The United Student Government (USG) heard from Tim Wilson, the director of the IT department, in their meeting on Nov. 4. The meeting was chaired by the President Pro-Tempore Grace Tyler Frank-Rempel, as Vice President Alexa Lake was absent.

Wilson discussed changes to come to IT, changes to Point Park’s cyber security and he offered answers to questions that different senators had.

Wilson explained that IT would be utilizing “$1.5 million plus” to carry out a three-year plan to improve the performance of IT resources.

Wilson first addressed a future revamp to IT’s  “core infrastructure.” He stated that the ordering process for new equipment to replace old infrastructure equipment was currently underway. He stated that much of the infrastructure was nearly a decade old.

“Things have changed in the last 10 years. We need to change with it,” Wilson said.

Wilson stated that another part of the three year plan, which Wilson stated would most likely take place during year two, would be changes to the university’s Wi-Fi system. He stated that the university would be moving towards a “hospitality” model for Wi-Fi, with a Wi-Fi access port located in every student dorm, with the hopes that students would “protect it with their lives.”

Wilson also discussed upgrades that would be made towards cyber security, as well as the university’s desire to move away from paying Comcast for cable service, as a quick survey of the room revealed that most students stream content rather than watch cable.

He added that these changes would be made not only for students, but to stay within government regulations for campus security.

Senators did have some questions and problems for Wilson to address. The first of which was in regards to the computer labs in Thayer Hall. While they are supposed to be available to students 24/7, President Berlin and several other members present assured Wilson that the computers in the open area go into a “Deep Freeze” until 6 a.m. the next morning.

Berlin also brought up the fact that IT has been resetting students’ passwords without asking for their Point Park identification first, making it possible for students to change the passwords of other students.

Senator Dennis McDermott expressed concern over the fact that some students were being rerouted to MSN once they logged in, which was causing computers to say that the Point Park login page was unsafe.

Wilson encouraged students that were facing IT problems to report it to the Help Desk so they could become aware of the issue.

“I was overjoyed that we were able to talk to Tim about the filthiness of the computers and the fact that  students are being locked out of their own accounts,” Berlin said after the meeting.

After Wilson’s visit, Recording Secretary Jordyn Hronec said that all 87 of the complaints received at the Come Complain! event were available in the USG office for senators interested in reading and trying to solve them. Art 4 Impact, a club focused on using art to help the community, was also recognized by USG.

The Rules Committee presented several new By-Laws at the meeting, all of which passed. Resolution B11042019 requires that all senators’ office hours be specific and posted publicly by the President Pro-Tempore. This passed unanimously.

Resolution B11042019.1 resolved to increase the office hours of the President from four to ten, and the office hours of the Vice President from four to nine. Parliamentarian Jess Wrzosek explained that this resolution was drafted in response to an audit of compensated USG positions that occurred the previous year. This resolution passed unanimously.

Resolution B11042019.2 resolved to change the wording in the constitution from “office hours” to “work hours.” This was done in order to allow senators to conduct USG-related work outside of the office, such as attending various club meetings. This resolution passed unanimously.

Resolution B11042019.3 required the President Pro-Tempore to inform senators of their attendance records for legislative body meetings and committee meetings, in addition to their progress in completing their required work time. This resolution passed unanimously.

Resolution B11042019.4 resolved that it would be the responsibility of the Rules Committee Vice Chair to keep track of the Club Engagement spreadsheet, started by Parliamentarian Wrzosek this year. This resolution passed unanimously.

Resolution C11042019 stated that the “Members” section of the constitution shall be revised to state that the legislative body shall be composed of six elected members from each school as well as a delegate section of representatives from the Graduate Students Association of Point Park. This section would be composed of an additional six seats, and that the delegates will retain voting privileges but must abstain from votes having to do with allocation of the Student Activities fee, as graduate students do not pay this fee. This resolution passed unanimously.

With the resolutions passed and effectively in place, the meeting was dismissed and it was announced that the next meeting would be held on Monday in the JVH.

DISCLOSURE: Jordyn Hronec is the Editor-Elect of The Globe