Meeting Notes

Sue Goodman
Charlie Green
Bob Henshaw
Laura Janda
Vicki Kowlowitz

Call to Order
Welcome and Introductions

Announcements

• Kathy Thomas (CIT) reported on the latest version of the course retention policy, which defines how long instructors can expect online course materials stored in centrally-managed space to be retained. Final version will be going into effect soon.
• John Oberlin (ATN) has asked a FITAC representative to sit in on a new IT Directors' committee to consider campus network issues.
• Bob Henshaw updated the committee on the Electronic Media Cooperative (EMC), presently known as Digital Library Services. The updated EMC will be announced in June as a more scalable, interdisciplinary resource.

Chair's Update

Jim Noblitt provided an overview of his March 26 presentation to Faculty Council. It was very well-received, and he was approached by both Chancellor and Provost after the meeting. Jim will send a note of thanks to Judith Wegner on FITAC's behalf.

Jim has since met with Chancellor Moeser about improving coordination between IT and academic interests. More information on this initiative will be forthcoming in the near future.

Judith Wegner has asked Jim to provide a proposal for revising and reviving the instructional technology development grants that were discontinued in 2002 due to state budgetary constraints. The Committee discussed the most recent draft, which was sent to FITAC members with the April 7 agenda. The proposal provides incentives for both smaller innovation grants and more ambitious implementation grants, while requesting a smaller budget than was provided for the 2000-2002 programs.

Show and Tell (Laura Janda, Slavic Languages)

Past experience with IT: developed Case Book for Russian that included companion CD with audio pronounciations and interactive exercises. Concept took off and now there are case books for other languages. Ran into problems with compatibility with Windows upgrades, now moving toward HTML/XML platform.

Slavic and East European Language Resource Center working on a number of projects:

• Online dictionary with examples
• Comparative grammars
• Annotated resources links

Russian aspect - different interpretation of time. Space is primary metaphor for time, but all a little different for all languages. Janda has developed a metaphorical model for understanding aspect in the Russian language. Primer: understanding of events as being two kinds of events, perfective or imperfective. Well-defined vs. amorphous (e.g., writing indefinitely vs. writing and finishing a dissertation).

For more information, visit www.unc.edu/~lajanda/.

Knowledge Foundry project will make it possible for students to do virtual experiments on different kinds of matter, then create sentences and analyze, then go out and find sentences they can use to build a database of examples. They are expected to gain understanding through the process.

Support is provided through an $75,000 NSF proof-of-concept grant. Will cover about a third of the overall materials. Will be tested at a number of universities.

Future Agenda Items

• Last meeting of the Spring semester. Chair will announce fall schedule in August.

Agenda: TBA