Outsourcing or Out of Business?

DISASTER PLANNING FOR THE POST-KATRINA CAMPUS

By John Webster,
PeopleSoft Programs Director
Center for Remote Enterprise System Hosting (CRESH)
Dakota State University

The timestamp says Wednesday 8/24/2005 11:46 AM. The subject line reads “UCIS 182-81 PeopleSoft Tools.” It is the final e-mail I will receive from Tulane [University (LA)]. Forty-eight hours later I receive a phone call, informing me of the evacuation of the school. The soft southern voice still ech'es in my ear, as if to say, “This is just a minor inconvenience, I’ll talk to you next week.”

According to the Association of American Universities (www.aau.edu), more than 30 colleges and universities along the Gulf Coast were severely damaged by hurricane Katrina. Tulane (www.tulane.edu) was among the hardest hit. Its 13,000 students will not return this semester, awaiting the school’s projected January reopening.

For me, Katrina changed the way I will address Disaster Recovery (DR) planning. Much like post 9/11, this is a good time for schools to revisit disaster planning—or the lack of it—in preparation for the next campus-killing event we all know is out there.

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PITAC Function Continued Within PCAST

A recent executive order places the functions of the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC), which officially expired in June 2005, within the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). The order includes the statement that “PCAST shall serve as the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee,” moving the responsibilities of the former PITAC to PCAST, and broadening PCAST’s extensive advisory capacities. Made up of IT leaders from both industry and academia, PITAC was chartered by Congress in 1997 to advise the administration and federal agencies on IT issues, which it did until its disbanding this past spring. The reorganization within PCAST will require new appointments, to be announced later. The current executive order extends through September 30, 2007.

Sloan Semester Begins

Monday marked the official beginning of classes for the Sloan Semester, an initiative that will serve hurricane-displaced students with more than 1,000 free online courses from more than 200 institutions. Most of the students taking the courses are from New Orleans-based institutions; others are National Guard reservists who missed their regular fall term because of active duty in the storm’s aftermath.

Find out more.

RPI Prez to Serve on IBM Board

Industry giant IBM recently announced that its board of directors has elected Shirley Ann Jackson to serve on the company’s board. Jackson, who is president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (NY), has held distinguished appointments in government, research, and academia, and along with numerous other advisory and committee roles, she serves on the boards of several organizations, including the New York Stock Exchange, the Smithsonian Institution, FedEx Corp., Marathon Oil, and Medtronic Inc.

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