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Shaping the Future of Remote Access
After substantial discussion, it became clear that we needed a process to focus the discussion of remote access for the campus, identify the key issues, and allow real progress," says Harry Matthews, Chair of the Academic Computing Coordinating Council (AC4). To focus the discussion, the AC4 developed and approved on February 8 the 13 remote access principles below. The Council invites all campus members to review them and send suggestions for changes, if appropriate, and for weighing each item to ac4@ucdavis.edu.
A worksheet, including the 13 principles and a scoring system, has been developed to evaluate various remote access models. Through the campus consultation and evaluation process, these models will be refined and narrowed down to a short list for final consideration.
"As you review these principles, keep in mind that they must be viewed as a whole, and that we will have to make compromises," says Matthews.
Feedback will be most helpful if received before the next AC4 meeting on March 15.
AC4 Remote Access Principles
- Students, faculty and staff need to access the UC Davis Intranet and the Internet from their homes. (See footnote below.)
- Arrangements for remote access should support rather than discourage the use of the Internet for academic purposes.
- Faculty members should be free to incorporate reasonable use of the Internet and Intranet in their courses as needed without being constrained unduly by lack of student access.
- Research should not be constrained unduly by lack of access to the Internet and Intranet.
- Administration should not be constrained unduly by lack of access to the Internet and Intranet.
- Remote access policies should be consistent with UC Davis' network security policy.
- Remote access policies should encourage cost-effective use of remote access facilities.
- All students should have the access that is needed to complete the courses in which they enroll.
- A university subsidy, if any, for remote access must be consistent, in nature and amount, with the university's mission.
- The amount of funding of a university subsidy, if any, for remote access must be appropriate in the context of the overall needs of the campus.
- Internet access is used both for university business and other activities. The university should not subsidize use of the Internet and Intranet for non-university business or pleasure.
- Consideration of funding models should include efforts to minimize the total cost to the campus and its constituents.
- Provision of access and its funding should remain viable as the use of the Internet and Intranet continues to increase.
Footnote: For students, access to the Intranet and the Internet is becoming an essential part of many courses. In order to carry out required coursework, outside scheduled class time, and communicate with their instructors by email, students must either
- Use open access laboratories on campus or
- Connect their own computers to the campus network through a network connection on campus or
- Connect through a modem from their homes.
Students expect UC Davis to provide adequate access so that they can complete their required coursework. (Note: this statement applies independently of how that access should be funded.) Remote access is relatively new but several years of fully subsidized access, albeit with restricted availability, have developed a sense of entitlement.
Many faculty members need to access the Intranet and the Internet from their homes to carry out their duties in teaching, research and service, particularly outside normal office hours. Access from home makes it practical for faculty members to extend their working hours.
Because this access is being used to further the university's missions, many faculty members expect the university to pay the cost of access. Several years of fully subsidized access, and currently a high quality of service, have nurtured high expectations.
Staff members, who telecommute or, like faculty members, work from home outside normal office hours, need high-availability access to the Internet and the Intranet. Because staff members use this facility to carry out their university tasks, staff members expect the university to make remote access available.
In many cases, particularly for faculty and staff, the most important access is to their office or departmental computer. Frequently, this is achieved with a local modem, usually posing a security threat to the Campus network and to the availability of the voice service, including emergency calls.
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