Joseph Tufariello, chair of the Student Access Subcommittee of UB's Information Technology Committee, told the Faculty Senate on March 4 that it is doing so because of concerns voiced by the Faculty Senate Executive Committee at a meeting one month earlier.

At the same time, Tufariello, dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, told senators that the strategy, which will require students to own their own computers, will not work without the commitment of faculty members.

"The key is faculty involvement in this program," he said. "If this is going to work, you all have to be committed to this."

While faculty members will not be required to use a computer in their classrooms, "some good number of people have to use it or this is not worthwhile doing," he said, noting that the integration of computers into freshman courses is particularly important. "This is really in your hands. You have to be convinced that this is going to work in order for us to proceed in this direction," he said. "The success depends on you as much as anybody."

Tufariello outlined for senators a strategy that would provide "all students and faculty convenient and affordable access to a personal computer connected to the campus network at any time and from almost any place they are working or studying."

He said there were numerous benefits to providing this access, including the ability to personalize and customize instruction, do away with most of the poorly equipped public computer labs, improve employment prospects for students and allow UB to market itself as a high-tech institution.

The goal, he said, is that every faculty member who wishes should be able to require every student in his or her class to perform certain computer-based tasks, including using e-mail, Web browsers and document-preparation software, such as word-processing and spreadsheet programs.

Universities that have adopted universal access have seen increases in admission applications and acceptances, as well as improved retention, he said.

"If we are to see results similar to that, we had better move quickly in that direction because the minute everybody does this is the minute that this no longer will work," he said.

The strategy would require students to own their own computers, but UB will be sensitive to the affordability issue, he said, noting that some universities, such as California State University at Sonoma, provide a number of options to aid students in purchasing their units.

Tufariello noted that the subcommittee had originally set a target date of Fall 1999 for full implementation of the strategy, but had pushed it back to Fall 2000.

But members of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee urged him to push the date forward to 1999, and the subcommittee is now targeting that date, he said.

In the meantime, several projects will be undertaken this fall, including a major upgrade of the public computer laboratories, increasing the modem pool so users who are trying to get into the UB system from off campus "will be able to do so more readily" and pilot computer-access projects in the School of Health Related Professions and the Department of Computer Science.

William George, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, told Tufariello his only regret was "that we didn't do this 10 years ago when our competition was doing it. I think we've suffered for that." He noted that Clarkson University implemented a similar strategy in the mid-1980s.

Christina Bloebaum, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, said technical support is critical for the strategy to work. Many of her colleagues around the country have places on their campuses where they can get advice about incorporating computer technology into their courses.

"I don't see that here. It's a major downfall, and it has to be in this proposal someplace," she said.

Provost Thomas Headrick agreed that technical support, along with connectivity-"we can't have people not being able to connect" from off campus at peak usage times-are key issues to be addressed.

"This university has not been very good at that (providing technical support), up to this point," he acknowledged. But if increased resources are needed to provide the kind of technical support that faculty members and students need, "that means we're going to have to take resources out of existing places and reallocate them to this. If it's a priority, then every school is going to have to contribute in some way," he said.

Headrick underscored Tufariello's comments about the importance of faculty involvement, noting that if students are told that UB is an institution that places a priority on the use of computers in education, and they take five courses the first semester of their freshman year and not one course requires any work on a computer, "we're not going to be living up to our reputation.

"We've got to have the faculty on board, particularly in the freshman year of courses, using the computer and having their students use it, across the campus," Headrick emphasized. "It can't be just in the sciences and engineering. It's got to be across the campus."

Jack Meacham, professor of psychology, told senators that for four or five years he has been using computers in a variety of ways in teaching classes as large as 250 students. "I'm convinced this is the way to go," he said. "I think I'm a better teacher and my teaching is more efficient."

He noted that the use of technology in his classes by students is "only voluntary" to earn extra credit. "I can't make this a requirement for all the students in the class because I can't trust that all the students in the class have equal access to computing," he said. "But I expect to be able to do that sometime soon."

He said the issue before the senate was not so much about computing and technology. "What we're talking about is how we as faculty interact with our students. We're talking about how we teach, what it means to be a teacherŠ."

Pointing out that teaching is an issue that "falls squarely within the province of the Faculty SenateŠI really believe that we as a Faculty Senate must take a position on this and we must examine this issue very closely and speak out strongly," he said.

Meacham introduced a draft resolution for the senate's consideration that urges the UB administration to consider the "central role" that the faculty must play in implementing student access to computing, to provide guidance and assistance to all students who seek to purchase a computer and to assign a "high priority" to moving forward with student access to computing.

The resolution will come before the senate for a vote at its next meeting on April 8.

In other business, the senate approved for a second time a resolution establishing procedures for review of major reorganizations of academic units. The resolution had been approved at the body's Feb. 4 meeting, but the vote was disallowed because the senate had lost its quorum.