Proposal

The Dean’s Office in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science (CESCoS) is seeking funding from the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Technology Fee in order to improve STEM student success. CESCoS is the second largest college at FAU, in terms of student enrollment. Each year over 5,000 students at FAU declare a science major and 500 more are STEM graduate students. Over 4,800 science majors are currently enrolled in courses on the Boca Raton campus. However, the CESCoS faculty are located on all three major FAU campuses: Boca Raton, Jupiter and Davie. Consequently, science courses can be taught at either Boca, Jupiter or Davie campuses. This is particularly prevalent for upper-level undergraduate and many graduate courses. Thus, the college has an urgent need for a high-tech eLearning classroom on the Boca Raton campus to better facilitate our student's speedier progression to graduation. This will enable students based at the Boca campus to complete courses offered at Jupiter and Davie, in a timely manner and without the expense, time and trouble of commuting between campuses. This in turn will improve our performance in key metrics defined by Florida’s Board of Governors (FL BOG). The key FL BOG metrics to be positively impacted by this project are: (1) six year graduation rates, and (2) percent of Bachelor’s Degrees without excess hours.

The CESCoS Dean’s Office has identified Room 299L in the Science Building (Building 43) for conversion into an eLearning classroom. This room will facilitate upper level undergraduate, and graduate students in Boca to complete science classes offered on Jupiter or Davie campuses. To accomplish this room’s technological upgrade we are requesting funding for:

(1) a “Newline Board” with a wireless keyboard and mouse, including vendor installation, and

(2) tech-enabled compact furniture for 12 students to furnish the room.

“Newline Board” is replacing the cumbersome "Bridge Network" technology on all FAU campuses, and enables smoother live audio/visual connections with remote locations.  Installing tech-enabled furniture in Room 299L will allow our students to further utilize this room as a study space when it is not occupied with eLearning classes.

The college of science recently completed an external review and evaluation of ALL its degree and certificate programs, Departments, and other units. The FL BOG mandates that all state Universities undergo such comprehensive college-wide reviews every 7 years. In the last review, all EIGHT external review teams identified a need for “state-of-the-art inter-campus video-conferencing communication capabilities in classrooms at the Boca, Jupiter and Davie campuses to facilitate faculty teaching courses simultaneously on all campuses”. The review teams identified these need as critical and a result of the significant science faculty spread from the Boca campus to service the Jupiter-based Life Science Initiative, the Davie-based Environmental Sciences Program, and other informal thematic science concentrations at both Davie and Jupiter campuses. If funded this project will help to build such state-of-the-art inter-campus video-conferencing communication capabilities at the Boca campus, which is the premier campus for servicing the most STEM students at FAU. Science faculty on the three campuses will thus be better utilized and students will benefit by being able to take courses and “attend” research seminars at Jupiter and Davie without leaving Boca.

The Dean's Office of the College of Science is committed to pursuing separate funding for renovations to Building 43, including Room 299L to: replace flooring; paint walls; improve and update lighting.  The Dean's Office will work with Facilities to accomplish this. Tech Fee funding will NOT be used for general renovation purposes.

We are requesting: 

(1) “Newline Board” with a wireless keyboard and mouse, including vendor installation

Quote from CCS Southeast, in Supporting Documentation: $11,320.31

Tech-enabled furniture delivery and installation 4-6 weeks  from PO submission.

Hardware (“Newline Board”) delivery and installation ~8 weeks  from PO submission.

The Dean's Office of CESCoS and OIT in the Dean's Office will implement the project.