The records of the University Committee on Computer Policy and Utilization (4 linear feet) cover the years from 1964 to 1979 and include reports, correspondence, minutes, and subject files. The records are divided into two series, Committee Files and EDUCOM Files. The records in both series are arranged in alphabetical order by topic.
The University Committee on Computer Policy and Utilization (UCCPU) was established in 1965. The UCCPU was founded on the recommendation of the Ad Hoc Computing Advisory Committee. The Ad Hoc Committee was set up to advise the vice president for research on the use of computers at the University of Michigan and was operational during 1964. Donald Katz was chairman of the committee and in turn became chairman of UCCPU. The UCCPU was composed of faculty members appointed from many units of the university for varying terms. The charge to UCCPU was to create policies for the university to adopt in matters relating to the selection, use, management, and potential use of computers in university programs of instruction and research. Although the committee was responsible for the three University of Michigan campuses, the majority of activity centered on computing at the Ann Arbor campus. The most important work of the committee was overseeing the change from a monolithic central computing center to a distributed network system of computing.
The first concern of UCCPU was to address the recommendations found in the Ad Hoc Committee's 1964 "Report on Machine Computation at the University." They included enlarging the central computing facility and acquiring a computer with online capabilities. UCCPU reviewed the bids received at the end of 1964 for a new computer. Its recommendation was to lease an International Business Machines (IBM) system 360 model 66m to be operational by 1967. This new system provided greatly expanded memory and online capabilities. At the same time the Michigan Terminal System (MTS) was created by the University's Computing Center to function as the operating system on the new IBM.
The committee also developed a policy to evaluate proposals for the acquisition of computing equipment or services. The goal was to maintain high standards of computing capabilities, in a cost effective manner, for the university as a whole. In addition, the committee undertook various surveys of computer equipment on campus, while looking at the future needs of the many units within the university.
The surveys aided the committee in meeting another of its charges, that of providing long-range planning and allocation recommendations for the orderly expansion of computing resources at the university. Originally, this charge only covered the Computing Center, the mission of which was educational and research computing. The center also examined university participation in implementing and overseeing educational computing networks such as Merit and EDUCOM. Merit is a computer network of Michigan universities that has been operational since 1971. EDUCOM is a non-profit corporation founded in 1964 by W. N. Hubbard, Jr., Alexander Barry, and James G. Miller, three faculty members at the University of Michigan. It was designed to promote collaboration in the development, operation, and use of technology in higher education and research. Emphasis was placed on computer technology, particularly networking, as a means of sharing physical and intellectual resources. A prototype computer network was organized by EDUCOM in 1975 with National Science Foundation grant support. EDUCOM also offers other services to member institutions such as discounts on computer hardware.
UCCPU's charge was enlarged in 1972 to create a planning strategy for the future of computing at the university. The 1970s brought many advances in computer technology to which the committee had to respond. The most important of these changes was the introduction of minicomputers. Traditionally all computing at the Ann Arbor campus occurred on the main frame computer located at the Computing Center. The minicomputer allowed for autonomous computers within individual units. Another technological change challenging the autonomy of the computing center was the emergence of computer networks. The committee tried to steer a middle ground between the use of a central computing facility and minicomputers. As part of this work, various subcommittees were established to study the impact of the minicomputer on campus. Software policy and computer ethics also were concerns during the 1970s as the production of software increased. In addition, the committee's charge of long-range planning and oversight was expanded. It began to oversee the Data Services Center, which was responsible for administrative computing, and the Hospital Data Services Center, which was created in 1974.
From the time of its establishment, UCCPU reported to the vice president for research, A. Geoffrey Norman until 1972 and Charles G. Overberger from 1972 to 1983. Donald L. Katz was the first chairman of the committee and served from 1965 to 1971. Gordon Nordby was his replacement and served until 1977. At the same time, Nordby also served in various positions with EDUCOM. UCCPU was disbanded in 1985 when the university's Information Technology Division was created.
