Bob Hetherington has waited seven years for a fully functioningtheatre design lab. But even with a $50,000 private donation,Hetherington's lab was never fully built. Last fall, the lab wascut from The University of Memphis' lab support network.
Every academic year, students each pay $225 for technologyaccess fees or TAF. This money is used to buy computers, softwareand other technology to contribute to the needs of thestudents.
Some students and faculty, however, say those funds are beingused for technological bells and whistles instead of themeat-and-potato essentials of instruction and education.
"I believe I am living in the Matrix at this university," saidBob Hetherington, theatre and dance chair. "There is a parallelreality that is run by IT, and it has nothing to do with teachingstudents."
"This lab is essential for six classes in the curriculum. IT isnot sufficiently concerned with where the rubber meets the road --in the classroom. They are making disastrous decisions on thetraining of students."
Renovations using the private money will begin this summer,Hetherington said, but the lab will remain off the TAFfootprint.
In a 2003/2004 survey of U of M students conducted by IT, 23percent of students said there were not enough campus computer labsto meet their needs, and one-third of students said the labs werenot open when they needed them.
Removal of TAF labs and problems with getting advanced softwarehas had an impact on The U of M's partnership with Steelcase, thelargest office design manufacturer in the world, said RandleWitherington, associate professor in the art department.
The recently-formed partnership between Steelcase, The U of Minterior design program and the FedEx Institute of Technology hasbrought hands-on training to students. But because the majority ofthe classes related to the partnership are taught in the AutoCADlab in Jones Hall, a direct instructional lab that was cut from TAFfunding, the program is struggling, Witherington said.
"There is no support. It is demoralizing," he said. "AutoCADrequires too much memory to teach off of loaded laptops, which wereoffered as a solution. Also, a bigger screen is required tocritique work in progress."
Steelcase just requested an intern who was proficient inAutoCAD, a computer-assisted drafting program, Witherington added,but failing to keep up with the latest software will keep studentsfrom being competitive.
"The latest version is mandatory for students getting a jobanywhere. Not funding the lab is a big mistake," he said. "If wecan't keep up with the norm, then what?"
IT officials say they are making efforts to keep up with thenorm by replacing computers every three years in most average-usageTAF labs and every year in high-usage labs, like Smith and theMcWherter Library.
But at Middle Tennessee State University, a Tennessee Board ofRegents school with enrollment numbers similar to those at The U ofM, computer replacement costs are minimized by replacing units on afixed four-year cycle, the industry standard, said Jerry Gentry, ITdirector for MTSU.
However, John Wasileski, assistant vice president of informationsystem and operations, said the yearly replacement of theheavy-usage labs was justified.
"They get hammered day and night," he said. "They get two yearsof wear in one year."
The University spent $950,000 in fiscal year 2002/2003 oncomputer replacements, nearly one-fifth of the total TAFbudget.
However, computers in the architecture lab are five years old,said Richard Ranta, dean of the College of Communication and FineArts, and not consistent with what is used in the industry.
Instead of wireless luxuries, the art department needs powerfulcomputers that can run resource-hogging programs like PhotoShop,AutoCAD and animation software, not the hand-me-downs from the biglabs, said Jed Jackson, art department chair.
The decision to drop 20 labs, including Hetherington'sincomplete lab, passed by only one vote at the Deans' TAF Council,a board of deans from each college who make decisions on how to usethe funds, Ranta said.
Labs removed from the footprint still get used computers rolledover from TAF labs, but at a lower priority than faculty and staff.They also get no lab staffing, no renovations in furniture orcarpeting, no paper and toner for printers and no software updates.Those finances are pushed onto the department that owns thelab.
The 20 cut labs contained more than 250 computers and 16printers. The majority of the labs cut were in the colleges ofCommunications and Fine Arts and Arts and Sciences, with seven andsix labs cut respectively.
Staffing issues and complaints from students that the labs werenever open led to the dropping of the 20 labs, Wasileski said.Random visits from IT staff members were also made to decide whichones were not being utilized.
"These labs were closed and locked," Wasileski said. "And notonly were the lights off, but the computers were off as well."
Art Department Chair Jed Jackson admits that his labs were oftenlocked, because the labs had experienced theft problems. Evenlocked, though, the labs were available to students, who went tothe department office and asked for the lab to be unlocked, hesaid.
Wasileski said the IT department also tracked logins using theTigerlan network, and the cut labs constantly had seatsavailable.
However, heavy lab usage doesn't mean the computers are beingused for educational purposes. Some students complain they can'taccess a computer in the super labs because of others using chatrooms, shopping, surfing for pornography or playing games.
But TAF funds don't only pay for new computers. TAF also fundslab staffing, paper and printing supplies, network infrastructure--including the new wireless network -- and "smart room"technologies, which include computers and projectors for multimediaclassrooms, of which there are 56 across campus.
New furniture, carpeting and other lab renovations may also comefrom technology fees, though the usage of monies for those items ismore restricted, said Wasileski.
"The law school apparently needs a Taj Mahal," Ranta said of therecent renovations in the law school lab.
"We aren't asking for pretty labs (in CCFA), we're asking forlabs that work and are up-to-date."
Other resources in the TAF funds include a $500,000 reserve fundfor The University's president, which started with former presidentV. Lane Rawlins.
Under this program, college deans can drive special requests toIT Director Doug Hurley, who gives the project to President ShirleyRaines for approval.
The most recent use of the Presidential Reserves was thecompletion of the wireless network across most of the campus, whichcost about $1.3 million over two years, said Mark Reavis, directorof network services.
The push for the wireless network came from the students, hesaid, who wanted to use new wireless technology in their laptops."We couldn't get it quick enough."
Roughly 3,000 of The U of M's 22,000 students use the wirelessnetwork, but that number grows by 1,000 to 1,500 every year, Reavissaid, adding that IT staff members expect the number to at leastdouble in the next year.
In response to faculty complaints about TAF support, Wasileskisaid The U of M's technology program was "not where it could be,"citing the high price of software licenses and maintenance cost, aswell as changing computing needs for students as reasons fortechnology growing pains.
Some faculty members still feel that The University's technologyplan has skewed priorities.
"The University needs to take a look at how it can serve thestudents computing needs and not how it can make students conformto its computer plan," said Mike Schmidt, art department associateprofessor.
