More than five months after Fall Quarter's tuition was paid, members of the Information Technology Steering Committee sat down to discuss how to spend their new-found funds.
Last spring when the Ohio University Board of Trustees decided to raise tuition by 6 percent and technology fees by 3.9 percent, a portion of that money was allocated to Information Technology, a committee developed to decide how to distribute funding for technology in various places throughout the university. The money, about $1.1 million, has not yet been distributed.
Thursday's IT Steering Committee meeting was dedicated to planning the initial stages of allocation and introducing the committee members to IT's programs.
We're figuring out how to attack the problems
said Ann Kovalchick, director of Center Innovation in Technology for Learning. We need to orient ourselves to the task.
Kovalchick serves as co-chair to the 50-person committee that includes representatives from the nine undergraduate colleges, four vice presidential offices and underclass and graduate student senates.
We're a large committee and we need to focus on the university as a whole instead of each individual college
said John Day, associate dean of academic affairs.
Coupled with increases in need-based aid and technology fees, the committee also received the money in the fall. While the other two departments receiving aid quickly began allocating their money, Kovalchick said there is no rush to spend the money because it will accumulate year after year.
Early goals of the steering committee include improving technology in the classroom, reducing Internet and server costs, making training costs more efficient and comparing OU's technology and technology spending with that of other state universities. IT funding encompasses e-mail, Blackboard, software licensing, networks, hardware and classroom technologies.
Members of the committee plan to meet monthly throughout the rest of the year. The projected agendas will assign priorities to various IT initiatives, starting centrally on items that might not directly benefit students.
The committee met for three hours on Thursday, but no goals or spending priorities were established. Committee members spent their time reviewing representative responsibilities, discussing appropriate meeting behavior and adopting a program process.
After watching a video entitled Deep Dive
which was a story of a fictional company that learned how to manage its money, the committee decided to follow a process including steps such as finding the problems, working in teams, setting a time table and having fun.
More information about the committee can be found at their Web site at www.ohiou.edu/itsc.
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Katie Primm
