DECEMBER 10, 1999
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THE UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA DECEMBER 10, 1999 |
by Valerie ShoreConsider the University of Victoria to be ready for Y2K. After five years of planning and hard work by a large number of people, university officials are confident that when the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31, all major systems should be unaffected by the so-called Millennium Bug. “No one can make guarantees, but we’re as ready as we can be,” says Jack Falk, vice president finance and operations. The university has concentrated on “mission critical” functions, he says, and can’t be expected to find and fix every potential problem. “We’re satisfied that it’s more prudent to let the little issues show up rather than try to prevent them.” The bug, also known as the Year 2000 or Y2K problem, refers to computer systems which list years by their last two digits rather than by all four — a leftover from the early days of computing when the costs of memory and online storage were very high. If left uncorrected, computers and other electronic devices that process dates may assume that “00” means the year 1900 rather than 2000. This may sound harmless enough, but microprocessors have become so pervasive in our lives that anything that has or uses date-dependent electronic devices — such as utilities (electricity, water, gas), financial institutions, aircraft, life-support equipment, elevators, security systems, photocopiers, fax machines — could be affected. |
| These effects could range from inconsequential to significant, which is why UVic has invested a large amount of time and effort getting its computer systems in shape for the much-ballyhooed new millennium. All functions of the university — from environmental and building controls, to student records and course scheduling, to library catalogues and research instrumentation — seem ready for the Big Moment.
In facilities management, an extensive review of environmental systems on campus — including electrical distribution, fire and security alarms, lighting and heating, building locks and controls, boiler plants and elevators —was completed this |
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| summer. Even the chlorine monitoring system in the McKinnon pool was checked.
“All systems that could have been vulnerable to Y2K are now ready,” reports Jerry Robson, executive director of facilities management. External utility providers — electricity, water and gas — say they’re ready too. Still, Robson and his team don’t want any surprises. “We have contingency plans in place for utility interruptions, and as an extra precaution we’ll have four or five staff members on duty New Year’s Eve, just in case we missed something,” he says. Over in software development, eight programmers have spent about 11,000 hours over the last five years whipping student records into Y2K shape. The tip-off that trouble lay ahead was the now-infamous 1995 letter sent out to a student informing him that he would be graduating five years later — in 1900. That won’t happen now, says Kim McGowan, software development manager for student records systems. His Y2K team combed through 650,000 lines of code in more than 2,000 programs for possible glitches. “We’ve been ready since January,” he says. “I’m not saying everything is 100 per cent perfect, but if we did miss something along the way, I’d expect it to be fixed and running within 24 hours.” If the work hadn’t been done, says McGowan, there would have been “major screw-ups” in all academic programs that rely on a time component — everything from admissions to degree deadlines to room scheduling. “In about 95 per cent of the cases we changed the dates to four digits, which means we don’t have to worry about this problem for another 8,000 years,” he jokes. In the office of payroll and tuition fee assessment, systems are well-tested and ready for Y2K. The payroll system was converted three years ago to handle appointments extending beyond 2000. “Otherwise, payroll wouldn’t have run because it was all based on a two-digit date,” says manager Janice Bennett. The eight-month conversion involved two full-time programmers and many other helpers along the way. But as confident as she is, Bennett plans to run the first payroll of 2000 during the Christmas closure. “I’m sure about our programs, but not the unknown off-campus,” she says. “I just thought, ‘Why test fate?’” That’s a philosophy shared elsewhere on campus. Although hardware and software in the university’s main computing centre — which houses systems such as payroll, student records, student fees, course scheduling, financial records, online library catalogues, WebReg, TelReg, ADSM backup, and e-mail — have all been converted and tested, they’ll be shut down on New Year’s Eve. “We’ll start powering down at 1 p.m. on Dec. 31 and will pull the plug by 4:30 p.m.,” says Doug Alexander, operations manager in the main computing centre. Assuming there are no external power problems, the systems will be up and running again by noon on Jan. 1. “It’s a precautionary measure,” says Alexander. “Any power surges could damage the equipment. B.C. Hydro says they’re ready, but it’s best for us to err on the side of caution.” The same goes for all microcomputer users on campus. Computing user services, which over the last year has been offering workshops, departmental assessments and online information on testing techniques and correction methods, is advising that all microcomputer users unplug their equipment before leaving for the Christmas break (see box below). Meanwhile, an extensive campus-wide review of research equipment and systems has revealed very few potential problems, and these have been corrected. Researchers were assisted by purchasing services, who did the footwork to contact equipment manufacturers and check for Y2K compliance. “We were particularly concerned about equipment failure that would lead to a safety risk or property damage,” says Dr. Howard Brunt, associate vice president research. “But based on the information we have, we don’t think the research mission of the university will be adversely affected by Y2K. There may be some isolated cases, which is why a few senior managers will be on call over New Year’s.” Brunt also urges researchers to turn off and unplug equipment over New Year’s where possible. That’s what he plans to do. “Some people say that’s overkill, but in January I’d rather say ‘Gosh, what an idiot I was to worry about all this stuff, than to say “Gosh, what an idiot I was for not taking more precautions.’” And if the Y2K bug turns out to be the non-event everyone hopes it will be, then UVic will still have gone through a useful exercise. “Many of the reviews and updating we say were due to Y2K needed to be done anyway,” says Falk. “Planning for Y2K just sounds better.” |
