1990.09.05 WiscNet Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
The meeting was called to order at 10:10 am in the Reeve Union of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh by Tad Pinkerton, Chair. The attendees of the meeting are listed in an attachment to the minutes.
(I) Welcome
The Board was welcomed by Chancellor John E. Kerrigan.
(II) Approval of Minutes of July 23, 1990 Meeting
M/S/P to approve minutes of July 23, 1990 WiscNet Board of Directors meeting.
(III) Discussion Concerning Recent Events
Tad Pinkerton reported on what had occurred since the last meeting regarding the choice of network circuit vendor. The Board was directed to the letter from Dean Northrop of Ripon College and the response written by Pinkerton; this response better explained the reasoning behind President Shaw's decision to overturn the selection of the network circuit vendor by the Board. The letter and response were mailed with the agenda for the meeting.
NorLight indicated an interest in pursuing legal action to attempt to reverse the decision made by President Shaw. NorLight filed a formal protest regarding the lack of an award on the bid with UW-System Purchasing. The protest was disallowed because of language that permits bids to be evaluated without an award. Discussion focused on the possibility that NorLight might request an injunction against network purchases and the impact that this would have on being able to proceed on ordering equipment and implementing the network.
The question was raised about whether incorporation of WiscNet (rather than association) would have permitted more independence by the Board. The response was probably not, since the grant was assigned to UW-Madison. Questions regarding such governance issues as who actually owns any equipment purchased by WiscNet were raised. Pinkerton will pursue these questions.
The question of MACC's role with a CDN implementation was brought forward. CDN has a Network Management Center (NMC) in Madison. This is equivalent to the service that would have been provided by such other vendors as NorLight and Schneider. The NMC will be responsible for the physical circuit integrity while MACC will be responsible for the logical network support, including assignment of network addresses, campus-level assistance, billing, and interfacing with DOA on behalf of WiscNet.
Regarding budgetary issues, operational costs must be reworked and the budgets adjusted accordingly. However, since the annual costs were projected to be below the approved budget, there should be no cause for concern. Further budget discussions are scheduled for later in the meeting.
(IV) Governance and Withdrawal of Membership
The discussion focused on the issue of what level of responsibility and authority the Board of Directors has in the operation of WiscNet. Representatives of the private institutions expressed concerns about having a lack of equal representation with the UW System members, even though that representation was intended by the establishment of the Board of Directors and the By-Laws written by the Board. Questions were also raised concerning which decisions were to be made by the Board and which were to be made by the UW System President and DOA.
Representatives of the private institutions presented the Board with a statement of concern regarding these issues. The statement was accepted by the Board, and the Chair was directed to share it with President Shaw. A letter from Vice President Marden of Beloit College to the Chair was also distributed to the Board.
Representatives of the private institutions indicated that although they fully support the concept and philosophy of WiscNet, they would begin considering alternatives to WiscNet because of their concerns regarding representation. The discussion moved to whether charter members of WiscNet should be permitted to withdraw from the organization, and if so, if their contributions should be refunded. The consensus of the Board was that the question should remain open until the resolution of the governance issues and assignment of responsibility of provision of network circuits become more clear.
NSF was queried as to the effect the possible withdrawal of members would have on the grant. NSF responded that the grant might be reduced proportionally if a small number of charter members were to withdraw, or possibly be discontinued if a block of charter members, especially private institutions, were to leave. NSF was particularly attracted to the WiscNet proposal because it included a large number of institutions and a balance of public and private institutions.
(V) Memo of Understanding with CDN
The WiscNet Executive Committee authorized the Chair to prepare a draft of a Memo of Understanding with CDN and to begin negotiations with CDN on the contents of this memo. A preliminary draft of the memo was mailed with the agenda. An updated version (dated September 4, 1990) was distributed at the meeting. The issue of authority was raised again: who has signature authorization on behalf of WiscNet? Pinkerton will investigate.
The question of second-class bandwidth was raised. Language was included to require the concurrent failure of two separate T1 circuits based on Pam Wegner's presentation at the July 23, 1990 Board meeting. To require dedicated circuits would increase the costs substantially.
Discussion moved to the WiscNet/Centersnet relationship, and whether the memo of understanding should include Centersnet.
M/S/P to make the Memo of Understanding with CDN a joint WiscNet/Centersnet agreement.
The question of whether there should be an actual contract between WiscNet/Centersnet and DOA/CDN was discussed. Pinkerton will pursue the issue with DOA. (VI) WiscNet Budget The consensus was that there are too many open issues to be able to address the impact of the change in network circuit supplier on the budget. The Board was reminded that both NorLight and CDN proposals were below the authorized budget for annual costs, although both were above the initial start-up equipment acquisition budget.
(VII) Router Acquisition
The question of whether the routers should be ordered now or later was raised. It will take approximately 8 weeks for the routers to arrive once ordered; this is approximately the same amount of time required to install the tail circuits to the individual campuses. The same routers will work with both the NorLight and CDN alternatives. The question of how many routers to order came up, considering the possible withdrawal of charter members.
M/S/P to hold the router order until the Board is more sure of the status of the network.
(VIII) Authorization for CDN to Proceed The question of authorizing CDN to proceed was considered moot based on the Memo of Understanding and possible NorLight litigation.
(IX) UW-Platteville Test Site
Mike Dorl and Jim Johnson reported on the test site at UW-Platteville. The connection has been installed and is working very well. The communication is using both TCP/IP and DECnet protocols, the latter to support Bitnet traffic. The installation was smooth and successful.
(X) K-12 Meeting
Anne Iwata reported on a July 18, 1990 meeting attended by 50 representatives of WiscNet, DPI, and all but one CESA. General information was disseminated on WiscNet, Internet, and national networking. The meeting discussed the possibilities of obtaining NSF funds to involve the elementary and secondary school systems.
Another meeting was held on August 14, 1990, covering NSF guidelines for K-12 proposals. The group intends to submit proposals to both the Teacher Enhancement and Math and Science Network program areas in NSF.
DOA expressed interest in providing K-12 support on CDN, as well as support for municipal and county governments. It was unclear if this support was intended to be provided via WiscNet or some other mechanism.
(XI) Publicity for WiscNet
A press release was issued from UW-Madison. It was suggested that a subcommittee be established to prepare publicity for the start-up of the network. Further action was postponed until the Board knows more about when the start-up might take place.
(XII) FARNet Membership
Information on FARNet was distributed with the agenda for the July 23, 1990 Board meeting. FARNet membership would expose the Board to national networking activities and provide input into the operation of the national networks. Mike Dorl proposed that WiscNet join. WiscNet can send up to two people to 3-4 meetings each year. The possibility of sending Board and technical representatives to the meetings was discussed.
M/S/ to authorize WiscNet to join FARNet.
M/S/P to amend the above motion to authorize funding for travel for one representative of the WiscNet Board of Directors to attend the FARNet meetings.
M/S/P to refer the motion to the Finance Committee.
(XIII) Requests for Use of WiscNet
Interest in using WiscNet has been expressed by the UW Student Government Association, and by at least one student who wished remote access to his/her campus. A discussion followed on how such access would be permitted and supported. The consensus was that this was more of a campus access resource issue than a WiscNet issue. Policies addressing access to WiscNet would be developed by each campus.
(XIV) Information Technology Strategic Planning Initiative
A discussion took place bringing the Board up-to-date on the State of Wisconsin Information Technology Strategic Planning Initiative and the consultants hired to assist in the development of the initiative.
(XV) Next Meeting
The next meeting will take place on September 26, 1990 at UW-Green Bay.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:55 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
John L. Beck
Secretary
Attendees - WiscNet Board of Directors Meeting - September 5, 1990
Directors
John Beck, UW-La Crosse
Philip Charest, UW-Parkside
Michael Dorl, UW-Madison
James Evans, Lawrence University
Carla Garnham, Medical College of Wisconsin
Tom Gustafson, UW-Superior
Chris Hackbart, Edgewood College
Roger Hodek, UW-Green Bay
Richard Holtzman, UW-Oshkosh
Gerald Isaacs, Carroll College
Anne Iwata, UW-System Administration
James Johnson, UW-Platteville
Gordon Jones, UW-Stout|
George Keulks, UW-Milwaukee
C. Edward Mathay, Marquette University
John Nierengarten, UW-River Falls
Tad Pinkerton, UW-Madison
Roi Prueher, UW-Eau Claire
Thomas Schneider, UW Centers
James Schurter, UW-Stevens Point
Norman Stoner, UW-Whitewater
John Sutton, St. Norbert College
Robert Taylor, Ripon College
Charles R. Williams, Beloit College
Staff
Visitors and Guests
Lee Goldesberry, UW-Parkside