MELA Meeting Minutes 2003 - 2017

IV.

New Business a. Consortium Issues

i. Blackboard Update

1. App Pack 3 will be deployed December 29. Ms. Kimble asked whether we would want training. She will contact Blackboard to see if members can be loaded 2. Server issues. Blackboard is trying to charge the association with another $20,000 for an additional server. The association has no intention of doing this at this time. ii. Standardized Syllabus Issues. Ms. Kimble reminded members that the syllabus in MSVCC enrollment tool is limited to 7,500 characters and that only minimal information should be included. The old information has not been removed from the public site yet, but will be removed before November 30 th . Mr. Smith recommended that the old information be removed sooner than that since that date would not allow enough time to evaluate new courses. Members agreed and Ms. Kimble said that the new information would be released as soon as Mr. Burnett can get it done. iii. Enrollment Tool Requests that were submitted in October should be able to be tested by November 25 th and deployed by December 12 th . Jennifer Leimer mentioned that the student profile lists the blackboard ID, but it needs to be changed to say userid. Mr. Yates mentioned that he has discussed the userid with Ive and he is looking toward using first initial, last name and an index number. The association discussed changing the userid in Summer 2006. Jenniffer Wamsley would like to see the Build Local Offerings function improved. Mr. Smith recommended that we see if the list can be purged of away courses only with the provided courses remaining in the list of local offerings. iv. Fees & Graduation Data. Ms. Kimble asked members to review the Fees handout that was distributed. v. Community Tab. Ms. Kimble mentioned that instructors would like to be able to communicate with other instructions in their field. Members agreed that adding a Faculty forum to the community discussion would be a good idea. vi. MS. BUG (Mississippi Blackboard Users Group) 1. MECA (Mississippi Educational Computing Association) Conference: Jan 30- Feb1 2. Jackson, MS at the Hilton vii. Creating Futures Conference has been moved. 1. March 22-24 2. Tunica 3. They are doing a request for proposals and Ms. Kimble recommended that distance learning submit some presentations. viii. Help Desk. Ms. Kimble informed members that we now have a signed contract with Presidium. She has been sent a planning form that needs to be completed. 1. Deployment: December 1 2. Planning: Ms. Kimble asked members to send her any FAQ lists and handouts for students and/or instructors that they have already devised. Ms. Kimble will provide members with a list of the planning sheet that is presented to Presidium.

Members discussed what information Presidium should have access to in the enrollment tool. Members agreed that they should be able to see student profiles with the social security number and phone number be removed.

V.

Other

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