Terms of Reference - Working draft

College of Micronesia-FSM

INFORMATION COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE

Terms of Reference

A. Authority

As a subcommittee of the Planning and Resources Committee, the Information Communications Technology Committee operates through the authority of and reports to the President through the chairperson of the­­­­ Planning and Resources Committee.  Recommendations from the committee are submitted through the chairperson of the Planning and Resources Committee to the President for action.

B. Purpose 

The Information Communications Technology Committee advises the President on matters relating to technology issues for the college.

C. Membership

The members of the Information Communications Technology Committee are:

• Director, Information Technology
• Director,  Research and Planning
• Director, Vocational, Community and Continuing Education
• Director, Development and Community Relations
• Director, Learning Resources Center or designee
• Director, Maintenance and Security or designee
• Campus Director or designee (5)
• Admissions and Records representative
• Cooperative Research and Extension representative
• Senior Information Technology staff member
• Faculty/Staff Senate representative (2)
• Student Body Association representative

At the beginning of the academic year, the Faculty/Staff Senate recommends ­­the two Senate representatives; the Student Body Association the one student representative; Campus Directors the campus representative; and the division/office heads their representative.  The President then appoints the representative members based on the recommendations.

A staff from the Information Technology office serves as the committee secretary.

Responsibilities of committee members are to:

• Regularly prepare for and attend committee meetings;
• Actively participate in meetings; and
• Share information on committee discussions, recommendations and decisions with and gather input from their area of representation.

D. Organization

The Director of Information Technology chairs the Information Communications Technology Committee.  The chairperson’s responsibilities are to:

• Preside over meetings;
• Ensure the terms of reference for the committee are met and matters brought before the committee are judiciously addressed;
• Prepare and distribute the agenda prior to each meeting; and
• Ensure committee minutes, reports, and recommendations are completed and appropriately disseminated in a timely manner.

A vice chairperson is elected at the beginning of the academic year. The responsibilities of the vice chairperson are to:

• Preside over meetings in the absence of the chair; and
• Assist the chairperson with the above responsibilities.

The responsibilities of the secretary are to:

• Take and prepare accurate minutes;
• Distribute and post the minutes in a timely manner; and
• Record attendance of committee members.

E. Meetings

Meetings are held at least quarterly.  The schedule is determined at the beginning of each academic term.  The chairperson may call special meetings or upon consent of the majority of the members reschedule the regular meetings.  Meetings may be held face-to-face or via teleconferences or other communication technologies.  Twenty-five percent of members present constitute a quorum for discussion purposes.  A majority vote of all members is required to act on a motion.   Electronic voting may be utilized when necessary.  Results of electronic voting are to be documented in the next committee meeting minutes. 

F. Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Information Communications Technology Committee are to:

• Develop or revise policies and/or procedures assigned to or identified by the committee;
• Advise on request for usage of technology fee funds;
• Develop and maintain the technology plan for the COM-FSM system;
• Coordinate information and communications technology provisions throughout the College to maximize its effectiveness;
• Recommend career development and training needs of ICT support personnel
• Recommend the information communications technology resources required to implement the Colleges strategic plan; and
• Review and recommend a preferred vendor list for technology purchases for the College.
• Review assessments/evaluations of information technology services and make recommendations.

G. Communications & Distribution of Information

Agenda items may be submitted to the chairperson by other members, other committees, or the President.  The chairperson compiles the agenda and forwards it to committee members prior to meetings. 

All meetings are to have minutes which are to be distributed electronically within three working days of the meeting to members for their review.  Members are to comment within the next three working days.  The minutes are officially adopted at the next meeting.  The Information Technology office then distributes the official minutes to all committee members and to the President.  The Information Technology office maintains a file on official Information Communications Technology Committee minutes.

Following each meeting, the chairperson informs all concerned of decisions or forwards recommendations from the committee to the President through the chairperson of the Planning and Resources Committee.   The chairperson also updates the members of the action taken on the committee’s recommendations.

Committee members convey concerns and input on current issues from their respective areas to the committee.  They also discuss the issues being addressed by the committee and share committee minutes with the community they represent.

H. Representation by Proxy

The college is actively working to improve its technical capacity to allow remote participation of members of the committee.  Until that is achieved, remote members of the committee may select a proxy to act in their stead.  Proxies must be regular employees of the college and reside on the island where the meeting is held.  Committee members may not serve as a proxy.

Responsibilities of proxies are to:

• Attend committee meetings and perform the functions of a member in his/her absence;
• Communicate regularly with the committee member to clarify the member’s view on issues and provide post-meeting feedback; and
• Vote on behalf the member.

When a proxy misses three meetings, the chairperson informs the committee member.  A new proxy may be selected.  When the committee member is able to attend a meeting, the member attends and keeps the proxy advised of the activities at that meeting (reversing the roles).

(10/15/07)