Williams accepts Vanderbilt posts

David Williams II, vice president for student and urban/community affairs at Ohio State, has been appointed vice chancellor, general counsel and secretary of Vanderbilt University. He also will serve as a professor of law.

The appointment was announced June 2 by E. Gordon Gee, chancellor of Vanderbilt and former president of Ohio State. Williams will serve in his current position until the end of July.

"David Williams has been a wise and valued counselor for me during my two years here at Ohio State," President Kirwan said."He is an enormously talented administrator, a fine legal scholar and teacher, and an outstanding role model and mentor for our students. David has brought new energy and creativity to our student affairs activities, he has helped to guide our athletics program to high levels of achievement, and he has been instrumental in helping to advance our High Street revitalization to the point where major improvement is about to take place. All of us at Ohio State, and indeed, in central Ohio, owe David deep appreciation for what he has done."

In his new role, Williams will be Vanderbilt's chief legal officer. He will direct the Office of General Counsel and the Office of Risk Management, and will oversee activities related to the university's board of trust.

Williams has been at Ohio State since 1986, when he was named an assistant professor of law. He served as vice provost for minority affairs from June 1992 to August 1993. He achieved the rank of professor in 1995. In 1993, Gee named Williams as vice president for student affairs.

Kirwan said a nationwide search will be conducted to find a successor to Williams.

National Science Foundation honors 11 at OSU

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently honored 11 Ohio State students when it awarded its Graduate Research Fellowships for the year 2000. Five undergraduate students and two alumnae received full fellowships, and two students and two alumni received honorable mentions.

"These awards highlight the efforts of students who ardently pursue the many educational and research opportunities available at Ohio State, and who attain excellence on a national level. We are very proud of these students and look forward to their future success in their chosen fields," said Mary Ellen Jenkins, assistant dean in the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences.

NSF Graduate Research Fellowships provide a stipend of $16,200 yearly for full-time graduate study to outstanding college and university students who wish to pursue graduate degrees in any science discipline. NSF also provides an annual cost-of-education allowance of $10,500 in lieu of all tuition and required fees at U.S. institutions.

Honorable mentions were given to 946 students. Those students plus the 850 awardees are eligible to use supercomputer resources provided by the NSF-sponsored Partnerships for Advanced Computational Infrastructure.

Fellowship recipients are:

• Ryan Barnett, senior, worked with Linn Van Woerkom, associate professor of physics at Ohio State. He plans to pursue a doctorate in physics at Harvard University.

• Matthew Dorsten, senior, worked with Richard Furnstahl, associate professor of physics. He plans to study physics at the California Institute of Technology.

• Amy Eitel, senior, worked with Shive Chaturvedi, associate professor of civil engineering. She plans to study structural engineering at Case Western Reserve University.

• Lori King, alumna, worked with Craig Jenkins, professor of sociology. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in sociology at Stanford University.

• Matthew Oliver, senior, worked with Elizabeth Marschall, associate professor of evolution, ecology and organismal biology. He is considering working in computer science or pursuing a graduate degree.

• Mary Paster, alumna, worked with David Odden, professor of linguistics, and will continue studying African languages at the University of California, Berkeley.

• Sarah Waterson, senior, worked with Bruce Weide, professor of computer and information science, and will study human-computer interaction and information visualization at UC Berkeley.

Honorable mention recipients are: Gerald Dalley, senior, studied computer vision with Patrick Flynn, associate professor of electrical engineering; John Freed, senior, worked with David Hart, professor of chemistry; Eric Katz, alumnus, majored in mathematics and minored in physics; and Jason Rohde, alumnus, worked with Jonathan Parquette, assistant professor of chemistry.

Computing resources policy clarifies usage

A new Universitywide computing resources policy has been approved that defines the appropriate use of computing resources and outlines steps to protect campus community members' privacy.

The Policy on Responsible Use of University Computing Resources covers computer users' rights and responsibilities, relying primarily on generally applicable laws, policies and enforcement mechanisms to establish expectations and guidelines.

Development of the policy began several years ago after the enactment of the Communications Decency Act (CDA), which would have required the University to impose strict controls on Internet access. Although that law was later ruled unconstitutional, the changing legal landscape made clear that University computing use policies needed to be updated. The policy that subsequently was developed has been shared with universities nationwide and has served as a model for a number of other institutions developing their own policies.

The policy follows the principle that cyberspace is not a separate legal jurisdiction and does not necessarily require a separate set of guidelines.

According to Ohio State Associate Legal Counsel Steve McDonald,"Any action that would be illegal or in violation of University policy in the off-line world is just as illegal or in violation of University policy when it occurs on-line. The fact that a computer is involved really makes no difference."

In general, the policy states that users of computing resources must:

• Comply with all federal, Ohio, and other applicable laws, all generally applicable University rules and policies, and all applicable contracts and licenses.

• Use only those computing resources they are authorized to use and only in the manner and to the extent authorized.

• Respect the privacy of other users and their accounts, regardless of whether those accounts are securely protected.

• Respect the finite capacity of those resources and limit use so as not to consume an unreasonable amount or to interfere with the activity of others.

• Refrain from using those resources for commercial purposes or for financial or other gain.

• Refrain from stating or implying they speak on behalf of the University without authorization.

• Refrain from using University trademarks and logos without authorization.

The policy contains a provision that protects privacy by restricting the monitoring of individual users and their accounts to only those situations when it is required by law, necessary to respond to emergency situations, or authorized in advance by the chief information officer based on specified reasons. The Web version also provides links to information on related issues such as copyrights and intellectual property, libel and slander, and electronic privacy and computer abuse laws. The text of the policy and a set of frequently asked questions are available on the Web at www.cio.ohio-state.edu/policies.

McDonald, Steve Gordon of the Ohio Supercomputer Center and City and Regional Planning, and Bob Kalal of University Technology Services drafted the policy, which was reviewed by Ohio State's computing and technology advisory committees, widely circulated to campus units for comment, and then approved by the provost, vice presidents and University leaders.

Patterson heads communications & marketing for the Office of the CIO.

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