Skip to main content

Academic Council Committee on Academic Computing and Information Systems (C-ACIS)

The Committee on Academic Computing and Information Systems (C-ACIS) shall formulate policies concerning the computing and information systems of the university to meet the academic and administrative needs of the faculty, students, and academic staff. It shall also review the implementation of these policies. 

Read the C-ACIS charge.

Committee Roster

NameCommittee RoleDepartment
Stephen B. Montgomery ChairGenetics and Pathology and of Biomedical Data Science
Nima AghaeepourFaculty MemberAnesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
Eric AppelFaculty MemberMaterials Science and Engineering
Adam BonicaFaculty MemberPolitical Science
Mike CherryFaculty MemberGenetics
Grace GaoFaculty MemberAeronautics and Astronautics
Ashish GoelFaculty MemberManagement Science and Engineering 
Ken HaraFaculty MemberAeronautics and Astronautics
Manish SaggarFaculty MemberPsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
TBDPostdoc Member 
Bolu AminuStudent MemberUndergraduate, Computer Science
TBDStudent Member 
TBDStudent Member 

Non-Voting Members

NameCommittee RoleDepartment
John WillinskyCo-Opted Chair, C-LIBGraduate School of Education 
Michael KellerEx OfficioUniversity Librarian and Director of Acad. Info. Res., Stanford University Libraries
Steve GallagherEx OfficioChief Information Officer

Staff Members

NameCommittee RoleDepartment
Megan FisherStaff MemberExecutive Assistant, University IT
Nancy WareStaff MemberChief of Staff, University IT

Upcoming Meetings

Discussion Topic Proposals

C-ACIS welcomes proposals for topics of discussion from anyone in the Stanford community. To propose a discussion topic, fill out a copy of the linked Discussion Document and send it to Nancy Ware (nware@stanford.edu), who will add it to the C-ACIS files and forward it to the committee. 

You can view discussion documents from previous meetings for examples of how to fill it out. The goal of these documents is to structure the committee’s discussion. You can assume that everyone on the committee has read the document when the topic is discussed: we do not typically use slide decks in meetings.

If you have any questions or need guidance, please reach out to the C-ACIS Chair Stephen Montgomery (smontgom@stanford.edu), who is happy to help.

Propose a discussion topic

Past Meetings

In the section below, review past agendas, discussion papers, etc. Click on the agenda topic to access discussion papers related to the topic. 

  1. Welcome
    Stephen Montgomery
  2. Student Forum
    Stephen Montgomery/Steve Gallagher

    • Question to the students: If you could change 2 things about IT at Stanford, what would it be and why?

  3. WiFi Improvements
    Keith Agosta/Ganesh Karkala
  4. Admin Guide & IT Security Standards Modernization
    Amy Steagall/Shawn Kim/Annie Stevens

    • What unique faculty concerns should be considered when developing or revising security policies, especially with respect to academic freedom or research integrity?

    • Would C-ACIS members like to participate in the feedback and review of the policy and standards and how?

    • What strategies should be employed to communicate new and revised policies to faculty, staff, and students?

  1. Welcome
    Stephen Montgomery
  2. URL Defense
    Amy Steagall

    • I am requesting C-ACIS support in moving from the current opt-in URL Defense policy to automatically enabling URL Defense for all University email users by default, while rigorously maintaining the key requirements previously set forth by C-ACIS

  3. 2025-2026 Topics Discussion
    Stephen Montgomery
  1. Welcome
    Phil Levis
  2. Google Drive Access Settings
    Peter Chaydez
    • Can we broaden who counts as “Stanford University” in Google Drive access settings to include people at the  law school and other affiliates?
  3. Transfer Credit Automation
    Brian Conrad
    • The new transfer credit portal that the Registrar’s Office rolled out this Fall includes a database of external courses at other institutions that have been approved for transfer credit, so when the same course is submitted by a subsequent student can the approval process be more automated?
  4. Guidance to Senate Steering Committee Regarding AAUP Letter to Faculty Senate
    Phil Levis
    • Does C-ACIS have a recommendation regarding the third request in the letter, that Stanford “To do its utmost to safeguard personal data of community members in line with Stanford’s stated policy, and to inform them immediately of any request for their data by an outside party.”?
  5. Public Access Research Initial Report
    Mike Dunne
  1. Welcome
    Phil Levis 
  2. Zoom Captions and Transcripts
    Sam Steinhardt and Steve Gallagher
    • Do the members of C-ACIS have clarifications  or concerns regarding these planned changes to Zoom, to only allow a Host to approve captions and download them through a recording
  3. Target Course Enrollment Conflict Management Revisit
    Chris Gregg and Brian Conrad
    • Should the Registrar block registration of two courses that have overlapping finals if both of them have opted-in that their final is unmovable
  4. NIST 800-171 Questions
    Stephen Montgomery
    • Do Stanford Researchers’ processes and security policies need to change in response to the updated January 25th NIH Security Best Practices for Users of Controlled-Access Data, and if so, how?
  5. Public Access Research Update
    Mike Dunne
  1. Welcome
    Phil Levis 
  2. Target Course Enrollment Conflict Management (Additional Discussion Document)
    Moses Charikar and Brian Conrad
    • Should the course enrollment system block concurrent student enrollment in certain courses with conflicting finals periods?
  3. Public Access Research and Update
    Mike Dunne
    • By Q3 agree what changes are needed to Stanford policies and data storage/access mechanisms in order to ensure compliance with the OSTP memo on access to federally funded research data
  1. Welcome
    Phil Levis 
  2. Updated Guidance from Feds re: Public Access Research & Update from Research Infrastructure Subgroup
    Mike Dunne
  3. Charter Suggestions Discussion and Vote
    Phil Levis
    • Should the C-ACIS charge be updated as described?
  4. AI Report Discussion and Vote
    Phil Levis
    • Does C-ACIS support the proposed recommendations?
  5. Power Provisioning
    Andrej Krevl
    • How should Stanford approach addressing long-term power needs to support computational research?
  1. Welcome
    Phil Levis 
  2. C-ACIS Charge
    Phil Levis
    • Do we suggest any changes, updates, or rewrites of the C-ACIS Charter?
  3. AI, Privacy, and Surveillance
    Phil Levis, Zakir Durumeric, Dan Boneh
    • Closed session at request of report authors. Discussion paper shared privately within the committee
  4. Student Panel
    Moderated by Phil Levis. Student Participants: Edward Garcia Cortez (CS, undergrad), Louise Li (Math, Junior), Nathan Mohit (CS, undergrad)
    • Question to the students: If you could change 2 things about IT at Stanford, what would they be and why?
  1. Welcome
    Phil Levis 
  2. Public Access Research
    Phil Levis, Mike Dunne, and Tom Cramer
    • In the context of upcoming federal mandates for public access to federally funded research, what are the major weaknesses or emerging challenges in Stanford’s computing support for archiving and stewardship of research data and results?
  3. 2024-2025 Topics Discussion 
    Phil Levis
  1. Welcome
    Phil Levis 
  2. OAE Accommodation 
    Keith Winstein and Shelley Hou
    • Should the university commit resources to build and operate such a website?
  3. 2FA Kerberos 
    Paul Nuyujukian, David Mazières, Scotty Logan, Andrej Krevl, Armand Capote, Sriram Krovvidi, and Kilian Cavalotti
    • Should Stanford deploy an MIT Kerberos service that provides 2FA for Kerberos?
  4. Year in Review 
    Phil Levis 
  5. Computer Hardware Purchasing 
    Paul Nuyujukian, Zakir Durumeric, Anne Sweeney, Raina Rose Tagle, Brad Immanuel, Kim Seidler, and Jeff Barkow
    • Can research hardware be exempt from the purchasing policy and Jamf preinstallation?
  1. Welcome
    Phil Levis 
  2. ASSU Course Enrollment Proposal 
    Phil Levis 
    • Does C-ACIS support the two relevant proposals in the resolution? Why or why not?
  3. C-Res & Research Infrastructure 
    Jeannette Bohg 
    • Should compute infrastructure be defined as a research instrument?
  4. Software Purchasing 
    Kurt Howerton, Debby Inenaga, and Andrej Krevl
    • What does the changed process attempt to address or solve?
    • What metric is used to measure success of the change that was made?
    • Can the process be streamlined in a way that does NOT impede research at Stanford?
  1. Welcome
    Phil Levis
  2. Medium Risk Research Data
    Paul Nuyujukian 
    • Does the existence of medium risk research data and the barriers to access that it entails support the mission of the University?
  3. Video Safety and Security System (VSSS)
    Matthew Ricks and Vince Bergado
  4. Course Enrollment System 
    Paul Nuyujukian 
    • Should we forward the motion recommending changes to course enrollment to the Faculty Senate?
  1. Welcome
    Phil Levis 
  2. Course Registration System 
    Paul Nuyujukian 
    • Should the University develop and deploy a better enrollment system?
  3. AFS Space Expiration 
    Steve Gallagher 
    • I propose that we resolve to preserve course websites in perpetuity by default, as a matter of academic policy. In particular, this would mean not having AFS spaces for courses expire as a default.
  4. Update on Canvas Visibility Motion to Faculty Senate
    Phil Levis
  1. Welcome
    Phil Levis
  2. Student Panel
    Phil Levis
    • Question to the students: If you could change 2 things about IT at Stanford, what would it be and why?
      • Jenny Mai CS, Senior
      • Delaney Swinton UND, Frosh
      • Sheldon Ouma Otieno Math, Jr
      • Uwizerwa "Sonia' Karita  Mechanical Engineering, Sr
      • Jacob Tyler Randolph GSE, Grad Studen
  3. Data Governance for Research Computing
    Mike Dunne
    • What changes are needed to Stanford policies and data storage/access mechanisms in order to ensure compliance with the OSTP memo on access to federally funded research data?
  4. Upcoming Google Workspace Changes 
    Sam Steinhardt
    • Can we proceed with the proposed timeline? If not, what changes do you suggest?
    • What chargeback option do you prefer?
    • If extensions or exceptions are requested, should we consider them, and if so, what criteria might we use?
  1. Welcome
    Phil Levis 
    • Introductions 
    • Review Agenda 
    • C-ACIS Logistics 2023-2024
  2. Canvas Visibility
    Phil Levis 
    • Which Canvas resources, if any, should we set the default policy to be public?
    • Should we bring this as a question before the Faculty Senate?
  3. URL Defense
    Amy Steagall
    • Does the opt-in campaign as described in this document, meet the concerns of C-ACIS?
  4. Mastadon 
    Josh Barnett
    • How can we most effectively communicate with this committee during the pilot and are there any concerns this group foresees that could impact the decision to proceed with a full launch for all Stanford faculty?
  5. 2023-2024 Topics Discussion 
    Phil Levis, Steve Gallagher/Nancy Ware

C-ACIS Annual Reports

View C-ACIS Annual Reports