All attendees joined remotely, via Zoom.

Attendees (18): 

Members (9): Amita Chin (Chair), Shannon Harris, Michael Cabral, Valerie Robnolt, Jennifer Joy-Gaba, Carmen Rodriguez, Talicia Tarver, Timothy York, Kirk Richardson
Ex officio members (4): Colleen Bishop, Alex Henson, Elaine Reeder, Susan Coombes
Scribe (1): Jana Avery
Guests (4): John Bogan, Houston Griffith, Jared Parker, Hannah Steighner

Amita opened the meeting at 2:00pm, and thanked everyone for joining. She reminded everyone that our February meeting was canceled and that today’s agenda included those items from February. She stated that the meeting would begin with our guests’ presentations/topics.

John Bogan, from Academic Technologies gave a quick overview and status of classroom upgrades. Our standard for hybrid rooms is instructor and audience cameras, and microphones for the audience (typically ceiling microphones). There are some rooms that don't have an audience camera, but are still being used in a hybrid manner. There are 160 central classrooms (includes both campuses) and 43% were hybrid capable by June 2023. Currently there are 66% hybrid capable classrooms and the target is to have 87% by Fall 2024.  93% of MCV classrooms are hybrid capable, with instructor and student cameras, and ceiling microphones. MCV is still getting lifecycle upgrades and any missing components for hybrid use are being updated as well. 

In addition, 77 non-central spaces have been upgraded. There is still an issue getting into the rooms to do the work, due to heavy usage of the rooms.

John showed a schedule of central classrooms that are either complete or in the process of being completed. There have been some delays related to equipment or classroom availability, but overall a significant amount of progress has been made. In addition to the central spaces, there are 45 non-central classrooms that have been upgraded, with 7 that are in progress. Work will continue until we reach our goal of 100% hybrid capable. 

Review of centrally managed classrooms survey from Fall 2023

Jared Parker, from Academic Technologies reported on the results of the centrally managed classroom survey that was distributed in the fall of 2023. Last year at this time (Spring 2023), this group discussed how to get more faculty to respond to the survey and share feedback. He shared a slide for comparison of the number of responses from a few past surveys to present. Distribution of the previous two surveys included sending a link to targeted individuals and groups who helped distribute it. It was also posted on the blog and mailed to anyone registered as the “instructor of record” in Banner. For the fall 2023 survey, emails were sent to 806 people, posted on the blog, and FTAC assisted with redistributing. There were 102 individual responses for the fall 2023 survey. Although response metrics from the past were impacted by Covid, with fewer instructors assigned to in-classroom teaching, we still appear to have our highest response rate with the fall 2023 survey. 

Highlights of the survey results included types of academic spaces, instructional style, hybrid technology usage, wireless presentation and the desired level of support and training. There are 113 different types of academic spaces, and an instructor could teach in multiple types of rooms. There are also multiple teaching styles, some that heavily rely on hybrid technologies and others that do not use those at all. For the questions about hybrid  technology usage, only 8 people out of 102 responded. 

Of the 800 “instructors of record”, there were about 700 who did not respond to the survey at all. Even when the number of people responding is low, the feedback they do provide plays a huge role in determining what technologies and support are needed in the classrooms; and is used when planning for filling vacant positions, and assigning staff responsibilities. Jared stressed the importance of continuing to encourage faculty to share their feedback. Regardless of the number of respondents, Jared personally follows up with anyone who had a negative experience in the classroom.

Amita asked attendees to think about the importance of this opportunity to share feedback. She encouraged them to talk to colleagues that may be teaching in these classrooms, and remind them that this survey comes out twice per year. Even if they don't respond to all of the questions, they could respond to some that may be directly affecting them. All feedback can make a big difference. It would be great to see the response rate increase significantly from where we are currently (102 out of 800).

Suggestion:  An attendee suggested and several others agreed, that early April would be a good time for the spring survey, and early November for Fall; and then leave it open for a month.

Action Item: The results of the survey will be posted on the classroom website soon, and Jared will send FTAC a link to it.  Completed 3/18/24

Laptop, iPad, etc. Loaner Program For In-classroom Quizzes via Canvas

Houston Griffith, from Academic Technologies shared information about the laptop loaner program available to students. He explained that the IT Support Center has been managing the loaners for about four years. There are 150 Chromebooks and a small fleet of laptops available. Many students check these out simply because they do not have an up-to-date laptop of their own, so this program definitely fills a need for our students. Most of these  devices are loaned for two-week periods, with the option to renew as demand allows. Many of the Chromebooks are not returned on time or at all.  

One limitation of Chromebooks is that they cannot be used with Respondus Monitor. Instructors need to make adjustments in their Canvas courses when not physically proctoring exams, to accommodate students who are using Chromebooks. As a result, there have been discussions about providing a cart of laptops in classrooms upon request. Because the preparation, delivery and recovery of these laptops would incur a fee, it was decided that a limited number of laptops be available for checkout via the IT Support Center at no cost. If there is a demonstrated need for software based on software compatibility restrictions, or students have Macbooks and need Windows devices, Houston’s team does offer loaner laptops to departments for a fee, via a service level agreement. 

The loaner Chromebooks will continue to be offered at no cost, but, if needed, Houston’s team can reach out to the specific school IT groups and consider partnering with them to provide laptops where needed. There are student laptop requirements that are posted on our website, which is something we would need to uphold. Alex Henson shared that he is in discussions with the Provost’s office and this topic is one that frequently comes up as they talk about student success. They hope to find a way to meet these needs, with minimal cost and oversight, but also must address the current issue (and cost incurred) with loaners that are never returned.

Additional Information:
IT Support Center, https://ts.vcu.edu/it-support-center/, 804-828-2227, email itsc@vcu.edu, Reserve AV equipment

Adobe Domain Enforcement Project

Houston Griffith, from Academic Technologies shared some background information about Adobe licensing and  upcoming changes. 

The change itself is a quick process, but the impact is huge, and communication is crucial. The domain enforcement project began as a way of helping folks understand that when they come to VCU and they acquire access to Adobe software, they are getting it under a VCU managed or federated ID account. This means that  VCU retains ownership of the account, as part of our enterprise license agreement. It also means that VCU  subsequently owns the data stored within that account. We need to remove the ability for end users to create a personal Adobe account with their VCU email address. Anyone who created personal accounts in this manner, will eventually see notices about their trial expiring and/orAdobe prompting them to enter credit card information, which causes a lot of confusion. After sharing our feedback to Adobe over the years, in Summer 2023 they finally offered an option for us to remedy the situation via ”domain enforcement”, which will  remove the ability for users to create a personal account with a VCU eID/email address. Bottom line: The only Adobe account that can be used with a VCU email address is a federated account that VCU manages.

Phase 1: On January 1, 2024, we implemented the first stage of this change so that anyone new to VCU will not be able to create a personal Adobe ID account with their VCU email address. Note: The VCU Health.org domain was excluded because of the uncertainty of the impact. We also consulted with the Qatar campus to ensure they would not be inadvertently impacted.

Phase 2:  The primary impact will occur in June 2023, when we implement the second phase of changes. Currently VCU has almost 34,000 people who have a personal Adobe ID (not managed by VCU). These are completely unmanaged accounts, owned by individual users with their VCU email address. The changes in June will require these users to update the email address on the Adobe account to a non-VCU email, which will allow them to retain ownership of the account.

The main challenge over the years has been with students not really understanding that the Adobe account doesn't actually belong to them. Trying to explain this to them, and that software is already available under the student tech fee that was paid with their tuition, and that there is no need for them to provide Adobe with their credit card information seemed to lead to more confusion. The domain enforcement project is an effective way to ensure that software use is with a federated account that is owned and managed by VCU, with a VCU email address. This controls access to the software by utilizing a federated account when they sign in, and the only way they can proceed will be to sign in with their VCU eID, through the central authentication service (CAS) portal. 

Also in summer 2023, Adobe announced the discontinuation of file synchronization services. This is similar to Dropbox functionality, where you can drag and drop files into a desktop folder. This service will end in October  2024. This is a separate project that is managed entirely by Adobe, but we will be posting information about it, and will highlight some features that will not be going away. We want our users to continue learning about and using cloud documents, and other Adobe features that will be continuously available in the future.

There was a question about how long after graduation students have access to Adobe. Currently it is available for one full academic term, but we may have to reduce that due to the large number of students with licenses. After that time, their license will be removed, but their account will remain. They will not be able to use the apps, but their data remains intact in case they need temporary access to download it.

Will be reviewing and scaling back the grace period for students who have graduated or are no longer enrolled. Not removing their data, but disabling their account (current they have 30 day grace period before it is disabled)

FAQs and other Information about the domain enforcement project can be found on the VCU Adobe website at https://go.vcu.edu/adobe/domain-enforcement.

AI Guidelines Discussion

Hannah Steighner, TS Project Management and Valerie Robnolt, FTAC and Faculty Senate member presented information regarding AI guidelines for faculty and students.  Technology Services is focusing on the data security aspects of AI, and have compiled these guidelines for using AI safely and securely: https://cio.ts.vcu.edu/initiatives/generative-ai-guidelines/

Alex Henson, CIO has been involved in conversations about AI that were brought up at the Board of Visitors meeting and is working closely with the Provost’ office. The Provost’ office is coordinating information sessions  specifically focusing on faculty use of AI. Momentum slowed a bit when the Governor issued Executive Order 30, regarding the use of generative AI and some exceptions. The order mentions educational and research use but also reserves the right to have state agencies ask permission for certain things. Meetings with lawyers and CIOs from various schools are taking place. UVA has taken the lead on this from the attorney and CIO perspective, to clarify the expectations of both the school and state. The state is not looking to regulate AI that is part of a large commercially available package. VCU has included Microsoft Copilot as part of our enterprise Microsoft Campus agreement, which allows it to be confined to the VCU environment and doesn’t use what you enter to train the  large model. Other instances at VCU include high performance research computing which Shanka Wijesinghe (School of Pharmacy) is heavily involved in, as well as a few other areas at VCU that are sanctioned.   Communications will be distributed in the coming weeks, which will provide guidance before anything is officially  implemented. You do have access to Microsoft Copilot now, and can login with your VCU credentials. Microsoft has some other technologies coming out, specifically for integration with Office 365, but there is a fee associated with it, and they are not offering any educational discounts at this time. It could be that we make that available for a fee to those that need it. The focus on an enterprise agreement is because they are specifically exempt from any of the state oversight. Open AI has yet to show interest in the higher education market, other than making a deal with Arizona State University, which no one will provide any details about. Virginia schools are meeting again on Thursday, March 14, and we hope to get a little more information. We’ve tried to reach out to Open AI about having an enterprise agreement, which would be really nice. We are seeing a lot of innovative work already taking place at VCU and while exciting, it is still a developing area that has some challenges to work through.

Valerie asked about guidelines for students about what the expectations are when they use AI for writing papers, completing assignments, etc. Also the guidelines for faculty using AI, especially the ethical uses. 

Alex indicated that what has probably been happening is that it’s been left up to the individual faculty. He  agrees that these guidelines are needed and that there are several faculty committees working on it, as well as Dr. Mangala Submaranian. Valerie expressed concerns about it being left up to individual faculty, and has attended a few sessions which seem to be general information sharing and not guidelines. She asked who in Faculty Affairs is working on this. Susan Coombes explained that Dr. Submaranian understands the need for guidelines and that her office is working as quickly as possible to get something out there. They are looking to potentially offer some general statements that   faculty can use in a syllabus and then modify how they approach using it accordingly, based on various assignments, course development or the curriculum. Susan estimated that they hope to have something ready before the end of this semester. Valerie advocated for FTAC being given a chance to provide input and feedback on whatever Dr. Submaranian’s office comes up with. 

Amita has been in constant contact with Dr. Submaranian and discussed this. She will continue these discussions with her and keep FTAC involved. 

Amita asked who in this meeting has used AI, and what approach they are taking. The group shared  their experiences and discussed how their areas are (or not) using AI; and what ethical concerns they have so far.

After this discussion, Amita thanked everyone for the updates and input. 

Action Item: AI Notice
Valerie asked Amita, when talking to Dr. Submaranian, to request that the guidelines come to FTAC for review and feedback. And she suggested that we review it at our April meeting, if possible.  

Technology Services Tech Fair

FTAC was asked to offer feedback regarding the annual TS Tech Fair. 

• Who has attended in the past? (last event was October 2023) - only 1 person has attended; most had never heard of it.
• Alex described the purpose of the Tech Fair and how it is usually set up 
• event is free, held over 2 days - 1 day on MPC and 1/2 day on MCV
• drop in and out--don’t have to attend the entire event
• geared towards students and faculty
• a variety of giveaways, demonstrations, activities, Q&A, etc.
• those attending get a free lunch
• provide an opportunity to ask questions and learn things you might not know about; particular services that are available or things we're doing in IT; meeting staff in person to put a face with a name/voice
• a lot of TS staff do not have direct interaction with students, so some of the conversations at Tech Fair are really interesting
• TS department representatives are there in person, usually at tables or demonstration stations, with games, giveaways, resources, and are available for individual Q&A; usually promoting new or upgraded services and sometimes have scheduled information sessions in meeting rooms
• A few of our key vendors attend, with personnel that have specific expertise related to VCU; usually at tables, with informational materials, SWAG and for Q&A (not just vendors trying to sell something; example - Canvas representatives there to answer questions and give you tips to better utilize Canvas)
• Preferred time of year? 
• Spring, because P&T committees usually meet in the fall
• How can we encourage faculty and student attendance?
• offer incentives for students to attend, like extra credit, etc.
• announcements in Canvas (after login) is a good place to get something noticed
• the website - have a bulleted list of what a person would get out of the fair; a list of vendors and booths (experts that will be there)
• send mass email
• if there are particular tech classes or programs that students are interested in, promote these; let them know about it and offer extra credit; or promote as a way for them to learn what technologies VCU has, and what student tech jobs are available
• if faculty knew that they would have someone who could hear them out and answer some of their questions quickly or take care of something that's irking them
• What would you want to get out of the Tech Fair? 
• would like to be able to ask direct questions, and get direct answers (not a full training or how-to session, but just ask the one or two questions I have
• from TS staff attending: Tech Fair is one of the great places I received feedback from faculty on classroom technology; and if someone has an issue or a question, we can address it right then; a great place for students and faculty to share feedback with us
• Can classes that teach technologies be involved? to advertise for open positions in our technology labs; promote our  technology classes; share info and demonstrate technology that is in the labs/classrooms
• learning about new tools (knowing what they are before I get there)
• Should FTAC be involved?
• It would be great if FTAC could help promote Tech Fair to their departments, schools, colleagues, etc.

Amita reminded attendees that the following were action items from the November meeting, and noted the follow-up on each.

November 2023 Action Item: Course Cross-Listing - Complete
Some questions were asked about cross-listed courses and how course names appear in Canvas and in emails sent to specific sections. Course nicknaming is a viable option and will be visible to students. Complete, and  shared with FTAC:

• Course Nicknaming - How do I view my favorite courses in the Card View Dashboard as an instructor? 
• Regarding Section Naming:
• With Ellucian ILP, courses and sections are unable to be renamed. 
• It is recommended that anyone with concerns about the naming of an official course, contact Records and Registration to ensure that the naming is clear. Otherwise, manual cross-listing procedures will remain the same as they were prior to the Ellucian ILP implementation.
• Additional information: Cross-List (Merge) Courses

November 2023 Action Item: Kaltura Feedback - Complete

Katie Shedden, Senior Manager of the Learning Systems Department and David Morefield will review and consolidate the feedback discussed as well as comments from the meeting chat. Reference presentation document.

Amita reminded attendees that the following are ongoing action items from the November meeting, and noted the additional details/progress on each.

November 2023 Ongoing Action Item: AI
There are so many things to consider regarding AI use, and Alex Henson will keep FTAC apprised of any information and updates from the Provost and the Board of Visitors. Amita will keep this topic on the FTAC meeting agenda for the February 2024 meeting. She also plans to keep in touch with Dr. Mangala Subramaniam, Sr. Vice Provost, Faculty Affairs and will share any updates with FTAC.  

• March 2024 Update: Refer to the notes in the AI Guidelines section of these minutes. 

November 2023 Ongoing Action Item: Instructional Tools
Amita asked in November 2023, and reminded attendees today, that FTAC try to gather information from their units about instructional tools (what they are using and why some are not being used). She asked everyone to think about the following:

1. Instructional Tools such as Canvas, Respondus, Turnitin, Kaltura, VoiceThread, and TopHat.
2. What tools are being used in your unit?
3. What tools are not being used?
4. Are faculty feeling they cannot use certain tools for some reason?

• March 2024 Update: 
• Amita asked everyone again to please try to find out what tools are being used in their units, and/or why some are not used. To help facilitate this information gathering, we’ll create a Google spreadsheet. 
• NEW action item: Colleen and Amita will work on the spreadsheet.
• Valerie relayed a question from Jon Becker about design tools that VCU Online has, but are not available to faculty in Canvas. It appears to be a funding issue. Colleen stated that we are working with IT Governance and VCU Online to acquire these tools. Elaine said that VCU online requested tiered funding (contract that will grow), since all faculty probably won’t use it. Valerie asked how faculty find out about these tools and how to get them. Elaine explained that right now faculty only have access to these tools through the Online Pathway.
• Houston offered to provide information about Top Hat if anyone needs it.

November 2023 Ongoing Action Item: FTAC Members and Alternates
Amita asked in November 2023, that all FTAC members should identify an alternate member from their unit that might like to be part of this committee. (Need units to be consistently represented at FTAC.)

• March 2024 Update: Amita reminded attendees today to please provide an alternate member for your unit.
• NEW action item: Amita will create a spreadsheet - Complete 3/15/24
  Jana created the spreadsheet from our membership roster.  Everyone just needs to be notified and given this link:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LtJKFy6hRl8t8dMisEwOzW38KyK_Rfk_9rsOpgZE4ss/

The November 6, 2023 meeting minutes were shared, reviewed and approved with no revisions needed.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:22pm.

Next Meeting: Monday, April 8, 2024 at 2:00-3:30 p.m. via Zoom (Date adjusted because April 1st is Easter Monday.) 

FTAC Committee Details

1. Future Meeting: Monday, April 8, 2024 - 2:00-3:30pm - Zoom
2. Communication: Google Group, email - ftac@vcu.edu
3. File Sharing: Google Shared Drive - Faculty Technology
4. Website - ftac.vcu.edu