Historical Notes - Seminars on Academic Computing

Creation and History of the Seminars and Board

A retrospective view from one of the founders: E. Rex Krueger, writing in April 1994 from the William C. Norris Institute in Bloomington, Minnesota. Updated in March 1999, and again in August 2002.

The Seminar on Academic Computing was actually started as a result of something the National Science Foundation did - or rather something it didn't do. In 1968, the Foundation sent out a mailing to selected individuals suggesting that directors of academic computing needed a training seminar. The NSF had reached that conclusion because most of its directors were recruited from the ranks of faculty, and few of them had much if any administrative/management experience.

The Foundation requested ideas for initiating the needed seminar. I was one of those who received a letter from the Foundation. I called Clair Maple, Iowa State University, and Bob Gillespie, University of Washington, and proposed that we send an informal proposal in response. Well, needless to say, the Foundation never responded. In fact, I called several months later and my contact there could not even locate the file.

Bob called me and urged that we do something even without NSF funding. Clair, Bob, and I discussed the possibilities and decided that we would initiate it on a self-supporting basis. We agreed to hold the seminar in Boulder, and my boss, the Provost at the University of Colorado, approved, with the understanding that if income was less than expense, the balance must come from the computing center budget.

Clair, Bob and I assembled a list of invitees and drafted a program. We set the budget break even with 41 in attendance. Forty-three attended that first seminar, held in 1970. The director of the University of Colorado budget was our principal speaker. His talk was titled: "The Computing Center Budget - Let's Hope its Growth is Benign." Clair, Bob, and I also gave talks.

Following the first successful seminar, we held a second in 1971. It also succeeded, and while planning for the third annual seminar, I began to look for a non-university location with meeting and housing facilities in close proximity. One of our secretaries suggested Snowmass, where she had worked. The ski resort was just beginning to expand its summer activities, so we were able to make arrangements easily.

Operations for the seminar moved from the University of Colorado to Oregon when I assumed a position there. The seminar operated through Continuing Education and then the Summer Session Office of Oregon State University, until SAC affiliated with CAUSE in 1997.

One of the early successful sessions involved a debate concerning the large computing center - was it going the way of the dinosaur? Along with a great deal of humor, the speakers covered important discussions on the evolution of technology. Much of what was discussed in that session has played a major role in shaping today's university and college computing environments. The early seminar programs strived to include topics that were forward looking. Artificial intelligence, microprocessors, and networks were all topics discussed in their early stages of development.

In 1971, the "Directory of Computing Facilities in Higher Education" was first published, providing an information resource of budget and general configuration information about university and college computing centers. This publication was expanded under the editorship of Charlie Warlick, University of Texas. It contributed significantly to the personal networking among the community of computing center directors.

In 1979, the seminar board decided that computing center directors needed more information about other university and college computing centers to assist them in their development. Bill Kehl, UCLA, took on this project as editor. The publication "Profiles on Academic Computing" included detailed information about fourteen public and private university computing centers. A second edition was published in 1982.

The University Executive Program was initiated in 1980 in response to requests for an executive-level program focusing on strategic issues in management of information technologies. Case studies derived from actual university situations formed the cornerstone of the early executive programs.

Early on, the seminar established itself as the place for those involved in academic computing to meet and discuss common issues. The seminar goes well beyond the technologies of computing and communications. It deals with all aspects of the computing center director's leadership role in the management, administration, fund raising, planning, application development and other matters pertaining to the use of technology in supporting education and research in the academic community.

In 1982, as I moved from higher education to industry, the board took the steps necessary for the ongoing operation of the seminar. Ben Mittman, Northwestern University, assumed the role of chair with the charge to establish a process for the board to rotate its membership. In addition, a program committee was established, which serves as preparation for members prior to taking a position on the Board. The continued and greatly expanded success of the seminar attests to a job well done.

The seminar's development to its current strategic position is a result of the commitment of many besides the three initiators. Included are the members of the Board who joined over time and served until 1982: Stoughton Bell, University of New Mexico; George Lake, University of Western Ontario; Charlie Warlick; Bill Kehl; Roy Reeves, Ohio State University; Dillon Mapother, University of Illinois; and Ben Mittman, Northwestern University. Of course, all of the faithful attendees, many of whom attended 10 or more seminars, contributed to the seminar's success. And much credit must also be given to the able and continuing support provided through the University of Colorado and Oregon State University, represented by Gerry Darr and Debbie Bird, respectively.

New Directors Seminar

The New Directors Seminar was created at the Board meeting in August, 1984, to (a) attract new attendees to SAC and (b) provide support for struggling new directors. The first session aimed at new directors, "Keeping Your Head Above...," was held on the Sunday preceding the SAC conference in 1985. The day was divided into four parts with four presenters:

"The Staff" - Jerry Niebaum, University of Kansas
"The Systems" - Glenn Harris, University of Western Ontario
"The Customers" - Marion (Frobish) Folkner, Bradley University
"The Boss" - John Hitt, Bradley University

Jerry Niebaum served as leader/coordinator for the first four years. In its first nine years, through 1993, over 225 "new" directors attended the New Directors Seminar.

CAUSE and EDUCAUSE

In 1997, the Seminars on Academic Computing became a CAUSE Affiliate, and CAUSE began to manage the SAC conference. A described Memorandum of Understanding described the relationship between SAC and CAUSE.

In 1998, the members of CAUSE and EDUCOM created a new consolidated association to galvanize thought and action at the intersection of higher education and information technology. SAC continues as an Affiliate of the new organization, EDUCAUSE, with a revised Memorandum of Understanding. The SAC Board functions independently from the EDUCAUSE Board, and maintains a separate program committee. A senior EDUCAUSE staff member serves ex officio on the SAC Board.

Noteworthy Dates

1970 - First Seminar on Academic Computing, Directors' Session only.
1971 - First "Directory of Computing Facilities in Higher Education" published.
1974 - Fifth annual seminar, first at Snowmass Village, Colorado.
1979 - First edition of "Profiles on Academic Computing" published, edited by Bill Kehl, UCLA.
1980 - First University Executive Program, coordinated by Andrew Grindley, University of Western Ontario.
1985 - First New Directors' Seminar, coordinated by Jerry Niebaum, University of Kansas.
1992 - Final "Directory of Computing Facilities in Higher Education" published, edited by Charlie Warlick, University of Texas.
1994 - First Experienced Directors' Retread Session, coordinated by Glenn Ricart, University of Maryland.
1994 - Final revision of SAC "Policy and Procedure Manual" by Debbie Bird, Oregon State University.
1997 - First seminar as CAUSE Affiliate.
1998 - Revision of SAC "Policy and Procedure Manual" by Barbara Morgan, University of California, Berkeley.
1999 - Revision of New Directors Seminar to target both new and continuing directors; renamed Practicum in IT Leadership.
1999 - SAC policies and procedures moved to the World Wide Web.

Clair Maple Memorial Address

The Clair Maple Memorial Address is the opening plenary session for the Directors Seminar. This history was written by George Strawn, then Iowa State University, (currently, National Science Foundation,) April 1994.

The Clair Maple Memorial Address is in memory of Clair George Maple (1916-1985), one of the founding fathers of the Seminars on Academic Computing.

Clair Maple grew up in Indiana, received the B.S. from Earlham College, and received the Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and again in the Korean War. Subsequently, he was active in the Naval Reserves, retiring as captain. He spent several years after World War II as a faculty member at North Texas State University and came to Iowa State University in 1949 as associate professor of mathematics. In 1963 he became director of the Iowa State Computation Center. He held that position until his death in 1985, which occurred while he was attending the Seminars on Academic Computing, an organization he had helped to create and for which he held great affection.

Clair Maple was a respected and well-loved member of the academic community, both on the Iowa State campus and around the United States. Among his many contributions to Iowa State are: administering the computation center for 22 years; organizing the computer science department and administering it until 1969; designing two computation center buildings (in the 1960s and again in the 1980s); and successfully arguing for and then designing a campus-wide data network in the 1980s. His gentlemanly manner and his accessibility endeared him to his Computation Center staff and to many faculty members and students. His technical and political savvy let him choose the right battles and win them.

Clair Maple also made many contributions to academic computing beyond Iowa State. In addition to helping found the Seminars on Academic Computing, he served on the EDUCOM Board and was elected Chair in 1984. He was awarded EDUCOM's Distinguished Service Award posthumously in 1985. One of his contributions - and perhaps his greatest pleasure - was made through his large circle of computing friends as a consultant and sounding board. He loved professional meetings like the Seminars on Academic Computing where he could meet with his friends and colleagues. He is missed by those friends and colleagues. They remember him fondly and carry his advice and counsel with them as they continue developing information technologies for higher education.

Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation

At the 1984 Board meeting, the issue of incorporation for SAC was debated, with personal liability for Board members as a primary concern. Priscilla Huston, Rice University; Robert Lutz, Drake University, and Bill Yundt, Stanford University, prepared complete Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation for an entity called Academic Computing Seminar Association, Inc. - a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation. These Bylaws were never ratified, and the Articles of Incorporation were never filed, but the work was excellent and much is still relevant to SAC's activities. Many of the ideas were incorporated into the 1997 Memorandum of Understanding between SAC and CAUSE. The MOU was expanded and revised with EDUCAUSE in 2001.

Service Mark

At the 1989 Board meeting, members passed a resolution that a service mark (superscript SM) would be noted on all Seminars on Academic Computing publicity brochures, rosters, and other permanent documents. We are an educational service, which is our "service mark class of distinction." The 1989 Board requested that brochures include this statement: "Seminars on Academic Computing and SAC are service marks of Seminars on Academic Computing." Apparently nothing formal was ever done about this.