STATE OF ILLINOIS BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Item #10CFebruary 2, 1999STATE OF ILLINOISBOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATIONA STATUS REPORT ON THE YEAR 2000 PREPAREDNESSAT ILLINOIS COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIESWill colleges and universities in Illinois be ready to deal with the computer related year 2000 (Y2K) problem? Illinois higher education appears positioned to meet the Y2K problem without significant disruption of key operations, but some institutions are more prepared than others which indicates that more work remains to be done. Newspaper and magazine articles have discussed the Y2K problem, its potential impact on businesses, and the costs associated with finding and correcting programs that will remain in use past the Y2K. This sort of publicity is important because the problem has significant effects beyond just the information systems community.The Year 2000 ProblemThe Y2K problem is not primarily a technical problem. As atechnical problem, Y2K is relatively easy to solve. As a managementproblem, it’s an enormous challenge. Margaret Krohl of the University ofIllinois defined the problem:“The Y2K problem is a collection of several related problems, themost common occurring because many systems allow only two digits to identify a year (such as 95 for a birth year), and assume a century of 19. This approach - used in many older computersystems - was taken because early on, computer storage was veryexpensive. Saving two digits in every date field has been a widelyaccepted technique that worked fine when all dates fall within the same century. A system that records a student’s birth date as 3/16/80 can calculate that student's age easily by subtracting the birth year (80) from the current year (99). When the current year becomes 00, the student's age becomes negative, and the calculation will fail.Similarly, sorting dates according to a two-digit year fails when dates reach 2000because records containing 00 will be placed before the 80s even though the Y2K is later than 1980.”Problems With Embedded MicroprocessorsMuch of the media’s attention has focused on the older or legacy information systems written in languages such as COBOL, but identifying and correcting embedded systems may present the biggest challenge. An embedded system is any system or piece of equipment that contains a microprocessor embedded in it. Among the systems that may have embedded microprocessors are office and mobile equipment such as telephone systems, fax machines,copiers, time recording systems, personal computers, mobile telephones, and video and still cameras. Building systems also have embedded microprocessors such as backup power and lighting, fire control systems, heating and ventilating, lifts, escalators, elevators, security systems,security cameras, door locks, safes and vaults. Since there are hundreds of these types of devicesat colleges and universities, just testing these devices for Y2K compliance will be a labor-intensive task.Technology Task Force Preliminary ReportOn July 30, 1998, Governor Jim Edgar signed Public Act 90-666, which created “The Year 2000 Technology Task Force Act.”The Task Force was charged with delivering to the Governor and General Assembly a Preliminary Report of findings and recommendations by November 30, 1998. The Act creates a Task Force to:•assess the current status of Y2K compliance within State and local government;•analyze and prioritize corrective measures that must be taken to become Y2K compliant;•prepare an estimated timetable for completing these corrective measures;•estimate the fiscal impact for completing these corrective measures; and•conduct additional inquiries or studies as deemed appropriate.Board staff is working cooperatively with the Illinois Year 2000 Technology Task Force staffed by the Department of Central Management Services (CMS). In October 1998, a CMS survey on Y2K was sent to colleges and universities (the results are shown in Table 1). Table 1 also contains the results from the Year 2000 Technology Task Force preliminary report published in November 1998.The response rate to the Y2K assessment survey for community colleges was 69 percent (33 of 48 responded) and 100 percent for universities. Key findings from the Year 2000 Technology Task Force Preliminary Report included:•survey responses indicate public universities and community colleges understand the Y2K issue, are aware of the implications of a failure, and have assigned anindividual or group to deal with the problem;•For public universities, determining financial costs and funding strategies appears to be the main weakness;•All community colleges responding indicated they understand the issue, are aware of the implications of a Y2K failure, and nearly all have assigned an individual orproject team to lead the effort;•slightly more that half (52%) of the community colleges have a detailed action plan;55% have determined the financial costs or funding strategies needed to respond tothe issue; and fewer than half (41%) of the colleges have addressed electronic datainterchanges;•approximately two-thirds of the community colleges have not inventoried their embedded systems or have begun to prepare contingency plans.Table 1Year 2000 Assessment Survey for Public Colleges and UniversitiesPublic Universities Community CollegesSurvey Questions %Yes%No%NR%Yes%No%NR1Do you understand the Y2K Problem?10000100002Have you assigned an individual or team to address Y2K issues withinyour organization?1000094333Is your organization aware of the potential financial, legal andoperational complications related to Y2K, and the implications of aY2K failure?1000094334Does your organization have an action plan, including a detailedschedule for its implementation with periodic status reporting?80200523995Have you determined the financial costs and funding strategies neededto successfully respond to your Y2K problem(s)?50500553966Has your organization prepared a detailed, prioritized inventory of yourcomputer hardware, software, and business applications that need to bereviewed for Y2K vulnerability?10000613367Have you identified and developed plans to address all electronic dataexchanges (interfaces) with federal, governmental entities, other schools,and private businesses?8000365868Have you contacted your suppliers and service providers about Y2Kand are they actively working on solutions?801010613639Has your organization prepared a detailed, prioritized inventory of yourembedded systems (including lab and research equipment) andinfrastructure components (building systems) that need to be fixed dueto Y2K?8010103064610Have you begun to prepare contingency plans in the event that yourcomputer systems, building systems, or external infrastructure fail onJanuary 1, 2000?9010036586 NR – Non respondingSurvey results indicated universities are at different stages in theY2K compliance project and are using different approaches to theproblem. Universities indicated that they identified Y2K compliance asa top priority, inventoried affected systems and developed detailed plansto deal with the Y2K problem. At this point it is estimated thatuniversities have completed 50 to 75 percent of the tasks necessary toassure compliance of key systems and operations and they expect to befinished by the end of the year. A total of 121 staff years were estimatedto complete the Y2K effort while 37 total staff years remain. Amonguniversities, a total cost of $12,254,714 was reported for the Y2K effortwith a balance of $6,122,600 remaining to be spent.In response to a June 1998 survey, Southern Illinois Universityreported that “SIU’s concerted efforts to inventory technology, computing and other, for Y2K compliance, …demonstrates a well-coordinated, on-target strategy for ensuring that January 1, 2000 will cause only minor disruption to SIU’s students, faculty and staff and no disruption inany mission-critical business applications.”The University of Illinois indicated they began planning and work on the Y2K problem four years ago. They identified 138 system elements that needed to be analyzed for Y2K compliance. Currently 103 system elements are Y2K compliant. According to campus reports, “Our current plans and resource allocations are arranged to complete the remainder of these areas in FY99.”Universities are using the Y2K as an opportunity to replace or upgrade older systems. At Illinois State University, a financial information system implemented in July 1998 is Y2K compliant. Eastern Illinois University plans to use existing staff and resources to address the Y2K problem. Non-compliant equipment will be replaced or eliminated.Year 2000 Compliance at the Board of Higher EducationBoard of Higher Education staff is working to ensure Y2K compliance by the end of the year for all information systems maintained at the Board. Board staff have taken the following steps:•Staff began planning for the Y2K problem several years ago. Being aware of the problem and completing planning activities early has helped to minimize the difficulty of compliance.The Board staff is using the Illinois 2000 Planning Guide distributed by Central Management Services to help prepare to the planning, strategy, and implementation phases of Y2K.•The staff completed a detailed inventory that documented 27 different information systems used at the Board. The inventory included a system description, estimated annual costs, supported business practices, hardware and software platforms, and number of users and customers.•The Board staff also completed an assessment inventory of all information systems. The assessment information includes the Y2K strategy, the modification method, system priority, system failure date, system failure severity, system life expectancy and estimated FTE and costs.• A solutions design and planning report was completed which lists major milestone planning dates for solution and design, remediation, validation, certification and implementation. The Board staff continues to complete quarterly planning reports on progress being made on the Y2K project.•As of January 1999, the Board staff estimated it was 60 percent complete on the Y2K compliance project and should be complete with Y2K compliance project by the end of the year.SummaryPublic universities and community colleges continue to aggressively address Y2K issues and current preparedness and update information systems and embedded systems to ensure uninterrupted campus operations. From survey results, it appears colleges and universities are aware of the Y2K issues and are preparing accordingly. The biggest problems universities face is determining funding strategies to deal with the Y2K problem. Community colleges face challenges in dealing with embedded systems. The Board of higher education staff needs to continue to work on the Y2K compliance project to ensure completion by the end of the year. The Board will continue to monitor progress made by colleges and universities and maintain contact with the universities on Y2K issues.ReferencesBair, Linda (1998). “Response from IBHE Year 2000 Survey of Public Universities,”January 1999Krohl, Margaret (1998). “Planning For 2000,”University of Illinois Homepage, December, 1998 [/Y2K/y2k.html]Kupferschmid, Don (1998). Year 2000 Embedded Systems Seminar, Illinois State Museum, September 29, 1998Southern Illinois University (1998), “University-wide: Year 2000 Compliance,”June 1998 Year 2000 Technology Task Force (1998), Preliminary Report, November 1998[/cms/y2k/]。