Department Interviews - 1996

 Intervewed:  Peter Brouwer, Assoc. VP, Information Services Division
Interviewer:  Bob Jewett
       Date:  3/5/96


1. DCTM Mission - OK as is.

   Public service:  this should be based upon availability of time and the
   interest of the staff.

   Requests for service and support have to fit into the set of priorities and
   activities already going on.  It is *important* to acknowledge requests.

   Priority for DCTM should be the academic mission (instructional activities).


2. Instructional Development:

   "Instructional development" is defined as developing customized applications
   and integrating existing technologies into the curriculum.

   The College doesn't currently have this (staff do not have time, though
   some may have the interest), although Peter would like to move to a
   situation in which this could be supported..

   The "will" to carry out the technology must the faculty's responsibility.

   There must be a balance between creating and supporting demand for
   technology.

   There should be more emphasis on the "average" faculty member's use of
   technology.  They should be encouraged to attend more conferences and obtain
   more training and personal development.  They should be using more email and
   Internet resources (systematically).

   There should be more use of presentation technology; expand technology
   in our classrooms.

   We need to get more students up to speed with email and continue offering
   basic email training, though it will be important to consider our ability
   to provide adequate support for this increase of usage.

   Other basic technological functions would include word processing and using
   Internet resources such as the Web.

   We should remove the obstacles to the use of information technology in
   instruction.


3. Information Technology Literacy:

   Though this may not be a high priority in the immediate future, this is an
   area Peter is very interested in and it addresses a major problem.  This
   should continue to be considered in our planning and should be long-term
   priority.


4. Involvement with SUNY-wide activities:

   This is somewhat like public service.  On-campus issues should take
   precedence.  We should each be careful not to become overcommitted, but that
   aside, Peter feels that any legitimate SUNY business-related travel
   should be re-imbursed.  It is an important component of professional 
   development to be involved in these activities, although it must be 
   balanced with needs here.   We must each decide for ourselves what we 
   can get involved in, and Potsdam work should be higher priority than 
   outside work (other factors being equal).


5. Collaboration with other schools:

   It there is time, interest and a clear benefit to the College, we should
   continue pursuing this.  There are no specific plans for projects with
   Canton College at this time.


6. Distance Learning Technology

   We should continue to monitor activity here and stay abreast of the
   technology involved.

   We should stay involved with the BOCES project and remain aware of what
   Oswego is doing.


7.  Destkop Strategy:

   We should adopt a system life-cycle for our desktop resources.  We need to
   plan for funding needed to purchase computers as part of a life-cyle
   approach.  Relying upon lapsing funds to pruchase computers (especially
   faculty computers) is not a prudent strategy since these funds may "dry
   up as budgets get tighter.

   We should articulate our desktop strategy but it does not necessarily have
   to be subject to campus debate.  We should continue to talk about this
   more with Peter.