Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer Tracy Futhey gave the Academic Council a general overview of OIT and its objectives Thursday, praising the progress made in improving collaboration among departments in the area of research.
During her presentation, Futhey made passing mention of the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act as an issue of concern facing OIT. When she was asked to explain further, she joked, "If I did say a few words about the PATRIOT Act, the FBI might come and take me away."
Council members' main point of concern was what is required of librarians who are summoned by the government to release information about Duke community members' access of materials. Provost Peter Lange noted that if a "librarian is approached by the FBI seeking the records of a particular person, the librarian is not permitted to inform the person that they have been so approached."
Several members of the council asked what role University lawyers would take in protecting someone who refuses to release information about a particular person to the government, or violates the law forbidding communication of such a request. The council looked to President Nan Keohane for the University's position.
"It is a very important question, although not one we have yet had to face," said Keohane. "The general answer to that question is if people are following their responsibilities and are subject to some kind of arrest in the line of duty, then we would support them. But in this case, we need to know a lot more about what's going on here, and we will put it on the agenda right away."
Futhey also touted the Computer and Information Technology Intensive Environment program as a major step forward in making technology more accessible to students by emphasizing laptop computers as the preferred method of computing. She pointed to the ubiquity of laptops--which now account for 90 percent of computer sales at the University Computer Store--and the popularity of wireless computing as indicators of the CITIE program's results.
"CITIE is a major effort that successfully, I believe, has brought technology much more into the forefront of students' lives in terms of when they think about what they do here at Duke," Futhey said.
IN OTHER BUSINESS: Vice Provost for Research Jim Siedow presented proposed changes in the University's Classified Research Policy. He said the proposed changes do not alter the basic guidelines of the current policy banning classified or restricted research using Duke facilities.
"The sense of changing it to allow restricted research was something that the committee had no interest in whatsoever and felt that not doing classified or restricted research on philosophical grounds alone was something that Duke University should maintain," he said.
Professors are forbidden to do such work representing Duke, but they are allowed to do this work on an independent basis, although without the use of Duke's facilities. Siedow said the new guidelines were designed to allow for "occasional or incidental" use of facilities on independent projects, so that professors were not constantly "feeling like they were running bootleg booze if they typed a letter or something" for their outside project.
Many members posed questions on the specifics of the "occasional or incidental use" clause, citing examples in what Siedow called a "gray area." The extended discussion led Chair Nancy Allen to postpone a vote on the proposed changes until the next council meeting.
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