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Minutes (Jan. 19, 2001) Web Advisory Committee

Present: Dr. Bob Badgett, Dr. John Olson, Elaine Demps, Dr. Leo Maxwell, Dr. Jim Legler, Dr. Mellick Sykes, Jim Peak, Dr. Jim Waldron, Anna Maloy, Jim Barrett

Chairman Badgett opened the meeting, and received approval of the minutes from Dec. 15.

Badgett asked Barrett to show the committee a mock-up of a new institutional front page and accompanying banner that would be used on institutional web pages. Barrett showed both graphics, and pointed out that they prominently display a star resembling the star of Texas. He said Chuck Rodriguez of the Office of External Affairs had previewed the mock-ups and approved use of the star as a graphical symbol.

The group discussed possible alternatives such as an image of the Alamo or outline of the map of Texas. Sykes asked Barrett if there is any Board of Regents rule precluding use of a symbol. Barrett said he knew of none. Maxwell said the star is not a UT symbol, but one the institution could adopt for purposes of establishing its identity.

Demps, Legler and Maloy said they liked the use of photos with the symbol, as depicted in the mock-up. Maloy suggested changing the photos periodically, and several group members said they liked her idea. Badgett asked whether this graphic would be required for all institutional web pages. Maxwell said he preferred to give Barrett permission to pursue development of the mock-up, and defer discussion about requiring the design on all pages. Barrett said his intent is to use the design on institutional web pages, and that departments would be free to adopt the design if they wished. The group agreed to pursue the mock-up, review it in February and then discuss which links to include on the design.

Badgett asked Barrett to give the webmaster's report. Barrett said:
  1. The search spider had begun operating a week ago, and had indexed 6,884 URLs. He said he would ask committee members to test the search engine once indexing is completed.
  2. IMS had agreed to underwrite a database-driven web page to list human clinical studies. Maloy described how the database would work. A committee member asked that the studies listed be active with the Institutional Review Board. Waldron said the cost of creating the database would be recovered by fees paid by departments that use the database.
  3. The first institutional html training course was taught Jan. 16-17. Barrett said students gave the course mixed reviews, and expressed a desire to be able to actually use what they learn in a project such as building a web page during the course.
  4. The Little Russia website had moved from the uthscsa domain to a commercial website host.
In other discussion, Badgett said the Computing Resources Committee, at its meeting two weeks ago, discussed whether the university should endorse and support use of certain html editors. Badgett said, in particular, he is interested in providing guidance to faculty members who wish to publish in html but can't devote time to learning advanced techniques.

Olson said he would like to know the advantages and disadvantages of different html editing software, and which are best suited for specific purposes. He suggested that the committee provide advice to users who are not pros about which editing tools can be used and which should be avoided.

Badgett also introduced the idea of providing web space for the academic needs of faculty and staff members. He cited a need for web space expressed by some of his associates in medical bioinformatics.

Demps said web space soon would be forthcoming with initiatives from the Academic Informatics Service (AIS) Office. She said AIS, for example, would host WebCT and Blackboard, two web-based instructional programs designed for instructors. She said faculty members should contact AIS, and that consultation would be free. Demps said there may be a fee for disk space but it would be debated by the committee that has been formed to discuss the policies and procedures for this server.

Badgett questioned the fee, comparing it to charging for a local telephone call. He suggested asking the institution to underwrite the fee.

Sykes asked Badgett if he knew how many basic-science courses currently are web-based. Badgett said the number of clinical courses is small. Olson said at minimum he would like to see course outlines of other instructors online. He added that he is familiar with WebCT, and said it is powerful but required authors to have training.

Badgett concluded the discussion by asking committee members to ask their colleagues who teach what their web needs are, and what web authoring skills they possess. He said the committee would discuss how to facilitate different levels of web publishing at its next meeting.

There being no more committee business, Badgett asked the group if it should set its next meeting for Friday, Feb. 16, 9:30-10:30 a.m. The committeee agreed. Barrett said Fred Dziuk of Telecommunications and Networking would be a guest to discuss creating an intranet and how firewalls might affect web servers on campus. Badgett adjourned the meeting.

-- Prepared by Jim Barrett
-- Approved Feb. 16, 2001