Student Technology Fee Plan FY 2015

CCNY STUDENT TECHNOLOGY FEE PLAN

FY 2015 
By

Dr. Maurizio Trevisan, Provost
Praveen Panchal, VP & CIO of Information Technology
 

TABLE  OF CONTENTS

Background
Introduction
FY 2015 Proposed Activities and Corresponding Budgets
List of Accomplishments for FY 2014 and the end of FY 2013
Proposed Activities and Corresponding Budgets

• CUNY University Technology Initiatives (CUNY‐UTI) Projects
• Library Services–Database & Digital Subscriptions
• Office of Information Technology (OIT) Maintenance Cost
• 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 Technology Task Force’s goal is to formulate a set of recommendations that would improve technology throughout the college. Their recommendations for educational applications of technology provided the basis for discussions between the members of the Technology Fee Committee – the group charged with responsibility for drafting the 2014‐2015 plans for the investment of the Student Technology Fee. A copy of the 2013‐2014 Technology Fee Plan can be viewed at http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/itcs/techfeeplan14‐15.pdf.

Introduction

The Technology Fee Committee agreed on two planning principles:

• The funds should be invested in ways that directly and positively impact the experience of students at the College
• In the initial years, at least, the funds should be concentrated on a limited number of projects that are large enough to have a 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. CUNY Enterprise Technology Initiatives (CUNY‐ETI) Projects

Person Responsible for Project(s):                    Praveen Panchal, VP and CIO of Office of
Information Technology (OIT)
Telephone Number:                                           212‐650‐8223
E‐Mail: ppanchal@ccny.cuny.edu & marte@ccny.cuny.edu

College Department(s) Affected: Entire campus

Project Description: CUNY Central has been asked to reserve 10 per cent of the total Technology Fee revenue to pay for CUNY‐wide University Technology Initiative projects (CUNY‐ UTI). I am requesting a total of $324,280 to continue funding the software projects listed below
– which are primarily for student use.

FY 2014 Fiscal Year Budget:

2. Library Services–Database & Digital Subscriptions

Person Responsible for Project(s): Charles Stewart, Technical Services Chief
Telephone Number: 212‐650‐7271
E‐Mail: prgcc@sci.ccny.cuny.edu & cstewart@ccny.cuny.edu

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) 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.

2) 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.

3) Thieme 2014

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, 2014 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 2014 Fiscal Year Budget:

3. Office of Information Technology (OIT) Maintenance Cost

Person Responsible for Project(s): Praveen Panchal, VP and CIO of Office of
Information Technology (OIT)
Telephone Number: 212‐650‐8223
E‐Mail: ppanchal@ccny.cuny.edu

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 Lab, Tech Center and Fishbowl
  • Service Desk (Call Center)
  • Client Services, and Instructional Technology and Media Support Services
  • 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 $570,948 from  the college’s  Technology Fee Budget to cover recurring costs to pay for campus‐wide licenses, hardware and general computer lab equipment. In addition we are requesting funding to install new AV equipment in  the Tech Center (Hands‐On classroom).
Some of the essential services, which benefit the entire student population include:

• Hardware and peripheral support and maintenance agreements:

• • Annual maintenance on printers, scanners, existing wireless devices, and copier machines for students, AV equipment in classes
• Campus‐wide license agreement extensions and maintenance for student use. This includes annual maintenance updates, wireless software releases and firmware updates, and security software encryptions.
  • Autocad, Matlab, Print Manager Plus, Identity Finder
  • Wireless Licenses renewal, network support,  and Maintenance
  • Web Check out
  • Deep Freeze, etc.
• General Student Computer Labs supplies (such as toner, paper, staples and general items), computer lab replacement parts (such as keyboards, mice, etc.) which are located in:
  • Tech Center
  • Fishbowl
  • Services Desk (Student Support Center)
  • Graduate Student General Computer Lab
  • Kiosks in the Administration and North Academic Center (NAC) buildings.

FY 2014 Fiscal Year Budget:

4. Student Technology Internship Program (STIP)

Person Responsible for Project: Otto Marte, Director of OIT Business Services
Telephone Number: 212‐650‐6190
E‐mail: marte@ccny.cuny.edu

Project Description: Student Technology Internship Program (STIP)

College Departments Affected: Entire College

I am requesting support to continue the implementation of the FY 2015 Student Technology Internship Program. The total funding requested is $1,300,000. 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 helpdesk and other technical assistance to students, faculty, and staff. 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 five major components of the Student Technology Internship Program (STIP) and the requested funding:

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

• 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.

Service Desk Operation

The OIT Service Desk was revamped in the summer of 2011, expanding services to improve support for CUNY Portal, CUNYfirst support for students, 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 needs of students, faculty and staff, as well as a much more efficient way of addressing the college’s technology needs, particularly for students.

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 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, 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 Student Lab (NAC 1/501), which provides 102 computers, (52 PCs and 50 iMacs); 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 study rooms with dual flat‐panel displays that accommodate up to six students
• 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‐581), Science Student Lab, (MR‐829), Accessibility Student Lab (NAC 1/216), Hands‐Up Psychology Classroom (SH‐105) and Architecture CAD Lab, (SSA‐ 3rd floor). These labs are open during the college hours of operation.

5. Special Support Groups

In addition to the interns identified above, the STIP also offers special support in the following areas: the college cabling network group and the Center for Excellent in Teaching and Learning (CETL). These interns are hired as hourly and CAs instead of hiring full‐time staff as recommended in the 2002‐2003 Technology Fee proposals.

Student Technology Interns Program Budget Breakdown

Student Technology Fee Advisory Committee Members
The Technology Fee Committee is composed of 23 members, chaired by the Provost and co‐ chaired by the VP and CIO of Office of Information Technology. It includes seven students recommended by the Office of the Vice‐President of Student Affairs (five undergraduates and two graduates), four academic representatives, four faculty, four administrators  appointed upon the recommendation of President Lisa S. Coico, and two 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 ‐ Maurizio Trevisan, Provost Office of Provost
Co‐Chair ‐ Praveen Panchal, VP and CIO Office of Information Technology

Student Representatives

Kieshorne Dennie, Undergraduate Student Kemakorn Ithisuphalap, Treasurer
Dalia Nazzal, Evening Affairs VP Justin Cruz, Senator
Latchmee Ramnarine, Senator
Adela Gonzalez, Graduate Student Council & Assist. Chair Chukwudi Onike, Graduate, Chair Academic Affairs

Academic Representatives

Gilda Barabino, Dean Grove School of Engineering Eric Weitz, Dean Division of Humanities and the Arts
Juan C. Mercado, Dean CWE and Division of Interdisciplinary Studies Tony Liss, Dean of Science

Faculty Representatives

Nancy Tag, Chair Media and Communication Arts
Prof. Ilona Kretzschmar, GSOE/Chemical Engineering Dept.
Prof. Themis Lazaridis, Division of Science & Chemistry Ph. D. Advisor Prof. Elizabeth Matthews, CWE

Administrative Representatives

Felix Lam, AVP of Finance and Administration Robert Santos, VP for Campus Planning & Facilities Juana Reina, VP of Student Affairs
Deidra Hill, VP for Communications and Marketing

Ex‐officio Members

Otto Marte, Project Administrator and Director of OIT Business Services Ivette Rodriguez, STF Coordinator and Assistant to the VP and CIO of OIT

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