University Times

How does the Executive Committee Academic Computing (ECAC) relate to the Information Technology Steering Committee (ITSC)? And how do they both fit in with the University Senate computer usage committee (CUC)? Pitt needs to more clearly delineate the duties of its alphabet soup of computing committees, subcommittees and working groups, according to some faculty members who serve on them.

But it's not a good idea to consolidate ECAC, ITSC and CUC into one committee, several professors said at the March 11 Faculty Assembly meeting.

"My reaction is that that [merger] would be an abomination. It's not smart at all," Bruce Steihm, chairperson of the ECAC student computing working group, told the Assembly. Each committee has a distinct niche and provides special expertise, Steihm said.

ECAC allocates monies from the student computing and telecommunications fee and maintains six working groups on academic computing issues, Steihm said. ITSC advises the chancellor on computer-related capital expenditures and operating budgets, while CUC focuses on broad policy issues such as computer privacy, he said.

Steihm was reacting to a proposal by CUC chairperson Mike Becich, who had recommended merging the three groups on the grounds that they tend to duplicate one another's services and waste the time of faculty who serve on them.

Becich, a pathology professor, had planned to present his proposal at the Assembly meeting but was unable to attend because of his clinical duties. So Senate president Keith McDuffie called on Steihm to speak about the proposal.

Steihm spoke — against Becich's idea.

After the meeting, Becich told the University Times he didn't mind that his proposal was shot down at Faculty Assembly and at a recent meeting of CUC.

"I'm glad to be absolutely wrong in this scenario," said Becich, adding that he achieved his goal of raising the issue of overlapping duties among the committees.

"Hopefully, this will lead to action among the committees to clearly delineate what they do," Becich said. "That's really what I was aiming for. I knew my proposal was a radical one."

— Bruce Steele