This is not a situation unique to UC Davis: over the next ten years, the ten campuses of the University of California system, by Master Plan Mandate, must accommodate over 60,000 new students. At UC Davis, we are expected to grow from 25,000 to approximately 31,000, a growth rate of about 2.2 percent per year.

Information and Educational Technology (IET) has increased efforts to communicate with the campus community, particularly through mechanisms like the Technology Infrastructure Forum (TIF), the Technology Support Program (TSP), and targeted online publications (such as the Faculty Technology Guide, see page 8). In addition, many of IET's resources for faculty have been consolidated into a single entity, Mediaworks, which Director Harry Matthews describes elsewhere in this issue (see What's New at Mediaworks).

Equally important is the role that the two coordinating councils, the Academic Computing Coordinating Council (AC4) and the Administrative Computing Coordinating Council (AdC3), play in setting the direction for technology planning, implementation, and coordination. Both councils meet monthly to discuss issues related to information technology.

In recent months, the AC4 and AdC3 have investigated critical projects that, through the application of new technologies, promise to improve the ways in which we teach, study, do business, and even recruit students. Three of those projects are of particular interest:

• With support from the AC4 and AdC3, the campus is working on integrating Web portal technology into academic and administrative computing. (For more information on portals, see "Web Portals Explained" from the March 2000 IT Times.) The Web portal MyUCDavis, when completed, will provide effective, personalized access to the Internet for students, faculty, and staff. It currently incorporates some course management functions for faculty and quick access to Degree Navigator for students. The pilot version, already increasingly popular with instructors and students, can be viewed at http://my.ucdavis.edu/.
   
  
• A special Course Management Systems Committee, headed by Harry Matthews, is exploring whether the campus needs a course management system. Such a tool could extend the functionality of MyUCDavis and provide better instructional support to faculty. The system, for example, might provide students with expanded course information, and faculty could send and receive student assignments; safely disseminate grades; collaborate with peers, colleagues, and students; and administer examinations. The committee is expected to submit its recommendations by the end of February.
   
  
• Last November, the AdC3 and AC4 agreed to fund for two years the E-Recruitment Project. Sponsored by Vice Chancellor Carol Wall, this project calls for the application of technology to improve the recruitment of qualified students to the campus. A pilot is scheduled to launch on March 1. It will focus on recruitment for the division of Humanities, Art, and Cultural Studies (HARCS). Unlike traditional recruitment methods, the e-recruitment portal will enable the campus to present personalized information to potential students. As we analyze how the portal is used, we will be in a much better position to target prospective students with information tailored to their needs and interests. To our knowledge, no other college or university that competes directly with UC Davis uses this technology.

On the faculty side, the campus has recognized that faculty in disciplines not traditionally associated with computation now require sophisticated hardware and software to access and display information for their teaching and research. Many of these disciplines do not have access to extramural funds to purchase this equipment. Therefore, the campus has diverted a substantial portion of intramural computer funds to academic departments to provide funds for these purchases. AC4 will be working with campus administration to make sure that all faculty have access to adequate computational resources for their needs.

Clearly, we now have many opportunities to ensure that technology is used effectively in support of the campus's mission. I welcome your suggestions and comments to help us steer the campus in the right direction. Please email the council at ac4list@ucdavis.edu, the forum for discussion of academic computing issues before the Council. I also welcome direct correspondence to replant@ucdavis.edu.