The Year 2000 Problem

How much of a problem is it?

Many computers, computer programs, and microchip processors store dates as mm/dd/yy, or yy/mm/dd. Dates in 2000 may be interpreted as being in 1900 or may roll back to the "date of origin" of the equipment, e.g. 1980, with unpredictable results. Any program that sorts dates or calculates intervals between dates will almost certainly produce incorrect results, and some processes will fail to work at all. Data may be irretrievably corrupted.

In addition, other non-computer systems or operations of your department which are dependent upon heat, refrigeration, electricity, the government, or any number of other resources either local or global which may be affected by Y2K problems, may be impacted if such systems fail.

What needs to be done?

Timeline for compliance Tool Kit Steps

Media reports often focus on January 1, 2000, but some processes may fail well before that if they use date ranges that extend into the next century. Year 2000 problems may occur in hardware such as desktop PCs, in locally written or run programs or applications, and in other equipment with date-aware microchips. An interesting wrinkle to the year 2000 problem is that 2000 is a leap year, although century dates are generally not. The "rule" is that any year evenly divisible by four is a leap year, but not century years, unless the century is evenly divisible by 400 (as in year 2000). Any operating system or program that only uses the divisible-by-four portion of the formula and not the century portion to determine leap years may fail or produce incorrect date results at the end of February 2000.

How much of a problem is it for Smith?

The year 2000 problem will have an impact on Smith College. How much of an impact it will have on departmental functions needs to be determined by each individual department.

ITS will ensure that the centralized systems, desk top equipment and services for which they are responsible are year 2000 compliant. However, there are many other systems, applications, and processes in use throughout the College that are critical to the proper functioning of the College. It is these systems and processes that are addressed in this document. The National Science Foundation has given notification stating that it is the responsibility of the grant recipient to ensure year 2000 compliance. In addition, the National Institutes of Health have announced that all electronic data submitted from grantee institutions requires a four-digit year date field: Notice Regarding the Year 2000 Computer Problem.

Each department - that means all Smith College schools, research labs, centers, academic departments, business units, or any other functioning unit - is responsible for the year 2000 compliance of its own departmental systems and processes.

How will this problem affect me?

The problem can affect the many computerized systems in use throughout the College, as well as departmental desktop software and equipment. In particular, older versions of software and older models of equipment are most likely to contain the date problem.

What needs to be done at Smith?

1. Each department should assign a Year 2000 Coordinator who will be responsible for ensuring that the department meets all the year 2000 compliance deadlines. This individual will also be responsible to coordinate computing related departmental efforts with the ITS Y2K Liaison.

2. The departmental systems and processes must be inventoried and assessed to determine:

Computers (hardware) which have been distributed by or inventoried by ITS will be checked for Y2K compliance by ITS staff. The departmental coordinator will be sent an Inventory of the department's desk top equipment (computers and printers). If any equipment is not on the Inventory, you must add it to the list. Updated lists must be returned to the ITS Y2K Liaison within 30 days of receipt.

For College supported business systems, see ITS Update.

3. Coordinators should provide regular progress reports to department heads.

To help you assess the impact of the year 2000 problem, we have developed the following Timeline and step-by-step Tool Kit. Specific guidelines, suggestions, and resources are provided for Steps 1 to 4.

Steps 5 and 6 involve the actual conversion efforts and compliance testing, which will vary from department to department. General guidelines are provided. It is recommended that planning for Steps 5 and 6 begin as soon as possible.

Timeline for year 2000 compliance at Smith

  1. Step 1. Take inventories to determine risk Complete as soon as possible
  2. Step 2. Evaluate risk and assess criticality By end of March 1999
  3. Step 3. Create project plan for corrective action By end of April 1999
  4. Step 4. Identify resources and budget needs Ongoing
  5. Step 5. Correct all critical year 2000 problems By August of 1999
  6. Step 6. Test and adjust, as necessary By end of 1999
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