Connie Schmidt

cschmidt@mtsu.edu

Connie Schmidt

Dean/Instructional Technology Support Center

Open computer labs

LRC 101 (IMR Computer Center) and LRC 101S (graduate multimedia center)

Replacement of Existing Technology

The Dell computers we would like to replace were acquired between July and December of 1997. If they are replaced during the current TAF funding cycle, they will be 5 years old at the time of replacement. They are continuously offline due to age- and use-associated breakdowns. The software versions we are running in all the ITSC facilities (Windows 2000 and Office 2000) stretch their memory capacity and operating speed. The low-end Epson color printer in the graduate multimedia center has not held up to the heavy use it receives, experiencing frequent breakdowns. We would like to replace it with a networkable HP color printer designed for heavier use.

The Instructional Technology Support Center provides students with University-wide access to 101 Pentium and Macintosh computers in the Instructional Media Resources (IMR) Computer Center, two computer labs, and the graduate student multimedia center. The IMR Computer Center is open 72 hours per week for walk-in use by students. Faculty across campus install software on IMR computers for student use. Open lab times are scheduled in the two Pentium labs up to 57 hours per week. Faculty members from all five colleges schedule class technology training sessions in the labs. Eighty-nine such sessions were scheduled during 2001, benefiting approximately 2136 students. Student walk-in visits to the IMR Computer Center and the two labs during 2001 totaled 24,325 [10% Basic and Applied Sciences, 16% Business, 38% Education and Behavioral Sciences, 9% Liberal Arts, and 16% Mass Communication]. No regular classes are scheduled in the IMR Computer Center. The Graduate multimedia center offers high-end computers, video-editing capability, digital cameras, workshops, and individual consultation to any MTSU graduate student. The ITSC proposes replacing 7 aging Dell computers (6 in the IMR Computer Center and one in the graduate multimedia center) and one color inkjet printer in the graduate multimedia center.