Proposal

Narrative

The Center for Learning and Student Success (CLASS) employs over 50 student workers each semester to tutor students enrolled in historically difficult undergraduate courses at FAU. From Fall 2018 to Spring 2021, our student tutors recorded 154,163 total student tutoring visits. Since 2011, our learning center has welcomed more than 800,000 student visits for academic support. When returning to campus during the Fall 2021 semester, we noticed an increased demand for online and hybrid tutoring services. The primary purpose of these laptops and tablets will be to empower student tutors to easily shift their in-person sessions online without having to relocate or use their own technology. Students receiving tutoring services will also use these devices as learning tools during their in-person tutoring sessions. Furthermore, our tutors will be able to borrow these devices to work on their own course assignments while they wait for their tutoring appointments. Since the recent return to campus, we have also observed that many faculty are now implementing online learning supplements in face-to-face and hybrid courses. Some faculty may even decide to hold course sessions and office hours online with limited notice. Many of our students lack the resources to purchase a laptop or consistently bring one to campus. Consequently, our students must seek out open computer labs or study spaces to find the technology required to complete their coursework or attend office hours. Our center is already a well-established study space on campus, but we currently do not have many computers for general student use/study. The secondary purpose of these laptops and tablets is to provide an additional technology resource for students engaging in self-guided study in our center. Please see the attached proposal for the continuation of this narrative. Items discussed include our program's differentiation from the FAU Libraries program and its alignment with FAU strategic goals.

Facilities

These technology resources will be located in the CLASS office in General Classroom South and in the Science Learning Center in the SF building. All of the associated technology will be stored in locked technology cabinets. All laptops and tablets loaned through CLASS will remain on the second floor of General Classroom South in the Center for Teaching and Learning and will be due back in our center by the end of the business day. All laptops and tablets loaned through the Science Learning Center will remain in the SF building and will be due back in our center by the end of the business day. Our centers (CLASS and SLC) have multiple video cameras and magnetic locks on our entrances to prevent loss. Students who borrow laptops will also need to sign a loan agreement that was previously approved by FAU legal counsel for our hotspot rental program.

Hardware Requirements

Please see attached quotes for all requested hardware. 20 laptops 10 iPads Associated Storage

Software Requirements

N/A

Personnel Costs

There are no additional personnel costs associated with this project. All project operations, including technology maintenance, will be performed by existing staff.

Other Costs

N/A

Timeline

As soon as the awarded funds are made available, these resources will be purchased.

Sustainability

This proposal consists of only one-time hardware costs. Since we have individuals in our center who are familiar with the requested technology, it also does not require any additional personnel costs. Therefore, this proposal is sustainable from a financial perspective. We anticipate that the requested technology will have a useable life of 3-5 years. Future upgrades may be submitted as future Technology Fee Grant proposals or funded through Undergraduate Studies. Therefore, this proposal is also sustainable from a technology perspective.

Resource Matching

N/A

Implementing Organization

The Center for Learning and Student Success will work in concert with the FAU Office of Information Technology to implement this project.