Student Technology Fee
Meeting Minutes
Minutes from the February 29, 2008 Student Technology Fee Committee meeting are as follows:
In Attendance: Committee members – Dr. Asoodeh, Donna Methvien, Chris Barcelona, Zealon Solomon, and Greg Gaiennie. Dr. Baldwin gave Dr. Asoodeh her proxy. Kristian Francisco and Theron Batie gave Zealon Solomon their proxy until their arrival. Also in attendance were Clarissa Sampey and Shannon Sciortino.
The meeting began at 3:00 p.m.
The November 28, 2007 meeting minutes were reviewed. A motion was made by Zealon Solomon to approve the minutes. Donna Methvien seconded the motion. The vote was 8-0 in favor of approving this motion.
Reports on Action Items:
o Fayard 122 – At the end of the Fall 2007 semester, Donna Methvien did have the Fayard 122 lab converted for the needs of Math 161 students by limiting the URL’s the computers can access.
o Action Item: A report and recommendation from the Lab Usage Subcommittee will be provided at the next meeting based upon usage data from Spring 2007 and Summer 2007. Dr. Yates and Chris Barcelona will work on preparing the proposal to create a lab in the Student Union as soon as the Student Union renovation plans are finalized. (carried over from the previous meeting in Dr. Yates’ absence.)
o List of Departments Eligible for Large Projects – Dr. Asoodeh did communicate which departments were eligible to receive large project grants during the last cycle.
Fall Usage Report – Donna Methvien handed out the fall usage report. There was not much change from previous trends.
Small Project Proposals – Dr. Asoodeh reported there were 5 proposals submitted. The Small Project subcommittee recommended all 5 proposals for funding. A motion was made by Zealon Solomon to approve the acceptance of 5 proposals, granting a total of $17,607.00. Chris Barcelona seconded the motion. The vote was 8-0 in favor of approving this motion. Action Item: Dr. Asoodeh will send out a communication to the recipients of the small project grants.
Surplus Computers – Donna Methvien reported there were four requests for a total of twenty-two surplus computers, all from Biology. An additional request was made from Chemistry/Physics. However, their request was for laptops, which are not available through the student technology fee surplus plan. They will be offered the opportunity to request desktop computers. A motion was made by Chris Barcelona to approve the four surplus computer proposals for 22 surplus computers. Zealon Solomon seconded the motion. The vote was 8-0 in favor of approving this motion.
Textbook Rental Computer Work Stations – Dr. Asoodeh discussed a need in the textbook rental area for one or two surplus computers for students to use to check whether or not fees have been paid. Chris Barcelona made a motion to offer three computers to textbook rental for student use. Zealon Solomon seconded the motion. The vote was 8-0 in favor of approving this motion. Action Item: Dr. Asoodeh will send Donna Methvien the name of a contact person in Textbook Rental. Action Item: Donna Methvien will contact Textbook Rental, offer them the computers, and determine the available network connections. Dr. Asoodeh brought to the committee’s attention the age of the computers in the Library. The committee agreed those computers are in great need of replacement. Zealon Solomon made a motion to offer all remaining available surplus computers to the library. Chris Barcelona seconded the motion. The vote was 8-0 in favor of approving this motion. Action Item: Dr. Asoodeh and Donna Methvien will work with the Library to replace some of their old computers with remaining STF surplus computers.
Kristian Francisco and Theron Batie joined the meeting at this time.
Department of Math Redesign of Algebra – Dr. Asoodeh explained that the university had implemented a new technique for teaching math. This technique has had great success. The university has renovated a lab in Wilson Hall for this purpose. The Technology Fee committee had approved the temporary use of the Periodic Teaching Lab for the Spring 2008 semester for this purpose. The university is seeking to expand this technique to all sections of Math 155/161. In doing so, the university has need for additional labs and would like to use the 24-hour lab as a lab dedicated to Math. To enable this to happen, options were discussed for moving to more open/mobile computing in the student union and library with more computers available to students. The student committee members expressed a very strong opinion that the 24-hour lab was vital to serving the needs of Southeastern students. After much discussion, Chris Barcelona made a motion to set aside up to $200,000 for the open computing lab project and allow the current 24-hour lab to be transferred to the Math department for use with the new system for teaching Math 155/161, subject to four contingencies:
1. A new 24-hour lab must be available immediately, without the lapse of a single day between the closing of the existing lab and the opening of the new one.
2. The new lab must have 40-45 computers, with a minimum of 40 computers.
3. If the library is part of the solution, the library will be open longer hours and have more laptops available.
4. The new 24-hour lab should be located near the center of campus.
Greg Gaiennie seconded the motion. The vote was 8-0 in favor of approving this motion.
Dr. Asoodeh discussed the Technology Plan that the Technology Planning Committee is putting together for the University. The Student Technology Fee Committee discussed the campus technology infrastructure, especially the need for redundancy. Chris Barcelona made a motion to financially support the Technology Plan for the improvement of the campus infrastructure with $200,000, contingent upon the Student Technology Fee being involved in the prioritization of the improvements in the plan. Greg Gaiennie seconded the motion. The vote was 8-0 in favor of this motion. Action Item: Dr. Asoodeh will put Kristian Francisco in touch with Ray and Russell for further information on the campus infrastructure. Action Item: Dr. Asoodeh will send a document to the students regarding the infrastructure upgrades.
A motion to adjourn was made by Chris Barcelona. Zealon Solomon seconded the motion. The vote was 8-0 in favor of this motion. The meeting adjourned at 3:50 p.m.
Next Meeting –The next meeting will be held on March 14, 2008 at 1:00 pm in the Career Services Conference Room.