Instructional Computing Services
Instructional Computing Services (ICS) provides campus-wide support in the use
of instructional technology. ICS provides technical support in the following
areas:
- Faculty dial-up access, office computer configuration, software
installations, advisement and approval for the purchase of software and
peripherals;
- The Tech Mall (formerly SETL) is the only general lab on campus and
serves 100 percent of students. The Tech Mal houses 178 computers that
students may access for word processing, tutorials, email, chat and graphic
programs. There are 5 pay printer stations. In addition, there are 12 ADA
stations equipped with adjustable desktops and/or specialized software.
- Help Desk-ICS offers a Help Desk that provides on the spot solutions for
faculty and staff with applications problems. Problems that may need Network
Specialist attention are posted to a task list. The task list is prioritized
accordingly. ICS also helps to coordinate lab rollovers and the distribution
of rollover computers to faculty offices.
- Faculty Computers-most faculty members receive computers from the lab
rollovers. In the absence of rollover computers, departments may choose to
purchase computers from departmental budgets. An inventory of faculty and
staff computers is kept up to date and provides prioritization of computer
distribution when rollover computers become available.
- Learning Centers-The Network Specialists provide technical support to
all the learning centers on campus including areas that incorporate
technology in the curriculum. Support includes lab computer configurations,
access to network printing, installation of hardware and software and
troubleshooting hardware problems.
- The Instructional Computing Committee has always advocated that as funds
become available by the College for technology the learning assistance
centers are to be a top priority. In addition, the State Chancellor’s Office
issued guidelines that recommends student use labs turnover after a life
cycle of three years.
- For the past five years, we have adhered to a lab rollover schedule.
This schedule has helped the College stay current with technology. The lab
rollover schedule for 2003-2010 is contained in Table 1. In order to develop
the schedule, Instructional Computing Services, with the cooperation of the
faculty coordinator of each lab, has considered instructional needs, the age
of the equipment, the number of software applications to be installed, the
sophistication of the software, and the hardware configuration necessary for
student access. There are 21 identified Learning Centers each with more than
10 computers. Each year, depending on funding, five or six labs will be
turned over.
- In addition to a lab rollover schedule, a software review request and a
software installation request schedule for labs have been developed (Tables
2 and 3). This schedule allows for the timely testing and installation of
software needed for instruction within each of the Learning Assistance
Centers. As most lab rollovers are done between semesters careful planning
must be done. Hence, in order to complete the numerous tasks that are
required at the beginning of each semester, departments that miss the
deadline for requests will be put on a "first come, first served" basis.
Late installations will be scheduled after the second week of classes.
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