Proposal

Narrative

This technology fee proposal seeks to bring the instructor station in AL 240 up to current OIT standards. AL 240 serves upwards of 450 students and faculty across the College of Arts and Letters as the Advanced Media Production Lab, or “AMP Lab,” and is also one of three dedicated graduate seminar classrooms used by the English department. The purpose of this grant is to ensure that the lab is maintained at current OIT and modern technology performance standards. The Instructor’s lectern is severely outdated, with technology and equipment several stages behind current OIT standards. There are no speakers installed in the room, the instructor computer is outdated and does not match the student computer stations (and so cannot model instructional technology), and the station lacks standard technology including a DVD/Blu-Ray player, document camera, etc. The projector also needs upgrading in order to deliver up to date audio and visual lectures and projects. If this grant is funded, we will upgrade the instructor computer and media lectern along with accompanying projector and speaker setup to meet current OIT standards for e-classrooms. Doing so will help faculty in our college take full advantage of the AMP Lab and also support our college’s efforts to us to forward FAU’s 2015-25 Strategic Plan and continue to succeed in our state metrics. This technology proposal is being submitted alongside a separate proposal for AL 240 student computer replacements, as part of an effort to maintain the technology in this lab and keep it up-to-date in order to serve the needs of our faculty and students. Professors from English, VAAH, and SCMS currently teach in the lab, and we encourage other departments to make use of the space as well. In Spring 2018 we will teach ten classes in the AMPLab, as well as offer open production time and drop-in hours when these classes are not in session. We have increased our use of the lab for IFP courses (often taught by GTAs), thus expanding the use of the lab as well as the teaching pool able to access it. This is key to the professional development of our graduate students, who will enter a job market that expects new faculty to be familiar with digital technology in their teaching and research. However, we cannot fully utilize the technology available in the AMP Lab without an updated instructor station. A standard instructor lectern will significantly update the technology available in the classroom, including a document camera, DVD/Blu-Ray player, and sympodium, and will allow instructors to utilize a range of media in their teaching. This necessary maintenance helps us continue our success in our State Metrics in several key areas, most obviously in terms of the necessary job skills the lab provides to the undergraduate and graduate students that utilize the lab each year. • Employment and Wages: Technological literacy is a key factor in helping graduates secure high-paying jobs, and thus labs like this are crucial in supporting success in our second metric (median average wages one year after graduation). • Academic Progress: Through the frequent use of the lab for IFP courses (Categories 1 and 6), this grant supports the development of writing skills in students (primarily the critical population of first year students). • FTIC Recruitment: The AMP Lab, so long as the technology is kept current, is an asset in recruiting students who are increasingly entering college with a high level of technological and digital literacy. • Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded in Areas of Strategic Emphasis (includes STEM): since ENC 1101 and ENC 1102 are core requirements, teaching these courses in a digital environment provides students a foundation for writing and thinking in digital spaces as they move into various STEM majors. This necessary maintenance also helps us continue to fulfill the goals of FAU’s 2015-25 Strategic Plan, including: • Promote student scholarship (p8): the lab is used for the production of the undergraduate English department creative writing journal, Coastlines, the national creative writing journal Swamp Ape, and the English department courses that train students in publishing and editing and support these two publications • Enhance technology infrastructure to promote research and education (p10): once updated, this computer classroom will contribute to FAU's overall IT infrastructure, allowing faculty to incorporate a range of digital technologies into their teaching and thereby further connecting their classrooms to the outside world. • Elevate the levels of student success beyond graduation (p8) • Create multi-user facilities with cutting-edge equipment (p9)

Facilities

None

Hardware Requirements

1 iMac computer: $1,899.00 AppleCare Protection Plan: $119.00 HDMI Adapter: $34.95 Overhead projector and teacher podium: $22,614.92 Total Hardware: $24,667.87

Software Requirements

Standard FAU desktop configuration; additional software paid by existing AMP Lab funds Total Software: 0

Personnel Costs

None

Other Costs

None

Timeline

The room will be updated over Summer 2018 in order to be ready for classes in Fall 2018.

Sustainability

There are one- to three-year warranties on all equipment. The department will pay for replacements of parts that wear out.

Resource Matching

There are no matching resources for this project.

Implementing Organization

College of Arts and Letters computing personnel