Venue: BT1.08 at 1430
Present: Jim Briggs (Chair), Ed Kopinski, Alison White, Steve Broadbent, Alex Counsell
Apologies: Les Black
| Agenda | Notes | Action | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Actions carried forward |
Actions completed are noted in the minutes of the previous meeting. | ||
Outstanding requests/orders |
EK reported that nearly all the software and hardware orders from over the summer had now been delivered. An exception was SAS which required completion of some extensive paperwork. | ||
AlienBrain |
It was noted that AlienBrain was no longer needed, but that this had not been communicated to the Chair through the correct channels. Since its purchase had been the main driver for the move of the Comms Lab, a significant amount of unnecessary expenditure had been incurred. | ||
PCs for research students |
It was noted that some research students need PCs. Older machines may need to be reclaimed from staff who have had new machines installed to fill this need. | ||
Macromedia Studio |
EK agreed to find out whether the University's licence for Macromedia products allowed us to upgrade beyond MX2004. | EK | Ongoing |
Strategy/policy |
ISO has changed its name to IS (Information Services). | ||
Budget |
It is still not clear exactly what the budget is for equipment. SOC has allocated £100k and CT £70k, but it's not yet clear whether this needs to cover staff equipment as well. JSB is liaising with Ajit about this. | JSB | Done |
Major projects |
No current major projects other than outstanding XP issues (see below). | ||
Operational issues |
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DAS issues |
The following software had not been installed in time for the start of term and some were still to do: Maple 10, Microsaint Sharp, Matlab 14, CorelDraw, Oracle Forms. The DAS (new name for NAL) Team had been overwhelmed by work resulting from the XP change over. There was a serious issue with Microsoft Visual Studio .NET. A solution is believed to have been found but will require all the lab machines to be rebuilt. The same problem may also be affecting users of Perception on some machines. |
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Discourse |
Problems with Discourse in LG0.14b were reported. EK will look in to establishing a backup regime for the Discourse server. | EK | Ongoing |
Mercantile House classrooms |
There is no sound from the lectern PC in MH1.1. Engineers had examined it but could not find the fault. Since the engineers cost £95 for the first half hour, then £45 per half hour, resources to pursue the problem are limited. The sound problem with the lectern PC in MH1.3 is a driver issue and will be fixed shortly. |
||
Theft |
A PC in MH3.4 had been stripped of all its memory and device cards. EK will investigate additional security screws on tower systems. | EK | Ongoing |
AV equipment |
Staff will be informed/reminded that AC is the contact for issues concerning AV equipment in SOC/CT-owned teaching space, not the IS helpdesk. | ||
Software installation requests |
SB reported that certain members of academic staff had approached members of his team requesting new software to be installed. They had been reminded that all requests need to be made through JSB. | ||
Induction for new students |
It was generally agreed that, despite a few problems, induction arrangements for students to use the IT facilities had gone well. The biggest problem had been students who failed to bring with them the piece of paper with their password written on it. | ||
Any other business |
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Date of next meeting |
Friday 18th November at 2.30 in BT1.08 |
Last updated by Dr Jim Briggs of the School of Computing at the University of Portsmouth.