By Eileen K. McCluskey

Special to the Gazette

Harvard's Academic Council endorsed on Tuesday five proposed implementation steps to carry on the work of the University Committee on Information Technology (UCIT).

The UCIT was convened in 1996 to address information technology and its impact on academic planning, intellectual property, and partnerships at Harvard.

According to Provost Harvey Fineberg, "The proposed implementation steps are the result of a great deal of work by the Committee and extensive and thoughtful discussion in all of the schools. I'm pleased that so much has been accomplished and I look forward to leading these ongoing efforts."

The first implementation step, as recommended in UCIT's draft proposal of Dec. 1, 1997, is to form a standing committee on IT, to be chaired by Fineberg.

This standing committee will frame academic IT principles, policies and standards that have University-wide impact, and identify potential areas for collaboration. It will also coordinate the sharing of academic IT strategies, innovations, and solutions, as well as cross-faculty programs concerned with the implementation of IT for education. And it will consider establishing a cross-faculty academic initiative concerning the social, political, legal, economic, and technical issues raised by information technology.

The second step will be to designate a staff person in the Office of the Provost to coordinate the work of the IT standing committee.

Third among the endorsed recommendations is to revise the "Statement of Policy in Regard to Inventions, Patents and Copyrights" as recommended in UCIT's original report, which was released last May.

The policy's proposed revisions address such issues as consulting creators of works that are owned by the University regarding how the work is to be developed, made public, or commercialized. It also looks at privacy rights of individuals whose images may appear in potentially public works (such as videotaped class discussions).

In addition, this policy more clearly defines substantial University involvement in the creation of a work -- (substantial use of University funds or other resources, significant creative contribution by staff or students, or use of the name or insignia of Harvard or its units to identify or promote the product) -- as the determining factor for the University's rights of ownership.

Fourth, a policy on the use of Harvard names and insignia will be approved and established. The policy is designed to ensure that implied association with the University is accurate. It also addresses issues such as assuring that the University shares fairly in the economic value that the use of its name produces.

The UCIT's fifth recommendation is for follow-up on areas needing further discussion, particularly regarding policies and procedures needed to enable relations with outside organizations. The objective will be to develop a governance structure that will clarify and interpret policies, and that will ensure more responsive procedures.

Anne Margulies, assistant provost for Information Systems and a member of the Committee, says "the UCIT and its subcommittees worked with a tremendous collegiality and energy. The issues they researched, discussed, and articulated are of critical importance to many in the University community. In many ways, these steps are just the beginning."