>>Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 09:03:48 -0700
>>To: quillian
>>From: Charlotte Watson <charlott@csufresno.edu>
>>Subject: Followup to CETI meeting yesterday
>>
>>Ben,
>>
>>F.Y.I. in case you haven't seen this. If so, trash it. Was the attendance
>>what you expected?
>>
>>>Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 08:34:09 -0700
>>>Reply-To: "CSU, Fresno Tech List" <TECHS@info.csufresno.edu>
>>>Sender: "CSU, Fresno Tech List" <TECHS@info.csufresno.edu>
>>>From: Spencer Blank <spencerb@csufresno.edu>
>>>Subject: Followup to CETI meeting yesterday
>>>X-To: techs@info.csufresno.edu
>>>X-cc: lesp@zimmer.csufresno.edu, rickt@zimmer.csufresno.edu,
>>> joesa@zimmer.csufresno.edu, johnwa@zimmer.csufresno.edu
>>>To: Multiple recipients of list TECHS <TECHS@info.csufresno.edu>
>>>
>>>A transcript as well as audio tapes were made of the meeting. Dr. Quillian
>>>is making plans, I believe, to make these available to the campus community.
>>>I appreciate the effort and expense this campus has gone to in keeping us
>>>informed at this stage of the game. I've talked to techs at SLO, who are
>>>actively discouraged from asking difficult questions and heard that SLO and
>>>Stanislaus only had copies of the proposal put in the reserve book room;
>>>rather than having them distributed, as we did.
>>>
>>>I won't go into all the questions, (I don't even remember them, now) but
>>>I'll make a few observations: At this meeting, administrative/mainframe
>>>computing was expressly excluded from the purview of CETI (as were undefined
>>>"special" labs. Good news for the SIMSr folks. 128 million of the CSU IS
>>>budget is going to be handed over to CETI. There were many vocal complaints
>>>that some of that 128 million funded "special" labs or other activities that
>>>were supposed to be excluded from the CETI purview, and that the funds would
>>>be pulled for CETI. That lead to much waffling about revisiting the
>>>numbers. ***This issue needs to be pressed because many of the budget
>>>figures originally given to CETI were done hastily and I don't sense that
>>>they have much vested interest in cutting that figure.***
>>>
>>>The "contract" status of CSU tech employees was finally explained after
>>>dodging the initial question. This answer, as were many, was given in
>>>contradiction to what was written in the plan in our possession. The CETI
>>>team said that the situation is "fluid" and that these issues are still
>>>under negotiation. In any case, Tom West stated that CETI will establish
>>>standards and "jobs" that will be parceled out to the campus. The campus
>>>techs and their management will decide how to accomplish the job within the
>>>specs provided by CETI. The employee remains fully within the CSU umbrella
>>>in terms of pay, PERS, and management. Tom admitted that this arrangement
>>>was not the first choice of the corporate partners.
>>>
>>>Those of you who attended the meeting, and especially those who asked
>>>questions; THANK YOU. You did a great job.
>>>
>>>The satellite student union was relatively empty. Most notably absent were
>>>faculty. All though a few outspoken faculty reps were there, like Les,
>>>Otto, who spoke for education, and one engineering faculty, there were
>>>fewer than 10 other faculty in attendance.
>>>
>>>In spite of the assurances that this is an ongoing, fluid process, I contend
>>>that CETI has institutional inertia. It's easier to influence its course
>>>now, in the planning stages, rather than when it is an established behemoth.
>>>
>>>The budget committee demand to have a 6 month moratorium so that adequate
>>>consultation can occur has been ignored. Given that fact and the strong
>>>language of that statement, I was shocked by the absence of the faculty.
>>>When the CETI panel was asked to explain the short timeline we heard two
>>>very different answers... Industry partners said that it was for the
>>>purposes of securing capital funding and protecting the careers of the
>>>corporate presidents who put their business on the line, and Tom West, the
>>>CSU author of CETI said that the corporate partners were marching to the
>>>beat of CSU's drum, that we put a short timeline on them. Which story do we
>>>believe, if either?
>>>
>>>I received the email below from Lucy Williams, who is at the chancellor's
>>>office on the CSU side of CETI. He is responding to Les Pincu, who was a
>>>very outspoken faculty at yesterday's meeting. Les was tried very earnestly
>>>(didn't we all?!) to get some concrete answers from the CETI group and was
>>>given very evasive answers. I thought you tech folks would like to hear the
>>>response.
>>>
>>>>Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 23:36:48 -0700
>>>>From: Lucy Williams <dicklucy@gte.net>
>>>>Reply-To: dicklucy@gte.net
>>>>To: Bill Jones <wbj@dhvx20.csudh.edu>, Wang-chan Wong wwong@dhvx20.csudh.edu . . . Les Pincu <lesp@csufresno.edu>
>>>>Subject: Re: I'm worried!
>>>>
>>>>Les-
>>>>
>>>>If you are saying that these answers are nonresponsive, I agree (unless
>>>>they are only part of the answers given).
>>>>
>>>>Maybe I could give you more detail, if I knew the questions. Sometimes
>>>>the answer may depend upon ongoing negotiations. Remeber that CFA does
>>>>not give the faculty all the details of contract negatiations during the
>>>>negotiations. (As I understand it, that is because such revelations
>>>>might weaken the negotiating position.)
>>>>
>>>>Although the details of the organization and governance structure for
>>>>CETI are not yet agreed upon, it seems to me that you should know of
>>>>some of the possible structures as well as ones which we (as
>>>>individuals) would support. I would like to know what the faculty would
>>>>support. For example: How many members shoud there be on the board of
>>>>directors? How should the board of directors interface with the Board of
>>>>Trustees of the CSU? Should there be a faculty director? (I think yes.)
>>>>If so, how should the faculty representative(s) be selected? (I think by
>>>>the CSU Academic Senate or election. It might depend upon the number of
>>>>directors. If there are several faculty directors, they might be
>>>>selected by different methods. What do you think?) What about other
>>>>representative members (students, campuses, CE, etc)? At what level of
>>>>detail should the board be engaged? How often should the board meet?
>>>>Should board members be compensated? Should there be separate advisory
>>>>groups for each operational units (i.e. utilities services, commodities
>>>>and educational/training brokerage) or a single advisory group? Are all
>>>>activities of the operational units to be reviewed by the directors?
>>>>What authority should the advisory groups have? Should the CEO be an
>>>>officer of the CSU? CSU but on temporary loan to CETI? Are there
>>>>forbidden activities for CETI? Are there activities which require
>>>>faculty approval? I think the answer here must be yes. Otherwise I
>>>>cannot see how the faculty can retain control of curriculum, pedagogy
>>>>and intellectual property rights for class materials (as they must).
>>>>
>>>>Some questions do not require such urgent answers but should be
>>>>addresses soon because they will effect our decisions about the CETI
>>>>organization. Examples are: What are the exit conditions for CETI? Can
>>>>other groups join CETI? If so, how? (I hope so.) What protections are
>>>>there for current revenues producing activities at the campus level?
>>>>
>>>>Some questions cannot and should not be answered until we have the
>>>>organization in place. For example: Should there be a standard desk top
>>>>for administrative offices in 2004? If so, what should it be? What brand
>>>>of wire should we use in 2003? Should we go wireless in 2005? What word
>>>>processing software should be standard in 2006? Should there be a
>>>>standard presentation software in 2007? These are decisions which should
>>>>be made when we know the technology of the year when the activity takes
>>>>place. If we can get the organization right, maybe we can make the right
>>>>decision then.
>>>>
>>>>Please remember that we are discussing neither a procurement nor a
>>>>service contract. We are discussing a partnership, a long term
>>>>commitment to work together towards common goals. We must specify those
>>>>goals carefully. That is not only urgent but mandatory if the
>>>>partnership is to be of any help in closing resource gaps.
>>>>
>>>>Can you help me?
>>>>Dick
>>>>
>>>>Les Pincu wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> At today's meeting on the Fresno campus with the CETI representatives, in
>>>>> response to questions by faculty and staff, which attempted to pin down some
>>>>> of the specifics in the proposal, the following are some of the DIRECT
>>>>> quotes made by the CETI group:
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> THE SPECIFICS OF THAT HAVE NOT BEEN SETTLED.
>>>>>
>>>>> THERE'S NOTHING IN WRITING AT THIS POINT.
>>>>>
>>>>These would seem to be generic and true for almost everything. There is
>>>>no contract and the business plan is only suggested potential activities.
>>>>The suggested (and other) potentials might be cited.
>>>>
>>>>> WE CAN'T GIVE YOU AN ANSWER TODAY. WE NEED TO GET UNDER THE COVERS OF THIS.
>>>>Hmmm.. This sounds interesting! But, she may be putting you off, Les.
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> WE'VE GIVEN A LITTLE THOUGHT TO THIS AND WE WANT TO DISCUSS THIS WITH
>>>>> YOU AT GREATER LENGTH.
>>>>>
>>>>Did they give you any of those thoughts? Did you discuss further? If
>>>>not, and if the answer is urgent, your question about "when" seems apt.
>>>>
>>>>> NONE OF THIS IS IN CONCRETE. WE HAVE TO GO BACK UNDER THE ANALYSIS
>>>>> AND LOOK AT IT AGAIN.
>>>>>
>>>>If someone gave me this answer, I would want to provide information for
>>>>the new analysis.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> So I ask again, formally....When are we going to see (and consult on)
the
>>>>> SPECIFICS of the contractual agreement in a way that will allow for meaning
>>>>> interaction and substantive revision BEFORE it is signed? The details on
>>>>> this implementation agreement are even more important than the proposal
>>>>> itself, and the devil is in the details. The VERY short time-frame between
>>>>> now and the date set for contract agreement has me deeply worried.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>Charlotte Watson