The Advisory Committee on Academic Computing

"ACAC continues to play an important role in helping Brooklyn College to be a hospitable environment for instructional technology use and innovation. By serving as an important medium for communication between faculty and the rest of the campus engaged in this undertaking, we have created a strong infrastructure for continued growth in this area. Thank you again for your support of our activities. I am also grateful to Sandra Stumbo for her assistance, as well as the wise counsel and engagement of Howard Spivak and Nicholas Irons in ACAC matters. Finally, ACAC is its faculty membership and so I end this Annual Report by gratefully acknowledging once again the hours of time and effort that the Department Technology Representatives have given to this cause." David Bloomfield (Education), Chair, Advisory Committee on Academic Computing

ACAC members are AIT's faculty partners for teaching with technology initiatives.

The Advisory Committee on Academic Computing (ACAC) has been expanded to include each of the academic departments' Technology Representative; chaired by David Bloomfield (Education) this group meets monthly. Attendance is excellent, a tribute to the perceived relevance of the group's work. Tech Reps attend ACAC meetings and take an active role in communicating departmental technology concerns through the group and bringing AIT and ITS matters back to their departments.

ACAC does much of its work in three subcommittees:

Executive
David Bloomfield
Jason Siegler
George Brunner
Betsy Eastwood
Alfie Rosenberger

Software Evaluation & Advice
Betsy Eastwood (chair)
George Brunner
Lori Scarlatos
Vinit Parmar
Nicole Trujillo-Pagan
Ronaldo Kiel
Jason Siegler

CUNY Technology
David Bloomfield (chair)
Michael Bergen
Nicole Trujillo-Pagan

The issues addressed by ACAC in 2004-2005 included:
- More prompt replacement of computer hardware and preservation of hard disk contents
- The desire of faculty to have a greater voice in software evaluation, purchasing, and license renewal decisions
- Hardware and software security of the traditional kind – how to make sure thefts do not occur
- Upgrading faculty hardware access, including migration to tablet PCs
- Increasing faculty engagement with technology, including addressing a perceived age gap in technology use and increasing information about "What Do We Have and How Do We Use It?"
- Implementation of the Brooklyn College Web site portal including timelines and implications for faculty and students
- Acquiring information and providing suggestions concerning 80th Street technology plans, including the CUNY portal, centralized internet pipelines, and Blackboard
The Software Evaluation and Advice Subcommittee was particularly involved in evaluating Turnitin software, finding it to be generally cumbersome and unreliable in assessing student adherence to standards of academic integrity.
One strategy for addressing CUNY-wide issues was ACAC's invitation to James Haggard, CUNY's Deputy Chief Information Officer for Strategic Planning. On May 5 Mr. Haggard made a presentation to a joint meeting of ACAC and the Teaching, Learning, Technology Roundtable.