Joseph Tufariello, senior vice provost for educational technology, said the center, to be located on the second floor of Capen Hall in the Science and Engineering Library, will oversee the faculty-development component of Access '99. It will offer faculty members short computing courses and access to equipment they might need, such as scanners and CD-ROMs, and provide graduate students who will assist faculty in their offices on such projects as designing Web pages.

The center, which will be headed by David Willbern, associate dean for educational technology in the College of Arts and Sciences, also will manage what Tufariello called the "course team approach"-focusing on the classes in Fall 1999 that will have large freshman enrollments, such as "World Civilization" and introductory courses in chemistry, psychology and computer science.

"The idea really is to focus on those courses and to make sure that the faculty in those courses are prepared for the access initiative as it begins in Fall '99," he said.

In addition, the center will facilitate some travel for faculty to conferences and universities where the access initiative already is under way, he said.

Access '99-- the major focus of UB's information technology strategy for Fall 1999-- will require that all incoming freshmen have access to a computer. The initiative will permit faculty to require students to use computer resources, and will allow units to incorporate computer resources comprehensively into their programs.

Tufariello said that students will be asked to "become acquainted with, and somewhat proficient" in the use of email, Web searches and productivity tools, such as Microsoft Office.

In briefing senators on the status of Access '99, Tufariello noted that the "equity" issue is one that the Educational Technology Advisory Committee, which he heads, has been very concerned about and is "addressing forcefully."

He mentioned the UB ROCS program (UB Recycles Old Computers) that refurbishes and upgrades older computers from throughout UB, as well as from outside donors like Rich Products Corp., that will be made available to students who can demonstrate financial hardship.

He also said a Standards Committee, headed by Stuart Shapiro, chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, is investigating hardware and software packages to determine the types of equipment that will be recommended to students. Once those standards are set, they will be used to negotiate with manufacturers the best possible prices for students who choose to buy their own systems, he added.

Student training is another important component of the access initiative, Tufariello said.

The Educational Technology Advisory Committee will help to coordinate the various training programs that already exist on campus, including those offered by Computing and Information Technology, the libraries and UBMicro. That information will be posted on a Web site for easy access to all, he said.

In addition, the university will initiate the STAR (Student Technical Assistants in Residence) program where trained students will staff help desks in the dorms.

Voldemar Innus, senior associate vice president for university services and UB's chief information officer, told senators that the IT Steering Committee, which he heads, is "observing and advising" the Educational Technology Advisory Committee on the student-access initiative and ways to enhance faculty development.

He described the various ways the steering committee is helping to support Access '99 "from an infrastructure point of view," including increasing the size of the modem pool to 1,000 from 450 to ease dial-in access to the UB server from off campus and upgrading the public labs, including the new labs in the Undergraduate and Lockwood libraries.

Claude Welch, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Political Science who was serving as the "voice" of Faculty Senate Chair Peter Nickerson, who attended the meeting but was silenced by a case of laryngitis, told FSEC members that the senate's Computer Services Committee would be asked to pursue two charges during the coming year. They are to continue to advise the senate on the progress of Access '99, and to track the ways in which faculty development is being "enhanced so as to take advantage of the new (IT) capacities and use them effectively in our educational programs," Welch said.

Robert Straubinger, associate professor of pharmaceutics and chair of the Computer Services Committee, raised a number of concerns voiced by members of his committee, as well as other faculty members.

They ranged from concerns about the overall IT planning process and faculty access to computing to the nodes and student computer literacy and access to hardware and software, he said.

In other business, the FSEC was updated on the efforts of the senate's Public Service Committee by Chair Michael Frisch, professor of history and American studies.

Frisch told senators his committee was working with the Founders Committee of the College of Arts and Sciences, since the creation of the college provides an opportunity to advance the idea of public service in disciplines where it has been "less well-understood" than in other disciplines, like the professional schools.

The college will be establishing its own criteria for promotion and tenure, offering the committee a chance to champion the inclusion of public service in the dossier for promotion and tenure, Frisch said.

Both Frisch and Mary Gresham, interim vice president for public service and urban affairs, stressed that public service must become part of the university's "reward system" if it is to expect faculty to participate in public-service projects.