Centralized Lab
Donald C. Fuhr
>I would like to hear from anyone who has a centralized lab or is beginning
>the process. We are in the planning phase and would like to hear from
>people on the pros and cons of centralizing computer labs. We currently
>have 21 labs spread throughout various departments and are hoping to put
>many of these labs into a central location. We are looking at a large open
>lab with smaller dedicated labs adjacent to the large lab for department
>use.
>
>Any advice you could lend would be much appreciated.
>
>
>
>Jim Mahlberg
>Iowa Western Community College
>Director of Computer Services
>2700 College Rd.
>Council Bluffs, Iowa 51502
>
>Email: <mailto:jmah...@iwcc.cc.ia.us> jmah...@iwcc.cc.ia.us
>Phone: (712)325-3218 Fax: (712) 325-3718
>
I think there is room (and need) for both centralized and departmental
labs. Following are some pseudo-random thoughts on the subject:
The main issues are function, funding, control, and support, and they are
interdependent based on your particular situation. A centralized lab needs
to be general-purpose and open for access. Unless you have some physical
subdivision, it does not lend itself well to scheduled classes.
Departmental labs are often acquired with grant funding, which tends to
focus their applications in specialized areas. They are often managed by
the departments which "own" them to facilitate scheduling and to ensure
compliance with the provisions of the grant. They are often used as
"teaching labs" where they are used for one class at a time and not open
for general access except to students taking the classes.
Support for centralized labs needs to be centralized; support for
departmental labs can be either centralized or decentralized, depending on
who can get the people to do it.
Centralized labs need to have an on-going budget allocation for upgrades
and replacements; departmental labs can be upgraded with grant funds if the
department is consistently successful in attracting grants.
******************************************************************************
DONALD C. FUHR Phone (334)727-8606
Director of Telecommunications Fax
(334)727-0091
Tuskegee University E-mail
fu...@acd.tusk.edu
Tuskegee Institute, AL 36088
******************************************************************************
Cathy Barner
Way back when in the '80's when we first opened our computer labs for
students we began with the concept of centralized and campus owned.
This meant that Computer Services maintained the labs and they were
available for students as walk-in and also instructors could book them
as needed for instruction. This has worked out well as the ownership is
not tied to a single department and we can better maintain software and
hardward standard throughout, which makes a student's life easier.
As we have grown over the years, this idea has continued, but we added
features. We now have three electronic classrooms that are not
available for student walk-in traffic, but only for instructor's to book
for teaching. Even so, these are still campus-owned resources and
continue to be maintained by Computer Services (hardware, software,
printing, and a helpdesk).
Some departments have small groups of computers designed for there
students to walk-in and have a place to work and some have specialty
software relative to that discipline and they are "paid for" by the
individual departments, but we still support the hardware and software
problems and questions.
Cathy
Jim Mahlberg wrote:
>
> I would like to hear from anyone who has a centralized lab or is beginning
> the process. We are in the planning phase and would like to hear from
> people on the pros and cons of centralizing computer labs. We currently
> have 21 labs spread throughout various departments and are hoping to put
> many of these labs into a central location. We are looking at a large open
> lab with smaller dedicated labs adjacent to the large lab for department
> use.
>
> Any advice you could lend would be much appreciated.
>
> Jim Mahlberg
> Iowa Western Community College
> Director of Computer Services
> 2700 College Rd.
> Council Bluffs, Iowa 51502
>
> Email: <mailto:jmah...@iwcc.cc.ia.us> jmah...@iwcc.cc.ia.us
> Phone: (712)325-3218 Fax: (712) 325-3718
--
Cathy Barner cba...@aug.edu Mailto:cba...@aug.edu
Augusta State University - Computer Services
Coordinator of Operations and Support Services
Augusta, GA 30904 (706) 737-1484