Proposal

Narrative

The Department of Urban and Regional Planning (URP) uses room SO285 as a computer classroom and student studio for courses that have a technical component. Which in Urban Planning is a majority of courses. SO285 currently has Dell Precision T3600 desktops that are eight years old and out of warranty. The hardware of the desktops is beginning to breakdown and physical repairs are becoming more frequent. Also, the hardware on the computers will soon no longer be capable of handling the applications students require to complete course and project work. Programs such as Esri City Engine, AutoCAD, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, GIS programs, Sketchup and others are resource intensive. Students’ ability to complete work suffers from degraded performance. Furthermore, the chips on the T3600 do not support Windows 11 which will be required soon. SO285 utilizes 30” monitors to facilitate students work on large Urban Planning designs. The current Dell™ U3011 monitors are also eight years old and only have drivers up to Windows 7. Issues with consistent display quality have been ongoing because of the out-of-date drivers. We are requesting funding for 10 Dell Precision 3650 computers and Dell U3023E monitors to replace the existing T3600s’ and U3011 monitors. The new computers and monitors meet the application requirements for all URP software applications and will allow students to complete their work in an efficient manner. These new computers and monitors will enable our students to continue using SO285 as an on-campus resource during class time as well as a studio when classes are not being held. During the remote learning of Spring, Summer and Fall 2020 we’ve also been able to offer these computers to off campus students remotely via the Academic Network.

Facilities

No renovations are required.

Hardware Requirements

10 Precision 3650 Towers Cost: $15,323.00 10 Dell UltraSharp 30 USB-C Hub Monitor – U3023E Cost: $7,424.90 Total: $22,747.90

Software Requirements

No software requirements.

Personnel Costs

No personnel cost. All personal cost for setup will be handled by existing IT staff in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning.

Other Costs

No additional costs are associated with this project.

Timeline

If funds are awarded hardware will be purchased immediately and installed upon delivery.

Sustainability

Maintenance of the computers will be handled by URP IT staff to keep the computer useful for their lifetime.

Resource Matching

No matching resources are available to the department at this time.

Implementing Organization

The Department of Urban and Regional Planning will implement the project.