Over the summer the decision was made to move and close some of the public computer labs on campus. The decision came about because the CS department wanted a large space for a new Linux lab. Also, the Information Technology department is expanding in Fuller, according to Mary Beth Harrity, the CCC Operations Manager. The reasons for the expansion of the department include: support of web-based learning, myWPI, and helping faculty use new technology in their classes. While some think there was no feedback from the WPI community regarding this decision, Thomas Lynch, the Vice President of Information Technology, said that the department heads for the ECE department, the CEE department, Mathematical Sciences, and Management were all involved in the decision, in addition to the Provost.
An article written by Harrity appeared in Tech News on September 19, which stated which labs were affected by the change. The Garden Lab in Fuller was relocated to Atwater Kent. The Zoo Lab computers were moved into the Stat Lab. As a result, 15 PC's from the Stat Lab were lost. Also, the Quiet Lab in Fuller was closed. According to Harrity, "That lab was closed because the IT department staff expansion required that we relocate a Conference room that was formerly in FLB20. Since the Quiet Lab was so small, a conference room was the best use of that space."
The major problem with the decision to move the labs around is that students get used to going to one spot to use a lab, now they may need to move. However, most students, especially those who live on-campus, don't have a need to use a lab for homework. The primary use of the labs, according to Harrity, is for classroom instruction and labs. If you are upset about the change, then you need to make your opinion known. There are many other computing changes on-campus that will require feedback from students.
WPI has to spend money for computing on both the network and on the public computing labs. There is a limited amount of money that can be spent on computing. On-campus students want an ever-faster network, but the labs still are well used, according to Thomas Lynch, and students still want those labs. WPI is spending 200,000 to 250,000 dollars a year so that we have a T3 line for our network. Lynch wants to be able to "scale-up or scale-down" the bandwidth based on demand. At the same time, he is also interested in pursuing a more aggressive upgrade program for the computers on-campus. He wants to replace them every 3-4 years, instead of the approximately 6 years turnaround that exists now. There needs to be equilibrium in spending. Both the network and the labs are things that we need, and money must be spent on both. The only way to find that equilibrium is to have feedback from the WPI community.
WPI is experimenting with other technology improvements. All the floors of Gordon Library and the Campus Center will have wireless networking. This will ideally allow someone on a laptop to sit at the fountain and surf the Web. Lynch also floated the idea of having places to Sync up Palm Pilots in the public labs. In order to gauge the effectiveness of these experiments, students and faculty must provide feedback. Questions that Lynch feels would need to be answered include: How many students own laptops? How many would get a laptop if WPI had wireless access? How many students and faculty have Palm Pilots?
According to Ben Thompson, Director of Computing Services, some professors desire a portable campus. This means that in several years WPI is considering requiring laptops for all incoming students. Some colleges, including RPI, have already begun requiring laptops. Thompson feels that we will need to provide the infrastructure for the laptops before they can become a requirement. The infrastructure may be either ports or wireless access. Part of any decision about requiring laptops is whether or not the professors will use the technology in their classes. One possible measure of use is whether or not professors take advantage of Blackboard. According to Lynch, many professors are. Another part of this decision is that any decision on laptops would affect the number of public labs on campus.
One possible advantage to requiring laptops is that students can carry their work from home to the classroom. Possible problems include: security for the laptops, the cost of the infrastructure necessary, and the cost to students of buying a laptop. According to Thompson, Harrity, and Lynch, it appears obvious that the CCC and IT department are interesting in having community input. The CCC and IT departments must also listen to the input, no matter what the conclusion. They should also strive to pick a forum for discussion that will receive the most input.
Students, faculty, and staff must take the initiative in making their opinions known. If you do not make your opinion known, the decisions about all the above topics will be made, and you will have to live with the decision. Instead of complaining about the decisions that the administration makes here, let them know how you feel. To write a letter to the editor that would appear in Tech News, include your name, class, box number, and phone number. Just email your opinion to technews@wpi.edu. Also, when a forum is chosen to get feedback from the WPI community, make sure to use that forum so that the best decision can be made for all.