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Background

The Student Technology Fee (STF) was established at LaGuardia Community College in 2002, pursuant to the February 25, 2002 C.U.N.Y board resolution 4(a).  This resolution approved the establishment of a new technology fee of  $75 per semester for full-time students and of $37.50 per semester for part-time students, effective Fall 2002. The college to improve computer services for students and faculty will use revenues from this fee, an estimated $1.4 million based on the average enrollments between 1996 and 2000. In exceptional cases of financial hardship, the college may waive the technology fee for individual students.

Methodology

A Committee for Academic Technology Services (CATS) was convened to recommend overall planning parameters and actual expenditures based on these parameters to be funded by the STF. Details on the composition of the committee are outlined in Appendix-A.

The objective of CATS is to assist the college by making recommendations to the President and the Executive Council on how to use the STF technology resources by coordinating its efforts with the goals of the college. As such, CATS’s recommendations place emphasis on technological resources directly utilized by students at LaGuardia. These resources include computers, software products, and related platforms (i.e., networks, Internet, E-mail, and other means of technological enhancement to the curriculum and student life experience).

The following are the recommended planning parameters for use of the FY 2002-2003 STF allocations.

Decision Parameters:

1. Supplementing, rather than supplanting, institutional support for academic, instructional, and learning technologies, and
2. Supporting “general, learning purpose” technology resources (i.e., laboratories and technologies utilized by or affecting a large percentage of the student population before those for a small percentage of the student population), and
3. Supporting direct access before mediated access  (i.e., technologies directly utilized by students for learning before those employed by faculty and staff to deliver instructional or other services to students), and
4. Supporting academic or instructional technologies before non-academic or non-instructional technologies, and
5. Supporting the use, maintenance, or upgrade of existing instructional, learning, and technological resources before investing in new ones, and
6. Encouraging a continued and enhanced pursuit of traditional funding from CUNY, the LaGuardia Foundation, federal, state, local and private sources.

What follows in detailed format are the recommended expenditures for the upcoming year, placed in the context of how all technology funds are projected to be spent over the next three years. In each case, a general category of expenditure is followed by more specific line-by-line purchase recommendations. If all of the recommendations are approved, student computers will increase by 26%, over 50% of the student labs will be upgraded, lab operation time for student use will increase by 180% on the weekends, 80% additional students will be hired as technology tutors, and many more faculty will have access to training and technology within the classroom.