The university plans to spend around $300,000 to hire a consultant for a new network design.

Mihir Chatterji, the recently appointed assistant vice president for information technology services, discussed a new network infrastructure with the Faculty Senate at Tuesday’s meeting.

Faculty Senate members voiced complaints about the current infrastructure, including extreme slowness and frequent server failures.

Chatterji said he is committed to bringing the university’s system up to modern standards, but requires the expertise of a consultant to make recommendations for a new design.

Jeff Cooley, vice president for business affairs, said a consultant can be paid for with deferred maintenance dollars, since the university’s network has been deferred maintenance for some time.

An expert with a knowledge of electrical engineering and construction is needed for the project, Cooley said.

Information technology services, Chatterji said, is thoroughly examining these problems now, but is having a difficult time figuring out the source of the problem.

“We have a rather fragile network at this point,” Chatterji said. “It’s hard to isolate and prevent these issues because of our current ‘band-aid’ situation.”

The “band-aid” situation Chatterji referred to is the way the university has been dealing with the outdated network.

Cooley said technology has changed four times since Eastern installed the current network, and information technology systems has been having a difficult time patching up problems with the infrastructure.

Chatterji said the infrastructure that’s already built is based on different technology, and the university is not just looking to “put more gas in it.”

Once proposals have been evaluated and a price for a consultant has been set, action on an upgrade can begin, Chatterji said. The project will be “all-encompassing” and will require a complete rewiring of the system.

Cooley said he had put in a $6 million technology fund request with the Illinois Board of Higher Education for a system revamp, but because of the bad economy, the request was denied. He said he will keep applying and hopes to get enough cash to begin construction in the summer.

The type of system to be installed will depend on the consultant’s recommendations and the resources available, and Cooley said it’s important to keep some sort of network up while a new one is put in, which might last a while.

“I promise to improve (the network),” Chatterji said. “But I have to beg for your patience for maybe even another year.”

A new item concerning increased student participation on faculty search committees was pulled from the Faculty Senate’s agenda at Tuesday’s meeting.

Ronnie Deedrick, student vice president for academic affairs, presented the senate with the resolution last week. The Student Senate approved the resolution two weeks ago, but Deedrick said the resolution has not received a lot of support.

After speaking to four deans, Deedrick said they were uncomfortable with setting a mandate for students to be included on faculty search committees, although some departments already include students in searches.

The issue is not going to happen right now, Deedrick said, and the Student Senate is looking to form a committee, with volunteers from Faculty Senate, to discuss long-term plans to “phase in” student involvement in faculty searches.