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STUDENT
COMPUTERS AT OHIO UNIVERSITY:
Q&A WITH PRESIDENT GLIDDEN
Read
the full press release
Video
Clip
Web Info Coordinator Tasha Attaway asked Ohio
University President
Robert Glidden to share a few more details about the planned
integration of computers into all first-year student dorm
rooms. Here is a synopsis of the questions and his
responses:
Some
people were surprised at the Board of Trustees' sudden move
toward computer requirements. Can you tell me more about the
"computer requirement" resolution the Board passed at their
April meeting? (see related
press release)
- The
resolution passed because of our Board's commitment to
educational quality for the future.
Our concern is that faculty members be assured that every
student has easy and immediate access to a computer so
that faculty can feel comfortable in making assignments
that require access to the Internet, communication
between faculty and students via electronic mail, or
group projects that depend on the capability for
asynchronous electronic discussion among students,
etc.
We have concern, of course, about the cost to students of
purchasing a computer, although one can now purchase a
very powerful machine for less than $1000 and the cost of
computers for school can be included in financial aid
packages.
We know that our students must be technologically astute
by the time they leave the university. We cannot imagine
a career pursuit in which basic computer skills will not
be important in the future. And while we do not consider
technology a panacea for higher education, we do believe
that technology affords the opportunity to make learning
more engaging and more effective. We want both our
students and our faculty to have that advantage.
- What
about those students who currently are unable to purchase
computers? Also, there are already several
university-operated computer labs across campus. Some
might say, 'aren't those enough?'
- At
issue is not whether students own computers, but
whether they have "easy and immediate access." In a
university of 20,000 students, computer labs are no
longer sufficient, although they will continue to be
important for special purposes (discipline-specific
software, for example).
- What
exactly does Ohio University intend to do to meet this
need?
- In
order to assure our faculty that every first-year student
has immediate access to a computer, we will place a
computer and printer in every residence hall room,
beginning with all first-year rooms this fall -- about
1,600 of them. Not all rooms may be equipped by the
beginning of the fall term, but unless we encounter
unforeseen problems, all will be installed by the end of
Fall Quarter.
We will then complete installation in all other residence
hall rooms for Fall 2000.
Subsequently, we will replace half of the computers each
year, so that we will remain relatively
"state-of-the-art" in the future, always having
technology that is no more than two years old.
- How
much will all of this cost? And how can the university
and its students afford this plan?
- The
cost to do this will be approximately $1000 per room, for
a very powerful computer with a 400 MHz processor, 8 GB
hard drive, built-in Zip drive, and 64 Mg of RAM.
First, we must say that we believe that technology and
its applications to teaching and learning are so
important that we have reordered priorities for our
residence hall improvements to make this possible.
We have been accumulating funds from residence hall fees
for "major" renovations of residence halls in the hope
that we could avoid further indebtedness. The Board of
Trustees approved a plan last year to increase residence
hall fees by 8% per year for three years in order to pay
for renovations.
However, it became apparent to use that we cannot
accomplish major renovations without further
bonding. "Major" renovations would include gutting
buildings and completely redesigning interiors. We doubt
that that is a wise use of funds at this time.
Hence, we have reordered our priorities for residence
hall upgrading -- we believe that providing computers for
students in order to enhance their learning opportunities
is paramount in preparing them for the future.
By maintaining our present residence hall fee plan (8%
increase per year for at least three years), we can both
accomplish necessary upgrading of residence halls across
the campus and still purchase and maintain these
computers.
- What
happens when students leave the residence halls?
- Students
will be expected to provide their own computers when they
leave the residence halls, but that will be on the honor
system. The university will obviously not monitor
individual student apartments to determine who does or
does not own a computer.
We will continue to assume, however, that every student
will arrange to have "easy and immediate access" to a
computer in order to complete assignments.
- How
do you plan to address software issues?
- The
university, along with most other public universities in
Ohio, has just signed a blanket contract to provide
Microsoft software for all faculty, staff, and students.
This will include Windows 98 and Microsoft Office (Word,
Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).
University computer labs will be maintained because they
provide specialized software for various disciplines
[i.e. graphic design and engineering].
- What
will happen to the older computers once the upgrade plan
you've described goes into effect?
- It
will be our intent to develop a plan to enable students
to purchase recycled computers from this program at a
very modest cost, perhaps 30% of the original cost.
- Since
most of the dorm rooms house more than one student, how
do you plan to accommodate students who might not want to
share a computer?
- Many
students will want to own their own computers rather than
share with a roommate. We will encourage students to
purchase laptops rather than desktop machines because of
space considerations in residence hall rooms. We will
also suggest minimum specifications and will advise about
opportunities for any special pricing plans from vendors
that we may encounter.
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