Student Technology Fee Plan Fiscal Year 2017

Student Technology Fee Plan Fiscal Year 2017

Table of Contents

Background and Introduction 

FY 2017 Proposed Activities and Corresponding Budgets

List of Accomplishments for the End of FY 2016

University Wide Initiatives (CUNY-UWI)

Library Services- Database and Digital Subscriptions

Office of Information Technology (OIT) Maintenance and Licenses Costs

Hardware Support for newly-created online Clinical Intake Forms

Computer and Printing Infrastructure for Students in Division of Science

Improved Computer Service for ChE Department Students – Citrix Server Upgrade

Symplicity Career Services Management System

Art and MCA Departments’ Student Checkout Equipment

Sustainable Building Performance CadLAB I Computer Upgrade

CLASS-Computer Lab Accessibility for Social Science

Marshak MR2 and MR3 Audio/Visual Upgrade

CCNY Student Laptop Loan Program

Student Technology Internship Program (STIP)

Student Technology Fee Advisory Committee Members

Background

In the fall of 2001, CCNY established a Technology Task Force which included representatives from the administration, faculty, student body and technology support offices. The goal of the Technology Task Force is to formulate a set of recommendations to improve technology throughout the college. Their recommendations for educational applications of technology provide the basis for discussions between the members of the Technology Fee Committee – the group charged with responsibility for drafting the 2016-2017 plans for the investment of the Student Technology Fee (Tech Fee). A copy of the 2016-2017 Technology Fee Plan can be viewed at https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/it/techfee.

Introduction

The Technology Fee Committee agreed on two planning principles:

1. The funds should be invested in ways that directly and positively impact the experience of students at the college

2. In the initial years, at least, the funds should be concentrated on a limited number of projects that are large enough to have significant visibility and effect.

With this agreement in place, the committee identified four goals:

Goal 1: Increase the number of students who are able to use new technology tools competently and creatively

Goal 2: Significantly expand faculty use of new technology tools within the College’s classrooms and curricula

Goal 3: Enhance student access to new technology tools

Goal 4: Extend the learning and research resources that the City College libraries make available electronically.

FY 2015 Proposed Activities and Corresponding Budgets

For the coming year, the Technology Fee Committee identified four activities to be implemented with a total cost of $2,929,139. The selection of this fiscal year’s technology projects were guided by funding initiatives which:

• Impact the broadest number of students across schools/divisions
• Advance e‐learning and improve access to higher education
• Promote post‐graduate readiness.

The projects are as follows:

List of Accomplishments for the end of FY 2013 and FY 2014

Since its founding in 2001, the City College Technology Fee Committee has been successful in continuing to systematically upgrade student computer labs, licenses, and wireless access points, while targeting specific new initiatives to meet student needs.

Enhancing the experience of our students and properly distributing the Technology Fee funds on campus are the committee’s priorities. Using last year’s Tech Fee funding, we were able to accomplish the following for FY 2014:

1. Office of Information Technology (OIT)

• • The OIT division was able to continue maintaining essential technology services
  • License agreements for wireless security were renewed across campus and some aging wireless hardware, as well as some aging printers in our general students lab, were replaced
  • More importantly, we purchased hardware by Aruba for 180 wireless access points to upgrade the existing AP and expand access to the wireless network on campus
  • Licenses for AutoCAD and Matlab, WebCheckOut, Print Manager Plus, Wi‐Fi, etc. software were renewed.

2. Library Subscriptions & Computer Upgrades ‐ 70 PCs (20 went to the Science library and 50 to the Cohen library)

• • The college libraries were able to renew their digital subscriptions (online databases) to thousands of academic journals, patents, images, books and conference proceedings. With the renewals in place, students on campus can add to their academic papers and research, furthering the college’s mission to graduate  informed citizens who can function in our global society
  • The aging computers in the science library have been replaced with 20 new PCs. An additional 50 new PCs will be installed before end of this spring semester. These  new computers are used by students to complete assignments, as well as access the library catalog and numerous online resources databases. In addition, two old technology network switches were replaced with the latest ones.

3. Student Technology Internship Program (STIP)

The Student Technology Internship Program is currently been implemented. This internship program placed 67 of our students in one of the following divisions of OIT:

• • Service Desk
  • OIT and Divisional Client Services Support
  • General OIT and divisional computer labs
  • Special Support Groups.

Throughout the program, students were successfully trained to address the daily technical needs of the students, faculty and staff on campus. Over the years, STIP has proved to be essential in helping the Information Technology division to deliver  essential services to students, faculty and staff both inside and outside the classroom setting.

4. Enterprise Technology Initiatives (ETI)

The Information Technology division successfully allocated 10 per cent of  the Technology Fee revenue to CUNY‐wide University Initiatives. This allocation of funds is mandated by CUNY policy and City College has complied with the request.

5. Campus Wide Wireless Upgrade

A Purchase Order (PO) has already been created and we are hoping to complete the project before the beginning of the spring 2015 semester. OIT will deploy 180 Access Points (AP) throughout the campus to accomplish the following:

• • Upgrades to the oldest APs on campus and increased Wi‐Fi access to cover most indoor spaces, providing access to college IT resources to students, faculty, and staff via portable and mobile computing devices virtually anywhere on campus
  • Improve access bandwidth from the current 54 to 154 Mbps, up to a maximum of 462 Mbps in high‐density areas, with greater range and capacity
  • Support services for the increasing use of personal mobile devices (Laptops, PDAs, iPods, etc.) allowing hi‐speed data, text, and voice communication. Support services for IEEE 802.1x standards‐based wireless computing and mobile telephone service. This will also allow for uninterrupted service as users move between locations.

Proposed Activities and Corresponding Budgets

CCNY Student Technology Fee Plan

1. University Wide Initiatives (CUNY-UWI) Projects

College Department(s) Affected: Entire college

Project Description: CUNY Central has been asked to reserve 10 percent of the total Technology Fee revenue to pay for University Wide Initiative projects (CUNY-UWI). I am requesting a total of $432,379 to continue funding the software projects listed below – which are primarily for students use.

FY 2017 Fiscal Year Budget: 

2. Library Services–Database & Digital Subscriptions

College Department(s) Affected: Entire College

Impact on Students:  Digital subscriptions are used by students for study and research, both on campus and by proxy. This content is vital to City College’s mission to graduate IT-literate citizens able to function in a global society. Students learn how to effectively use these databases through the information literacy program in our classrooms, and they require access to these databases from outside the campus as they do their research.

The law requires that assistive technology be made available to students with disabilities who need it to successfully complete required coursework for classes.

Project Description: The Library is requesting funding from the Technology Fee funds to cover continuing subscription costs for online resources that were funded in the previous years from the Technology Fee funds. Below, please find a brief description of each database/digital subscription:

1)      Cambridge Histories Online

This is an annual charge for continuing online access to a database containing diverse, up-to-date and authoritative print editions published since the 1960s. Features: personalization – including, saved and most recent searches, workspaces and bookmarks; citation export functionality; and extensive bibliographic reference functionality.

2)      Art Index Retrospective

This is an annual charge for continuing online access to this database, which covers the years 1929 to 1984, thereby enabling users to search 55 years of art journalism in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Dutch. Besides periodicals, users have access to data from important yearbooks and select museum bulletins.  A unique resource, Art Index Retrospective helps users find contemporary criticism of art at the time of its debut, track the body of work of an artist or movement, find artist interviews and other commentary.

3)      Thieme 2016

Thieme publishes over 100 scientific and medical journals, of which almost 40 are in the English language. Full text is available for four of these journals. Tables of Contents and Abstracts are available for the others.  All the Thieme journals are scholarly, peer-reviewed publications oriented toward senior or higher level researchers. This is a cooperative purchasing arrangement between seven CUNY schools.

4)      Emerald Engineering  and Management

The Emerald Engineering e-Journal Collection comprises online access to the abstracts and full text of all the journals within Emerald’s engineering, materials science and technology portfolio.  It also features 120 Business and Management journals, all of which are peer-reviewed and full text journals, plus reviews from the world's top 300 management journals in computer science, marketing, information sciences and management.

5)      CAS-SciFinder Scholar   

SciFinder Scholar is a comprehensive database indexing the chemistry and related sciences literature. SciFinder Scholar is useful for locating articles concerned with specific chemical substances and reactions. This is a cooperative purchasing arrangement between seven CUNY schools.

6)      Springer e-Books 

We have full text access to 15,000+ Springer eBooks, since their inception in 2005. Almost all the publications are scholarly and are oriented toward seniors or higher-level students and researchers. The database covers all areas of study, but is weighted toward the sciences.

7)      American Chemical Society Online, 2016 subscription

The American Chemical Society (ACS) publishes 38 journals and magazines covering all aspects of the science of chemistry. Index and abstract information is available for all of these publications. Full text is available for 33 of them. All of these ACS journals are scholarly, peer-reviewed publications oriented toward senior or higher level readers. We use the CUNY-negotiated pricing arranged through NYSHEI.

8)      Elsevier Science Direct  

Science Direct is a database of all the materials published by Elsevier and its affiliates. It consists of over 1,800 journal and book titles. All subject areas are covered, but more science and engineering titles are available because of Elsevier's publishing focus. Over 1,000 of the 1,800 searchable titles are available as full text. Almost all the journals are scholarly, peer-reviewed titles, making this database most appropriate for more advanced students and researchers.

FY 2017 Fiscal Year Budget:

3.Office of Information Technology (OIT) Maintenance and Licenses Cost

College Department(s) Affected:  Entire College

Impact on Students: The Office of Information Technology is responsible for maintaining and supporting the operations of the City College networking infrastructure and campus-wide student resources, which include:

·         General Students Computer Labs, i.e.,  Tech Center and Fishbowl, Undergraduate and Graduate Student labs, as well as the General Lab for CWE at 25 Broadway

·         Service Desk, Client Services, and Instructional Technology and Media Support Services and campus wide licenses and hardware for students use.

Support is also provided for wireless access, printing, blackboard, security devices (firewall, anti-spam and wireless security scanning/protection).

Project Description: The OIT department is requesting $445,067 from the college’s Technology Fee Budget to cover recurring costs to pay for campus-wide licenses, hardware, audio/video for all smart rooms at the college and general computer labs equipment.

Some of the essential services, which benefit the entire student population include: 

1. Hardware and peripheral support and maintenance agreements

                     i.            Annual maintenance on printers, existing wireless devices, and copier machines for students, AV equipment in classrooms.

2. Campus-wide license agreement extensions and maintenance for student use. This includes annual maintenance updates, wireless software releases and security software encryptions:

                     i.            Deep Freeze, Print Manager Plus, iCompel Digital Signage, Nemo- Q, LabStats, etc.  

                   ii.            Wireless Licenses renewal, VDI Licenses, 

                 iii.            Web CheckOut, SysAid, NextBus for Students, etc.

4. General Student Computer Labs supplies (such as toner, paper, printer maintenance kits, etc.), computer lab replacement parts (such as keyboards, mice, etc. printers) which are located in:

                     i.            Tech Center & Fishbowl, Undergraduate and Graduate General computer Labs

                   ii.            Service Desk (Student Support Center)

                 iii.            Center for Work Education (CWE) General Student Lab

                 iv.            Kiosks in the Administration and North Academic Center (NAC) buildings.

FY 2017 Fiscal Year Budget:

4. Projects Title:  Hardware support for newly created on-line Clinical Intake Forms

Person Responsible for Project(s): Teresa Walker
Telephone Number: 212.650.5920
Email:  twalker@ccny.cuny.edu
Department(s) of College Affected: REACH Services (AccessAbility|Counseling|Health) 

Impact on Students:

Three clinical support areas (AccessAbility|Counseling|Health) created a unified on-line demographic and form to ensure identical data is obtained from students who seek services from these departments. Additionally, each area created a clinical intake form specific to the services the department provides.    Demographic and clinical data obtained from these on-line forms will help identify prevalent health and behavior risks affecting students’ academic performance and potentially improve retention rates.

Project Description:

Transition from a paper-based clinical intake record to an electronic clinical record.   Starting in spring 2016, students should be able to enter their demographic and clinical intake information via an online form in MR J-15 waiting room.  Students currently have access to computers in the AccessAbility Student Lab in the NAC 1/218 waiting room to enter this data; pending implementation of the web-based Titanium software.

Consistent screening criteria will facilitate early identification of students’ needs, and a prevention assessment model will support a holistic and comprehensive approach to providing student support.         

1.      Capturing both demographic and clinical information from students seeking support resources will promote the referral process from one department to another

2.      Ability to track student outcomes based their GPA, measured either after one semester or after a year

3.      Provide data on the wide range of clinical issues impacting our students such as chronic medical and disability related conditions, alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, mental health, homelessness, sexual assault, and incidents related to domestic violence.

FY 2017 Fiscal Year Budget:

5. Project Title: Computer and Printing Infrastructure for Students in the Division of Science

Department(s) of College Affected: Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Physics; Division of Science  

Impact on Students: 

I. Printing Infrastructure: The Division of Science has a long history of supporting student research which is pivotal for postgraduate readiness. The primary vehicle for presenting research is via large format posters presented at national and international colloquia and meetings. The requested hardware would replace an outdated plotter and alleviate the burden on heavily used plotters housed in the Biology department. Historically, the EAS plotter has been open for use by any student in the Division of Science to print presentations for the CCAPP annual event as well as regional, national, and international conferences. We anticipate continued cooperation between EAS and the other departments in the Division of Science to provide student access to the plotter. This request is also advocated by students in the Physics department as they currently do not have a large format printer.

II. Computer Software: Software licenses for a computer lab will be used by students for homework assignments and research. The software is used every semester by students enrolled in at least three EAS courses: Sensing and Image Analysis, Terrestrial Aquatic and Atmospheric Systems.

Project Description: 

I. Plotter: We request a new HP Designjet 36” poster plotter T520 or T790 and computer station to replace the 15-year-old printer in the EAS Department. The computer station associated with the old plotter is faulty and has an outdated Celeron processor unable to handle large files and software packages currently employed for poster assembly. The plotting hardware is not compatible with new computers, operating systems, and software packages. These limitations were especially apparent when several students attempted to print posters for the recent annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in December and were unable to do so using the current plotting facilities.

II. Software: We request funds to purchase 20 software licenses for ENVI/IDL. The licenses will be used by students performing assignments in several EAS courses involving mapping and analysis of geospatial datasets. The licenses will be installed in the teaching lab in 044. These licenses need to be renewed on a yearly basis.

FY 2017 Fiscal Year Budget:

6. Project Title:   Improved Computer Service for ChE Department Students - Citrix Server Upgrade

Department(s) of College Affected: Chemical Engineering Department

Impact on Students: 

ChE students do not have a computer laboratory for their own use in the ChE Department. In 2010, the ChE department decided to modernize its computer service to the students of the department by purchasing a Citrix server. The Citrix–server approach provides access to software needed for courses and thus its mission crucial. The Citrix-server allows us to provide the necessary access to tools through shared-use computer laboratories on campus or through personal computers (laptops or home desktop machines).  This approach has saved the college significant amounts regarding the maintenance costs associated with a dedicated computer lab and space. More recently, the Citrix-server has aged and has repeatedly shut down during peak times. There are at minimum 50 Chemical Engineering students affected each time the server is down, and potentially many more. Courses affected when the Citrix server is down are: ChE 495 Design 1, ChE 496 Design 2, ChE 345 Unit Operations I, and ChE 330 Thermodynamics 2. ChE students need access to the Citrix server to use specialized software, including ASPEN Plus, in order to do their homework and course projects. This is particularly true of the two senior level design courses (ChE 495 in the Fall and ChE 496 in the Spring), which require rapid turnaround and have little alternative for teaching the professional methodology. A further issue that could be alleviated by the requested upgrade is that, during peak time, memory resources are low and this affects the ability of users to access (i.e., to login to) the server and utilize the software.

Project Description: 

The funds are requested to purchase: (i) spare hard drives to minimize downtime and (ii) extra memory modules to adequately provide the server with enough resources during peak time demand.  CCNY IT, specifically Brad Harbans, recommended that we have a fail-over backup server to minimize the down time. This is a mission-critical server used by ChE students and ChE doctoral and MS students and needs to be up at all times (i.e., 24/7). 

FY 2017 Fiscal Year Budget:

7. Project Title: Symplicity Career Services Management System

Department(s) of College Affected:  All academic departments and all CCNY students are affected by the Career Services Management System within the Career and Professional Development Institute (CPDI) in the Division of Student Affairs

Impact on Students: 

The Symplicity Career Services Management System is the primary web based operating system for CPDI. Going without this system would severely threaten the institutions ability to assist CCNY students in getting job and internship opportunities.  Additionally, in order for CCNY to stay in compliance with a federal mandate (Gainful Employment) and state law (Experiential Learning), the system is needed to track these opportunities that are made available to students.  The system administers the following operations:

·         Provides a platform for employers to post job and internship opportunities to the entire CCNY student population

·         Allows students to access and apply to job and internship opportunities at any time

·         Enables CPDI to regularly communicate with over 5000 employer contacts to invite them to recruiting events and post opportunities

·         Allows CPDI to manage the relationships with employers so they continue to recruit CCNY students

·         Hosts and delivers the Senior Graduation Survey and 6 Month Post Graduation survey so CCNY can collect the needed data in regards to post graduation employment outcomes

·         Allows for tracking student internship experiences when arranged through CPDI; Enables CPDI to notify the students, faculty and administration of the new opportunities that have been posted via email; Allows students to register and be notified of career related events

·         Provides a platform for students to conduct and record mock interviews, which are then reviewed by career coaches; Provides a platform for students to submit their resume for review and approval by a career coach.

Project Description: 

This project consists of maintaining the current Simplicity Contract at a cost of $17,000 per annum. Historically, this essential expense, like the cost of the Library databases, was included in the Career Services budget or paid through the tech fee. This practice changed in recent years, leaving CPDI with no resources to fund its primary operating system. 

FY 2017 Fiscal Year Budget:

8. Project Title:  Art and MCA Departments Student Checkout Equipment

Department(s) of College Affected:  Art Department (Undergrad 436 Majors, 98 Minors; Grad 164 MA/MFA) + MCA Department (320 Majors, 77Minors; Grad 80 (MFA/MPS) total of 1175 students.

Impact on Students: 

This project makes available for checkout iPads, a variety of action cameras, small portable projectors and accessories to any major or minor in the Art and MCA departments. While some programs within these departments have specialized loaner equipment for their own students, this equipment is designated for ALL the majors in the two departments and primarily those who do not have access to department checkout systems.  Many students do not have their own iPads, cameras or other recording or presentation devices for image capture or to use on assignments both in and out of class; this joint checkout system would serve over 1,000 students in their classwork and portfolio presentations for future employment.

Project Description: 

This project would set up a shared equipment checkout system for all Art and MCA majors and minors (total 1,175 students) to be jointly administered with a web reservation and online checkout system that operates on a first-come, first-served basis.  Both departments have existing checkout facilities that are limited to a small subset of students and which loan high-end, specialized equipment. Instead, this project, administered in two locations in Compton-Goethals and Shepard Hall, would serve the broad range of students in the two departments with more generalized equipment. Within the Division of Humanities, the Arts departments are working toward greater collaboration as part of the initiatives toward a School of the Arts. This initial collaborative sharing of equipment would be an important first step that could perhaps be later extended to include additional Arts departments.

The equipment requested falls into two categories:  iPads which would have the broadest utility for students who don’t have access to their own personal computing devices, and peripherals for specialized image capture that are otherwise not available to students. The iPads would be used for still and video image (and audio) capture and editing, as control devices for cameras, for creating and presenting class projects, and for presentations off campus to potential employers. They would also be available for students’ use in class. Since we anticipate very generalized use by a broad range of Art History, Art Education, Studio Art, EDM Design, Ad/PR, Media Production, Cinema Studies and Journalism students, the equipment request is broadly general, which also assumes that students will be able to use the equipment with little orientation or tech support. Software requested under this grant is for a FileMaker based web checkout system, to be shared and jointly administered by Art and MCA so that students can make web reservations for equipment on a first-come, first-served basis. This software, which is widely used in higher education, would facilitate inventory management so that the departments can monitor use and manage a major increase in checkout volume without overtaxing their current systems and staff. While we have specified iPads with two-year AppleCare, we are open to the idea of leasing with included insurance, along the lines of what is being considered for the larger checkout facilities at the College. The current proposal does not include insurance.

FY 2017 Fiscal Year Budget:

8. Project Title: “Sustainable Building Performance CadLAB I Computer Upgrade”

Department(s) of College Affected: Entire CUNY/CCNY will be affected. 

Impact on Students:

NYC leadership in global urban energy policy is posited as a driving force for university research and research collaborations around energy modeling and its applications.  Fundamentals of energy modeling for buildings, as currently practiced and used in the energy efficiency industry, are described with areas of potential research as highlighted below. 

A call is put forward for a CUNY/CCNY “Sustainable Building Performance Lab” to assist various research programs/studies in reducing carbon footprints of our existing CUNY campuses and areas of interest, involving the entire CCNY students who are registered for any sustainable classes or advanced CUNY students who are participating in any related research activities, with possible visiting students from an EU program for PhD-level training in urban energy research and modeling. 

Project Description: 

Within the community of global cities, NYC has taken the leadership role in the area of energy and climate-change policy.  NYC’s cutting edge “Greater, Greener Buildings” laws were put into effect under Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration, and current Mayor Bill de Blasio’s  “One City Built to Last” plan, with its “80 x 50” objective for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, continues the urban policy agenda of aggressive sustainability programming.  Based on NYC’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory, policies focus importantly on buildings, as 80 per cent of energy is found attributable to use in buildings (proportion varies by cities). The world’s major cities are joined together under the “C40 Global Cities” initiative, supported by the Bloomberg and Clinton foundations, to seek sustainability solutions with an emphasis on energy.  CUNY has been a significant partner in NYC’s sustainability programming, such that international energy researchers have been led to make contact with CUNY/CCNY entities, among the city’s major universities and non-profits working in this area.  Creating a state of art “Sustainable Building Performance Lab” here at CCNY becomes increasingly important.  As the demand for energy and resources shifts the world’s focus to building design and construction, it’s imperative that today’s student is fluent in the currency of identifying, assembling and evaluating an authentic sustainable design. CCNY’s “Sustainable Building Performance Lab” will become an important backbone of other CUNY “Building Performance Labs”.  Upgrading our current CadLAB to a state of art “Sustainable Building Performance Lab” is very beneficial to our research, teaching, and NYC’s leadership role in the area of energy at CCNY.

The tools to design and quantify Sustainable Building Technologies at CCNY’s “Sustainable Building Performance Lab” will reach into nearly every design studio, sustainable engineering courses, building technology courses at the college, and Capstone student projects of CCNY’s MS Sustainability program. Students are trained to design high performing building envelopes and simulate consequent energy use. They generate reports that are accepted by local and state authorities for code compliance and may be used as benchmarks for LEED and Energy Star ratings. Supplemental to this integrated systems approach are tools to make physical verification of computer generated models. Some of the software utilized by students in our “Sustainable Building Performance Lab” should include EnergyPlus, eQuest, Ecotect, Vasari, Green Building Studio, Therm, DIVA, Radiance, and Daysim. Additionally, students get exposure to analysis equipment, such as the Digital Rain gauge and data logger and the FLIR E BX Series infrared thermal imaging camera.

FY 2017 Fiscal Year Budget:

9. Project Title: CLASS – Computer Lab Accessibility for Social Science

Department(s) of College Affected: All Powell School Departments - Anthropology, Economics, Political Science, Sociology, Psychology

Impact on Students: 

1. Introduce legally required accessibility to antiquated computer lab which is currently not accessible, and which is heavily used for social science methods courses
2. Improve quality of the learning experience for the increasing numbers of social science majors at CCNY by replacing obsolete, slow seven-year-old computers with updated computers, and provide a smart podium to improve quality of presentations by instructors
3. Create additional work stations to increase class size from 27 to 35, to alleviate waiting list pressure for required courses. Increased capacity will better allow students to stay on track for graduation. (Note: Competition for computer labs continues to be a limiting factor for course offerings.)

Project Description: 

Create two new wheelchair accessible computer work stations plus 3 additional work stations for a total of 35 student work stations and replace old instructor’s table with smart podium and new computer.

FY 2017 Fiscal Year Budget:

10. Project Title: Marshak MR2 and MR3 Audio/Visual Upgrade

Department(s) of College Affected:  All students who require to take any science course. 

Impact on Students: 

We propose a much-needed upgrade to the existing audio/visual equipment in MR2 and MR3. These lecture halls are predominately used for Chemistry and Physics, respectively, but are also used by many other departments (e.g. Earth and Atmospheric Science, Engineering, Economics, Computer Science, History, etc.) for large lectures.  In a single week over 3,500 students use these rooms.

Project Description: 

The current installation in MR3 consists of a projector that is demonstrably too dim for the size of the room, an interface with unreliable and outdated connectors, and an ad-hoc audio set up. MR3 is one of the most highly trafficked rooms on campus, hosting approximately 1800 students from across several divisions each week. (Essentially equal to the Aronow theatre and MR2 for SP16). This is a highly visible part of the college, yet the conditions in the room are less than adequate for modern teaching methods. Class time is dark, since the screen cannot be seen well with room lighting on. This makes even the liveliest classes seem dull and dreary. Some instructors rely on the chalkboard for annotating their lectures, which in a large room such as MR3, is only really visible to the lower half of the lecture hall. At City College of New York, we have been using SMART technology in the large lecture hall, MR2, for the General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry classes for the past 10 years.  This semester over 1,167 students are enrolled in General Chemistry (10301, 10401, and 11000) and Organic Chemistry (26100), and it is imperative to provide an environment in which the students can easily see the materials written by the instructor in addition to being able to hear him or her.  Many publishers of General Chemistry textbooks also include movies, photos, tables and charts, and these materials have been integrated into the lecture using the SMART technology.  Currently, our system is running but there are significant problems.  One of the projectors is not functioning properly and requires immediate replacement.  Both projectors use the older low-resolution VGA, which will no longer be used on future computer systems.  All cabling from the portable lectern to the projectors uses this older technology.  The existing hardware and cabling is not capable of high resolution.  For both rooms we propose purchasing high-lumens, long-life projectors, with an installed desktop computer with screen writing technology mounted on a fixed podium. This would enable all the students in the room to see what the instructor is doing. Additionally, a robust and versatile wireless microphone system should be installed that instructors from all divisions can use. Currently, each department has its own arrangements. Some instructors bring their own PA systems to use in place of the existing speakers. Others simply shout. In short, improving the teaching technology in a room serving nearly 20 per cent of the student population every week would be an excellent investment for the tech fee.

FY 2017 Fiscal Year Budget:

11. CCNY Student Laptop Loans Program

College Department(s) Affected: All CCNY matriculate students

Impact on Students: 

From general internet research to submitting homework assignments, college life is almost impossible without a computer. CCNY students are typically older, have the additional strain of living in one of the most expensive cities, some of our students are parents themselves and many have limited resources.  Families with multiple students are hit the hardest as they have to stretch their budget to cover household expenses and the extra cost of the students being away from home. Paying cash – or even getting credit (student-loan debt has surpassed credit card debt and has twice the delinquency rate) – to buy a laptop is simply not an option for a majority of students and their parents.  With the increasing cost of tuition, transportation and rent, however, many of our students struggle to keep up and many of them cannot afford to own a computer/laptop.

Project Description:

The Office of Information Technology houses two general computer labs for use by all CCNY students, the NAC 1/501  Computer Lab (AKA “The Fishbowl”) (102 desktops), and The City Tech Center, (305 desktops and 40 laptops) in NAC 1/301.  The City Tech Center also has ten Media Study rooms which have become the premier hub for student group study, as well as a learning resource center, and group presentation facility for the entire City College population.  Each of the Media Study Rooms requires a minimum of three students and maximum of six per reservation.  

The Tech Center’s 40 laptops are primarily used within its Media Study Rooms.  The biggest challenge we have is that students are only allowed to take the laptop for an hour since we do not have many of them.   OIT is requesting $100,000 from the Tech Fee fund to purchase an additional 96 laptops, 76 Dell Latitude 5450 and 20 MacBook as well charging station carts, configured with CUNY and CCNY licensed software.

These additional laptops will allow us to extend our loan program period of time from one hour to up three hours at a time inside the Tech Center or Media Study rooms.  In this endeavor we are following several other colleges within the CUNY system, including John Jay, Hunter, Lehman and others. 

The Laptop Loaner Program will grant CCNY students who have limited finances more opportunities to excel by providing them with more access to the latest up-to-date computers and resources required to do their academic work.  Below is the budget breakdown: 

FY 2017 Fiscal Year Budget:

12. Student Technology Internship Program (STIP)

Project Description: Student Technology Internship Program (STIP)

College Departments Affected: Entire College

I am requesting support to continue the implementation of the FY 2017 Student Technology Internship Program. The total funding requested is $1,392,118 which includes, 13 per cent for fringe.  Below is a brief description of the program.

Project Description: The Student Technology Internship Program (STIP) was created in the summer of 2002 to provide Service Desk, CUNYfirst support, and other technical assistance to faculty, and students. This program creates opportunities for a selected group of undergraduate and graduate students to gain advanced skills in the use of computer hardware and software as well as learn effective teaching and client support skills. 

STIP supports and advances the technological needs of the college, both in and out of the classroom. By bringing the interns and technology users together as a team, we provide diverse skills and services to create a better teaching and learning environment at the college.  

Below are the four major components of the Student Technology Internship Program (STIP) and the requested funding:

Student Tech Interns Program                      No. of Students          Percentage     Total Cost/yr.

1. Mid-term and Final Exams Extending hours                                                 1        $    16,009                                            

2. Service Desk                                                              8                                23        $   282,188

3. OIT & Divisional Client Services Support                 21                                43        $   530,133

4. OIT & Divisional Computer Labs Support                28                                33        $   403,633

Sub-total                                                                     57                                100      $1,231,963

Fringe Benefits                                                                                                13        $    160,155

Grand Total                                                                                                                $1,392,118

1.  Mid-Term/Final Exams Extended Hours (24/7)

The extended (24/7) hours will provide a safe after-hours facility for our students during midterms and final examinations week. 

2. Service Desk Operation  

The OIT Service Desk was revamped in the summer of 2011, expanding services to improve support for CUNY Portal, CUNYfirst, Blackboard LMS, laptops, wireless configuration and access, and to act as a central distribution point for campus-wide site-licensed software to the college community. 

The Service Desk also provides Level-1 technical support in the following areas: 

·         Student email  (CityMail)

·         CUNYfirst support for students

·         Mobile devices for Students

·         Active Directory login 

·         Student training requests.

This one-stop shop solution has given the OIT staff a much more efficient way of addressing the diverse needs of students, faculty and staff, as well as a much more efficient way of addressing the college’s technology needs, particularly for students. 

3. OIT and Divisional Client Services Support

In addition to servicing all the general student computer labs on campus, the OIT and Divisional Client Services Support teams also provide Level-2 and Level-3 hardware and software technical support and other technical assistance to college administrators, faculty, staff and students. This student group works continuously to ensure that the services they offer are of high quality and are customer-friendly. The program gives student interns the opportunity to gain advanced skills in the use of computer hardware, software, audio-visual equipment, presentation resources, and client support skills. These students are assigned to the main OIT Client Services department as well as to various divisional/school IT offices. They also receive on-going training from the college to support the advancing technology and audio-visual needs of the school. The training concentrates on software and hardware installations, troubleshooting, customer service, faculty, staff and student support and maintenance.

4. OIT and Divisional Student Computer Labs Support

The OIT and divisional student computer labs facilitate the printing and computing needs of our students. OIT has two main general computer labs, (1) The North Academic Center General Fishbowl General Student Lab (NAC 1/501), which provides 102 PCs computers, and (2) The CITY Tech Center (NAC 1/301), City College’s new state-of-the-art computing, learning and training resource center, located on the ground floor of the Cohen Library. Re-designed to accommodate student learning in a variety of stimulating configurations, it provides the following services:

·         Over 300 workstations

·         10 media six-person study rooms with dual flat-panel displays

·         16 two-person study rooms equipped with Windows and Macintosh desktop workstations

·         Three smart classrooms with dozens of workstations, high definition projectors  and, in the largest classroom, a podium with AV controls and mobile device connections

·         Dozens of single-use desktop and wireless workstations in the open bays

·         Laptop loan program for students to use while inside the facility.

Each workstation is configured with the college’s full range of campus-wide, site-licensed software, including Adobe Creative Suite, MathWorks, Matlab, Microsoft Office Suite, SAS, and SPSS. The spatial configurations are as important as the technological enhancements because they accommodate students who choose to work individually, as well as provide incentives for student collaboration. 

At any given moment, the three training rooms are filled to capacity with students engaged in technology-enhanced learning with professors of Economics, Engineering, Psychology, and English. This highly successful facility has become the premier hub for student computing needs, as well as a general purpose learning resource center for the entire City College population.

Hundreds of students occupy every available workstation and study space, engrossed in everything from coursework to research to recreational breaks.

The computing and printing needs of special programs are provided by divisional Student Computer Labs, including the Education Lab (NAC 4/226), Engineering CAD Lab (ST-216), Electrical Engineering Lab (ST-269), Science Student Lab, (MR-829), Accessibility Student Lab (NAC 1/216), and Architecture CAD Lab, (SSA- 3rd floor), Music General Lab, and both graduate and undergraduate Student Government labs. These labs are open during the college hours of operation. 

Student Technology Interns Program Budget Breakdown

Student Technology Fee Advisory Committee Members

The Technology Fee Committee is composed of 27 members, chaired by the Provost, SVP and COO, and co-chaired by the AVP & CIO of Office of Information Technology. It includes thirteen   students recommended by the Office of the Vice-President of Student Affairs (eleven undergraduates and two graduates), seven faculty, six academic representatives, and one ex-official members. The Technology Fee Committee will be the standing college committee that will advise the Office of the President on the expenditure of the Tech Fee revenue.

Committee Chair – Dr. Maurizio Trevisan, Provost, and Leonard Zinnanti, SVP and COO

Co-Chair – Ken Ihrer, APV & CIO Office of Information Technology (3)

Student Representatives (13)  

Stephanie Veras, President Undergraduate Student Government

Sharmin Sultana, Vice President of Student Affairs

Andrew Quintero, Undergraduate Student Senator 

Brian Gonzalez, Undergraduate Student Senator 

Jordan Paredes, Undergraduate Student Senator 

Karen Gregory, Undergraduate Student Senator 

Kenny Soto, Vice President of Campus Affairs 

Nadine Pratt, Sophie Davis Medical School Senator

Priscilla Delgado, Undergraduate Student Senator 

Quintin Price, Undergraduate Student Senator 

Xulfin Soomro, Undergraduate Student Senator 

Muaad Alody, President Graduate Student Government

Veronica Blanco, Graduate Student Council

Faculty Representatives (7)

Prof. Annette Weintraub, Humanities and Arts

Prof. Ilona Kretzschmar, Grove School of Engineering

Prof. MT Chang, School of Architecture

Prof. Laurent Mars, Division of Science

Prof. Karen Gregory, Center for Worker Education

Ms. Leslie Galman, Colin Powell School

Ms. Doris Grasserbauer, School of Education 

 Administrative Representatives (3)

Felix Lam, VP of Finance and Administration

Juana Reina, VP of Student Affairs

Deidra Hill, VP for Communications and Marketing

Ex-officio Member (1)

Otto Marte, Project Administrator and Director of OIT Business Services

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