide the ability
for every student to access student specific information such
as grades and assignment status; and provide electronic class-based
discussion forums. (Responsibility and status: OAC, to be completed
by spring 1996)
c) Provide consistent communication software accessible by all
students; email software and Internet browser (note; consistent
software simplifies training requirements). (Responsibility and
status: all providers of student access points, to be completed
by winter 1996)
III Software Applications
a) Provide communication applications to all students including
software for home use, e.g., World Wide Web (WWW) browser, email,
file transfer (e.g., Fetch), and remote log on (e.g., telnet).
(Responsibility and status: campus providers of access points
and OAC, perhaps during 1995/96)
b) Make standard productivity tools available to all students;
e.g., word processing and spreadsheet applications (see item III.c
below) (Responsibility and status: all campus providers of student
access points, perhaps during 1995/96 academic year)
c) Ensure consistent software (including version) at all UCI
access points; (note: this goal implies a minimum software requirement
at each access point but does not limit other alternatives being
available). (Responsibility and status: all campus providing access
points and OAC, perhaps during 1995/96)
d) Provide discipline specific software applications at selected
access points; e.g., software for symbolic mathematical manipulations,
genetic sequencing, molecular structure modeling, foreign language
word processing, statistical analysis, and CAD (computer aided
design). (Responsibility and status: all campus academic departments
and OAC, perhaps during 1995/96)
IV Information Resources and Electronic Services
a) Provide in electronic form for UCI students the standard reference
materials, e.g., newspapers, comprehensive encyclopedia (e.g.,
Britannica On-line), dictionaries (in multiple languages), and
fact books. (Responsibility and status: library has primary responsibility;
some materials available today)
b) Provide every student access to the information resources
on the Internet. (Responsibility and status: OAC, complete in
fall 1995)
c) Provide easy access to course specific reference materials,
e.g., an electronic ìreserveî room. (Responsibility
and status: academic departments, OAC, and Library; preliminary
examples of some specific reference materials can be found on
campus today)
d) Provide Registrar services, e.g., electronic registration,
electronic course rosters and submission of grades by faculty,
and electronic transcripts. (Responsibility and status: Registrar,
many of these services are already available)
e) Develop a consistent interface to UCI electronic services
for students (similar log-on procedures, account names, passwords,
etc.). (Responsibility and status: all campus units providing
electronic services; no effort at present)
f) Develop a campus-wide method of authentication for use in
access to campus electronic services. (Responsibility and status:
OAC; a basic system is in place but not widely known on campus,
upgrades may be needed.)
g) Print services should be offered at each location where public
access points are located. Explore options for offering a campus-wide
print service. (Responsibility and status: not a high priority
item at this time.)
V Training and User Support
(Note: There is an important distinction between the provision
of training in the basic skills of electronic communication and
information retrieval, and the provision of assistance and support
at the time and location of need.)
a) Provide training in access to UCInet and EA accounts. (Responsibility
and status: all providers of student access points, OAC and Library;
ongoing)
b) Provide training in use of communication tools, e.g., WWW
browser and email. (Responsibility and status: all providers of
student access points, Library, and OAC; ongoing)
c) Provide training in techniques of electronic information retrieval
and evaluation. (Responsibility and status: academic departments
and Library; ongoing)
d) Provide maintenance and regular upgrading of student access
points. (Responsibility and status: providers of access point
currently assume this responsibility)
e) Provide assistance to faculty and students when they encounter problems with software. (Note; it is unlikely that UCI can provide sufficient full-time staff to provide comprehensive user support; reliance on a system of peer assistance most likely will be required, e.g., students assisting students).
f) Provide training and user support to students in on-campus
housing. (Responsibility and status: Housing and OAC; materials
in preparation)
g) Provide training and user support to students and faculty
using remote access services. (Note, see I.d above.
(Responsibility and status:
commercial Internet Service Provider(s) may be relied upon
for this support; contracts to be completed by winter 1996)
VI Management and Coordination
a) Establish a mechanism to encourage future coordination for
implementation, expansion, and enrichment of the electronic educational
environment. (Responsibility and status: EVC to charge an appropriate
group; no action yet.)
b) A goal of coordination is to insure that UCI receives full
utilization of current campus investments in computer equipment
and support staff; e.g., computer support staff should receive
appropriate training and cross training, staff experiences and
expertise should be shared, and access points should be managed
to meet overall campus needs as well as local needs. (Responsibility
and status: responsibility should be assigned to group suggested
in VI.a.)
c) Establish an appropriate minimum configuration of software
and hardware for student access points. (Responsibility and status:
OAC in consultation with academic units; during 1995/96)
d) Obtain the financial and physical space resources necessary
to implement and sustain the electronic educational environment.
(Responsibility and status: campus organizations with assistance
from EVC; no specific plans at present.)