for
the Amherst campus of the University of Massachusetts
Oct.
20, 2000
|
Board backs plans for student IT proposal calls for $123m from state by Daniel J. Fitzgibbons, Chronicle staff 
iting the need to improve information technology
at the state public campuses, the Board of Higher Education this week
approved a $123 million plan that would require students to buy and
use their own laptop computers.The three-year plan, which requires state funding, would spend $54 million to subsidize the cost of the laptop computers and provide full or partial vouchers for low income students to purchase the equipment. The proposal also calls for spending $27 million to train faculty to use instructional technology and $42 million to improve facilities, equipment and programs across the community college, state college and University systems. Under that effort, all campuses will install wireless technology to allow Internet access from any location. After the first three years, the program is expected to cost about $61.8 million annually to support the purchase of 25,000 laptops and provide vouchers to 18,000 students. Board member Aaron Spencer estimated that the state could provide laptops to students at a subsidized cost of about $1,200, which students would pay directly to the vendor. Though the plan received widespread attention in the press, the proposal has not yet received the public backing of elected officials, including the governor and legislative leaders. Campus officials estimate the initiative will cost about $2 million to maintain. All campus classrooms currently have at least one Internet connection. In addition, 37 of 42 residence halls have been wired with ethernet connections and the remaining buildings are expected to be online by the end of the semester. The Board of Higher Education is now expected to develop an implementation strategy for the plan, which will be considered at the panel's December meeting. If the plan is implemented, Massachusetts would become the first state to require all public college and university students to buy a laptop. |
