SEPTEMBER 17, 1998-vol30n4:An IT 'revolution' sweeps through UB

VOLUME 30, NUMBER 4 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1998

An IT 'revolution' sweeps through UB
Ambitious technology initiative gives competitive edge to university, students

By ELLEN GOLDBAUM
News Services Editor

ntil a couple of weeks ago, the information technology revolution sweeping through UB was a relatively quiet one.

More than 400 sparkling new computers equipped with the Windows NT operating system and numerous text and graphics software packages had been installed in refurbished public labs, disk space for students had been increased 10-fold, the number of modems had nearly doubled, open ports for laptops were in place and the most robust password security system available anywhere had been installed on the university network.

In most of the public labs, though, screens were blank and mouses were stationary.

All that changed when students returned to campus.

Just ask Emily Krey, a senior in electrical engineering and supervisor of the new Bell Hall Computing Lab, now open 24 hours nearly every day.

"During peak hours, this place can be insane!" she said. During some afternoons, she added, there have been more students who want to use the machines than there are computers.

"These are so convenient," said Catherine Jacob, a senior in mechanical and aerospace engineering, noting that previously, engineering students had to use a room that sometimes housed classes, so it was impossible to predict when machines would be available.

It's a far cry from last semester, when Bell 101 was full of ancient terminals that only offered e-mail and simple word processing.

The 350 brand-new, 266 megahertz computers sitting in the public sites on campus and the 70 SUN work stations in Bell Hall are just one piece of an extremely broad IT strategy fashioned by UB and supported by a combination of institutional funds and student technology fees.

"UB has committed itself to using IT to its competitive advantage," said Hinrich R. Martens, associate vice president for computing and information technology.

One aspect of what makes IT at UB special, he said, is the leadership from the senior administrative level that is reflected in the high level of standardization among IT services, a benefit that impacts students directly.

At some other campuses, for example, students dialing in from off-campus face limitations in resources to which they have access.

"Because of our adherence to standards, UB students are connected to us in the same way, with access to identical resources, including e-mail and the Internet, whether they are sitting in the dorms, using a public site on campus, or dialing-in from off-campus," Martens said.

"We never had enough resources to support anything but a fully-integrated centralized computing environment," he said. "This puts us where we want to be, among the best universities in the nation."

The major focus of UB's IT strategy for Fall 1999 is the student access initiative requiring all incoming freshman students to have access to a computer.

This initiative will permit faculty to require students to use computer resources in their courses; it also permits the College of Arts and Sciences and the other schools to comprehensively incorporate computer resources into their programs.

The other, major pieces of the strategy are:

· technology support that is available continuously for students and for faculty and staff both at the university and departmental levels

· public computing sites

· support for classroom technology

· online availability of student services, such as registration and bill-paying

· on campus high-performance computing capability for sophisticated research, including UB's membership in Internet 2

· access to library resources online

"Almost nobody is doing this as completely and extensively as we are," said Joseph Tufariello, UB's senior vice provost for education technology, referring to the fact that only a handful of large research universities are attempting as ambitious an educational technology initiative.

The key at UB is the integration of all of the pieces.

"Other institutions are letting a thousand flowers bloom independently," said Voldemar Innus, senior associate vice president for university services. "We are planning and implementing our IT investments as part of a comprehensive initiative."

Cooperation between administration, faculty and staff-not always a given on many campuses-has been key.

The public lab in Bell Hall, for instance, is a joint project that was planned and implemented by the science and engineering "node" (the computer services for each academic unit) in conjunction with Computing and Information Technology.

Most importantly, the decision to make computer access an expectation of all students was deemed a priority by both administration and faculty. The Faculty Senate last spring not only passed a resolution praising the administration for its foresight in attempting to increase student access to computers, but urged that the implementation date be moved up one year from the original Fall 2000 goal, which has occurred.

While owning a computer outright will not be required of all students, it will be strongly recommended.

Only a handful of public institutions, including University of Florida at Gainesville and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have made similar announcements. Oneonta State College also will implement a student access requirement, but UB is the only university center in SUNY to do so.

All About Communication

Administrators note that undertaking an IT strategy is a more difficult task for universities than for colleges because of the wide variation in programs and requirements.

In fact, in making student access the basis for its IT strategy, UB took its cue not from other large universities, but rather, from the small liberal arts colleges.

"The whole point of this is focused on improving communication between students and faculty and among students themselves," said Rick Lesniak, director of academic services for UB.

The public sites, he added, are a key part of facilitating that communication.

"We have 24-hour a day 'just-in-time' help for students at all our public sites," he said. That kind of service is available at small colleges, but rarely seen at large universities.

The university also is launching STARS, Student Technical Assistants in Residence, where trained students will staff help desks in the dorms during the day and in the evenings.

The premise underlying the student access requirement is that faculty should be able to expect that all students have access to computers for coursework, assignments and communication.

"We're trying to provide a better experience to students in this university," said Tufariello, "we want to make learning more enjoyable through computer use and to facilitate communication between and among students and faculty."

By requiring computer access, all UB students who graduate will know how to use fundamental computer tools, such as e-mail, the Internet, word processing and spreadsheet programs. They also will be able to communicate with professors, participate in study groups online and learn how computers are being used in their disciplines.

Computers already are causing a quantum change in one of the oldest and most widely-taken college courses around: freshman comp.

A new Composition and Computers Classroom has opened in Clemens Hall, with 24 new PCs, audiovideo and projection equipment, a visualizer and scanner. Networking among the computers allows students to share and critique their classmates' compositions, as well as communicate electronically with instructors.

A new skill that will be taught in the course is "cybernetic literacy," explained David Willbern, professor of English and associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences.

"Literacy in the 21st century must also be understood as intelligent access to knowledge in the cybernetic universe and technically as basic familiarity with computer applications in word-processing and Web-browsing," he said.

Outside of class, the new IT infrastructure will allow students to conduct business with UB, such as registering, paying bills and accessing grades online.

While the requirement requires students to have access to computers-and access through public labs will not be considered sufficient-it stops short of mandating that they own a computer.

"This in itself is not as big a step as some people think," said Tufariello.

A report issued this week by the Office of Academic Information and Planning found that 69 percent of this year's incoming class at UB already own a computer, up from 61 percent last fall. The same report stated that almost all freshman-97 percent-expect to be asked to use educational technology in their courses, while 98 percent agree that a computer literacy requirement is "an essential feature of a university curriculum."

How will the requirement be enforced? It won't be.

"We're not going to have the IT police," Innus stated flatly. "We don't have the textbook police either. We tell students, here are the textbooks you need in order to be effective in this course. Some students opt not to buy textbooks and a few may choose to do the same with computers. But students will clearly be at a disadvantage if they do not own a computer."

To encourage and support faculty participation, an educational technology lab is being organized with support from the Office of the Provost, the Senior Vice President for University Services and the Office of Educational Technology.

Its initial focus will be on large-section, lower-division courses.

According to Tufariello, the lab will offer a library of software and CD-ROMs, scanners, instructions for faculty on aspects of educational technology, and possibly assistance to faculty on developing their own Web pages.

The lab is expected to be operational by the end of this semester.

Paying for It

During the next few months, information on the type of computer students should purchase will be released by the Educational Technology Advisory Committee, headed by Joe Tufariello, in conjunction with the IT Steering Committee, headed by Innus. (A Web site providing more information about student access in general should be online by the end of this semester.)

Unlike some campuses that have decided to require that their students buy a particular type of computer, UB will requiring certain capabilities, but not a specific platform.

Generally, it must be a computer that provides access to e-mail, the Internet and productivity tools, such as Microsoft Office.

Purchased new, that type of computer probably will cost about $1,000, according to Innus.

"Spread over four years, at $250 per year, that's a very small part of the total educational cost," he said, "and I can't think of a single thing that is so extraordinarily important to the student in terms of value-added education."

Last spring, when Debra Burhans, a lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering asked her class how they would feel about having to buy a computer, more than half said they thought it would be a bad thing, mostly for financial reasons.

This is in spite of the fact that more than 50 percent of them already owned their own machines.

But, she noted, the market for used computers is thriving, and there are continually better and better machines being sold for less money, because of the speed with which new upgrades are available.

"So long as what's out there meets university specifications, students looking for lower-cost alternatives should be able to find them," said Burhans.

She noted the "sunyab.forsale" news group is a prime source to obtain excellent, used machines.

Assistance programs are being developed for students facing financial hardship who can demonstrate "clear and convincing need."

Through the UB ROCS program (UB Recycles Old Computers), students who can demonstrate financial hardship and therefore cannot afford a new or used machine may be provided with one, possibly for a nominal fee. The program refurbishes and upgrades older computers from throughout the university, as well as those from donors.

UB also is aggressively pursuing leasing and loan arrangements with vendors that will be offered through UB Micro.

However new students gain access to technology, either by buying their own computer, by taking advantage of a loan or lease situation or by making other arrangements, they ultimately will be the first to know just how big an effect technology has had.

But if use is any barometer, then student access may already be a success: just visit any of the public sites on campus, and don't be surprised if there's not a blank screen to be found.

The public sites, located in Capen, Lockwood, Baldy, Fronczak and Diefendorf halls, as well as residence hall sites in Red Jacket, Clinton and Clement all offer:

· Windows NT operating systems

· 100 megabit zip drives

· CD-ROM drives

· networking to printers and scanners

· Internet access

· software programs including Adobe Acrobat, WordPerfect, SPSS

In addition, Bell Lab offers 68 Sun Ultra5 Workstations that run Ubiquity, the UB-developed, easy-to-use, graphical interface that offers students more than one computing environment on a single computer and the following software:

· Proengineer

· SPSS

· Mathematica

· Maple

· Arcview

· Java Workshop

Also check out the public sites Web page at http://www.cit.buffalo.edu/sites/

-ELLEN GOLDBAUM, News Services Editor

Student services

The UB Office of Financial Aid is helping students who take out loans to take care of business-literally-with a new on-line option for first-time borrowers.

According to Elias Eldayrie, director of Student Finances and Records, UB is the only institution in the U.S. to offer an online version of the loan entrance counseling session and electronic quiz, federal requirements for first-time borrowers.

"Previously, students had to take time out of busy schedules to attend a scheduled session, make an appointment with a financial aid counselor or go to the library, take out the video, view it and take the quiz on their own. Now students can fulfill this requirement by watching the video and taking the quiz whenever and wherever they want and the information is submitted immediately to the financial aid office," said Eldayrie.

He added that each year there are more than 4,000 first-time borrowers at UB who are obligated to attend entrance counseling sessions. The on-line session is offered at http://wings.buffalo.edu/services/sfr/fin-aid by clicking on the "entrance counseling on the Web" hyperlink.

Other services of Student Finances and Records that meet student needs online include:

· SOAR (Student Online Access to Records), UB's secure Web link to student information at http://soar.buffalo.edu, allows access to students' semester course schedules, coursework grades and checkstops.

· DARS (Degree Audit Reporting System) reports, automated records that display students' completed courses, show how they pertain to their specific degree programs and suggest courses that will fulfill degree requirements at http://ubdars.buffalo.edu. Additional functions will allow access to exam schedules, current bills and financial aid status.

· BIRD (Billing Inquiry Registration Drop/Add), UB's touch-tone registration now also allows students to check the status of financial aid documents, accept and decline awards, and review a list of all awards and loans. According to Eldayrie, this new service has been accessed more than 8,000 times since it was implemented in early August.

· ARIES (Articulation Reporting Information Evaluation System) on-line, a service of The UB Office of Transfer Credit and Course Articulation. The ARIES database http://aries.buffalo.edu. lists courses at over 1,800 campuses and how they compare to UB courses and requirements for UB DARS.

Upcoming in Spring 1999:

· students will be able pay their bills with credit or debit cards and check the status of their accounts via BIRD.

· students will be able to register on-line.

-MARA McGINNIS, News Services Editorial Assistant