Edited By Mary Ellen Bradley
IPMA supports South Puget Sound Community College with $25,000 Pledge | July Board Meeting
Sharing Resources -- Natural Resources Building Agencies Joining Together
IPMA supports South Puget Sound Community College with $25,000 Pledge
By Phil Coates, IPMA Treasurer
On Thursday, July 9, Jim Albert, IPMA Board Chairman and Phil Coates, IPMA Treasurer met with Kenneth J. Minnaert, South Puget Sound Community College President, Kellie Braseth, Assistant Director of College Advancement, Christopher Yates, Assistant Dean of Students, and Irene Keiffer, Assistant Student Body President.
On behalf of South Puget Sound Community College, Ms. Keiffer and Mr. Minnaert accepted IPMA’s check from Jim Albert for $5,000. This check is the first of five annual installments for a total pledge of $25,000. IPMA’s contribution will be used to help provide the new Student Center building with up-to-date communications technology for student use. Ground breaking for the new building is scheduled for Spring 1999 and is expected to be completed sometime in the first half of 2000.
An unusual aspect of this project has been the involvement of the SPSCC student body in taking the lead to create a place of their own. During the 1994-95 school year, the Associated Student Body (ASB) took the initiative, working with the college administration, to recognize the need for the student center. In March of 1994, BJSS Architects were retained and ASB allocated funds to begin planning for the new building. Students supported the plan by voting to assess themselves a fee of $1.90 per credit for this project.
The Student Center will be the product of a creative partnership. Relying on traditional funding methods for public buildings would mean waiting at least ten years for completion of this much needed building. The college competes with all other community and technical colleges in the state for a place in line when capital needs are presented to the legislature. In reality, student centers may never be funded, since they fall behind classroom and laboratory space in the priority system. BJSS and Turner Construction Company have offered SPSCC an alternative 20-year "lease Purchase" option.
The students and the college bookstore will be the major contributors, but even the combined resources of $1.2 million from the college bookstore and an annual revenue stream from student fees of approximately $280,000 still leave the project about $250,000 short of the $6.3 million cost. That is where organizations like the IPMA come in. The IPMA has long held that providing professional development opportunities for the state Information Technology community to be its primary mission. In January of this year the IPMA Board decided to expand its emphasis to professional development by making a long-term commitment to the local institutions of higher education that have an Information Technology curriculum. In addition to the five-year pledge of $5,000 a year to South Puget Sound Community College, the IPMA made an identical five-year pledge to St. Martin’s College toward the construction of their new Library.
July 1998 Board Meeting Minutes
Members Present: Jim Albert, Al Bloomberg, Thomas Bynum, Phil Coates, Phil Grigg, Bob Monn, Darrel Riffe, and Judy Schneider..
The Board meeting was called to order at 7:35 by Board Chair Jim Albert.
The minutes from the June Board meeting were approved.
Treasurer - Phil Coates presented the Treasure’s Report which was approved. Items of note: We have started receiving income from the sponsors for the Executive Seminar and the Fall Forum. The donation to South Puget Community College will be presented by Jim Albert and Phil Coates later this week.
Business Plan - Judy Schneider reviewed investment options and provided recommendations to the investment portfolio. Now would be a good time to make changes since dividend distribution was made 6/30/98. The Board approved the recommendations and Judy will arrange for the changes to be made.
Executive Seminar - Darrel Riffe reported the registration forms have gone out. Speakers and topics have been finalized. In case we have more sign ups then the seminar can handle, registration will be in the order received. We will monitor to ensure we are getting a good representation of management in government. One of the activities planned is nine holes of golf; format may be a best ball scramble. Those interested should contact Judy Schneider at jschneid@dshs.wa.gov.
Fall Forum - Jim Albert provided the status on the Forum for Dennis Laine. There are 16 corporate sponsors this year, showing lots of interest on the part of the vendors. Nine booths have been reserved by seven vendors. A security contract has been signed and we will have two guards at the Forum. The topics for the Forum have been finalized and most have been assigned to sponsors to arrange speakers. A keynote speaker for the first day has been contacted and we are waiting for an answer. We are still taking suggestions for a keynote speaker for the second day and the executive breakfast.
Professional Development - Bob Monn reported that the July event was canceled. The next event will be the first Thursday in September. The topic will be "Internet Applications."
Communications - Jim Albert reported for Mary Ellen Bradley. Dennis Laine will be the subject of an article for the IPMA News. We need to include our new web name: www.ipma-wa.com on the IPMA letterhead and in the IPMA News. The old web name will be maintained for several months to make the transition easier on our customers. There will also be an article on an interagency agreement between Fish and Wildlife and Natural Resources for telecommunication support.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45
Submitted by Alvin Bloomberg for Shelagh Taylor
Sharing Resources --
Natural Resources Building Agencies Joining Together
By Sheryl Hall, IS Technical Services Manager with Roger Army, WDFW Telecommunications Coordinator
The Natural Resources Building (NRB) houses a number of environmental agencies. The two primary agencies are the Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). All agencies within the building share a number of vital communications facilities such as the main computer room, telephone wiring closets, and the Main Distribution Frame (MDF) which is maintained by the Department of Information Services (DIS).
The main computer room contains the WDFW Prime mini-computer. It also houses other networking equipment such as Novell Netware Servers, UNIX servers and mail gateways belonging to both agencies.
The MDF room is the focal point where U.S. West telephone facilities connect with the buildings Private Branch Exchange (PBX). This is done via trunk lines, various wiring blocks, riser cables, patch panels as well as the PBX itself. These are all tied together to provide data and voice communications for the entire building. Careful interagency coordination is critical in order to maintain accurate records without which such a complex operation could never function. These records also provide for emergency 911 tracking.
This sharing of space and facilities recently led to a new approach in NRB telecommunications services when DNR and WDFW entered into an interagency agreement for in house telephone management. DNR’s Telecommunications Coordinator retired which led to their IS manager, Al Bloomberg, suggesting to the WDFW IS manager, Mary Ellen Bradley, that some sort of share operation might be possible.
A few meetings led to the formation of plan starting with a trial phase and led to a formal interagency agreement/contract. The first phase consisted of the following:
- "Shadowing" the DNR coordinator prior to departure
- Familiarizing with DNR environment and staff
- Consolidating tasks and streamlining overall processes
- Notifying and coordinating with DIS
This led to a second phase:
- Developing the actual interagency agreement/contract
- Ongoing weekly meetings
- Meeting with various DNR office coordinators to explain new operations
The final arrangement is that DNR is funding WDFW for a one-half time FTE to provide a number of telephone related services. These consist of:
- Telephone adds, changes, and deletions
- Telecommunications Support Desk coverage
- Cable Management - Line record keeping
- Internal and DIS request record keeping
- DIS coordination
- Basic telecommunications troubleshooting and problem solving
Regional telecommunications functions, Simon, SCAN and billing is still accomplished by DNR personnel.
Benefits Gained:
This agreement benefits both agencies. It provides for the training of an individual to accomplish the DNR functions who can also serve as a backup for the one Telecommunications Coordinator at WDFW. It also provides DNR with the service without paying for a full time FTE. This operation has been working smoothly and should continue to improve as personnel from both agencies adapt to new procedures.
As we all continue to face overwhelming challenges with sparse resources and downsizing, perhaps we will have other opportunities to share. For example, in areas such as UNIX administration, Wide Area Network (WAN) management, PC/Software support, or IS help desk functions. Anything is possible in this ever-changing environment.
IPMA, P.O. Box 1943, Olympia, WA 98507-1943