Polley McClure has drafted a preliminary vision piece which, combined with UCIT's comprehensive plan, could serve as the backbone of a fund-raising proposal. Ms. Kelsh said she hoped that the Global Issues group would help in guiding further development of this idea. Formal Planning for the Integrated Systems Project began in 1996, with the Integrated Systems Task Force, which was chaired by Polley McClure and Leonard Sandridge. The task force recommended that the University pursue a single vendor for new client-server administrative applications. This recommendation was approved by the President's Cabinet, and RFPs were issued for a technical vendor and an implementation partner.
Negotiations are presently underway with finalists.
Mr. Gillet said that his group recommended that ISP director Bill Randolph be invited to make a presentation to UCIT as soon as possible. Mr. Grisham agreed and said that he would do so. Jim French, chair Mr. French will deliver a full report at the next UCIT meeting, but he noted that collecting information about the various specialized facilities was an interesting process, and that most people do not know the number and variety of facilities that exist. He said that his group's report will concentrate on such issues as increasing and upgrading staff positions, increasing awareness of services and facilities, and assessing the utility of consolidation of existing facilities. Mr. Grisham concurred that maintaining a stable staff is a very real problem.