Proposal

Narrative

HBOI’s students, faculty, and staff are in need of a software conferencing room that is, in terms of capacity, somewhere between MC209 (~35 people) and our auditorium (350 people). The obvious choice is LE246/247. There is a movable wall divider that can combine rooms to accommodate ~100 people. In addition, COVID has made virtual formats a necessity. Students at HBOI have asked for increased virtual capability because of our remote location. LE246 is nothing more than an e-classroom (no cameras); often requested for local (non-virtual) events and meetings. LE247 has outdated legacy Cisco VC equipment and is not software conferencing capable. Combined rooms would share mics, speaker, and projectors; allowing the rooms to act as one large software VC room. For local meetings (classes, training, BOT, outside agency project mtgs), the mics would be heard through the ceiling speakers. Air Media will allow easy and rapid presentation sharing by students and faculty via tablet, phone and computer. The ability to use the rooms independently (divider closed) will reduce scheduling conflicts and provide additional remote classes to other FAU campuses from HBOI. 115 on-site students participate in Marine Science & Oceanography graduate degree program, Biological Sciences, Engineering, SBTS and Nursing courses. The upgrade would impact 200-250 students. Along with the above courses, our research projects also involve the students.

Facilities

N/A

Hardware Requirements

See attached quotes for LE246 & LE247.

Software Requirements

None.

Personnel Costs

None. We have an on-site VC tech.

Other Costs

None.

Timeline

Once the award is made, the work will commence in 2022.

Sustainability

System will be maintained by on-site VC technician.

Resource Matching

None.

Implementing Organization

HBOI OIT department would be coordinating this project with Boca OIT.