Proposal

Name:

MTEn MFA Lab - Broward

FiscalYear:

2015

Audience:

Arts & Letters, College of

Submitter:

Lewter, Bradley

Budget Manager:

Dimaggio, Kathleen M.

Project Manager:

Lewter, Brad Paul

Proposal Approvers

Dept. Chair:

Williams, David C.

Local IT:

Topple, Gregory L.

Dean:

Johnson, Linda K.

Facilities:

N/A

OIT:

Bagdonas, Joseph A.

Proposal Funding

Year 1:

$ 27,167.00

Year 2:

$ 0.00

Year 3:

$ 0.00

Total:

$ 27,167.00

Proposal Funding versus Average

Questionnaire

Narrative
?

The goal of this proposal is to fund the primary lab utilized by the Media, Technology, & Entertainment (MTEN) MFA.  This initiative will implement much needed improvements to the computing capacity of our facilities to create a graduate lab that is state-of-the-art and competitive with similar regional programs.

MTEN exists within The School of Communications and Multimedia, the largest school in the D. F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and one of the largest in the University.  The current graduate lab features 13 Apple MacPro machines installed in 2009. While still useful within our School, these older computers no longer represent the current state of technology utilized in professional and academic production settings.  Replacing them would serve our graduate students research needs and could enhance the visibility and desirability of our programs.

This proposal seeks funds for 13 replacement Apple iMac 27" Workstations and 13 Wacom Intuos Pro tablet peripherals.  Maintaining consistency in the type of workstations used in each lab affords numerous advantages.  The software image developed and funded under a joint TechFee grant between the Dept. of Art & Art History, the School of Communication & Multimedia Studies, & the School of Architecture can be deployed on the new machines without modification or customization.  Thus, instructors can rely on the same hardware and software environments no matter the lab they are assigned.

Designed for creativity the Wacom Intuos Pro pen tablet combines Wacom’s finest pen capabilities with intuitive multi-touch gestures and gives users the precision and control needed when using professional design software.  These peripherals will augment existing tablets also used for undergraduate courses and will allow for their use in the larger capacity labs our programs utilize on the Davie campus.  Currently, we lack a sufficient number of tablets to fully serve a single undergraduate course. 

While being housed in the grad lab, the processing power of MacPro workstations will be utilized further through the implementation of a distributed network renderer.  Initially through the deployment of Autodesk BackBurner, students will be able to harness all available workstations in our Davie Campus facilities including our MTEN graduate lab.  This combined processing power will allow graduate and undergraduate students to render time-based digital works in a quick and efficient manner.  This will also position us favorably against competitive programs in the state and region.  Through previous tech fee initiatives we have established the viability of software license sharing and server access between campuses and hope to expand those capabilities to cross-campus distributed rendering with this proposal. 

The Media, Technology and Entertainment MFA was chartered in partnership with the College of Engineering and Computer Science.  Graduate students in the program take topical elective courses in Engineering and Computer Science that supplement the New Media theory and practice they receive in the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies.  Enhancing this lab helps to create a well equipped meeting and studio workspace in which graduate students in MTEN and Engineering can collaborate.  By upgrading this lab as a key component of a distributed rendering system, we also open the possibility for remote utilization by students and researchers in the College of Engineering and Computer Science on the Boca Campus.  Strengthening these partnerships serves to bolster the University’s investment in STEM programs and initiatives.

The MTEN graduate lab serves as the nexus of graduate creative research on the Davie Campus.  By enhancing this lab we not only will improve the experience of the current cohort, but help to attract desirable applicants in the future.  

The ulltimate goal of this proposal is to give MTEN graduate students the benefit of working with an industry-standard environment, and to increase their access to a full-feature digital production studio for film, video, broadcast/multimedia journalism, animation, game design, and other technical and creative applications that require extensive computing power.

In accordance with the goal of "quality" of the Strategic Plan, the proposed upgrades to the graduate lab will serve to greatly enhance the educational experience of both graduate and undergraduate students in the School of Communication and Multimedia studies. In addition, the proposal will help to expand Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) initiatives.  The proposal matches the State’s proposed growth in STEM disciplines and training, as the BA in Multimedia Studies and the MFA in Media, Technology and Entertainment are formally included in the SUS catalog of STEM degrees, and are two of the very few contributions to STEM training found in the College of Arts and Letters.

In line with "synergy" of the Strategic Plan, Multimedia Studies continues to focus on inspiring research, scholarship and creative activity, and the proposed use of technology fees matches the State of Florida’s commitment of fiscal resources to meet the need for trained professionals in advanced technology.  Following a key strategy of this goal, this proposal will help to “grow the research enterprise” and "create a multi-user facility with cutting-edge equipment".  The School’s programs provide both academic research opportunities and career training in diverse high-wage technology sectors. Improving the quality and capacity of our computing hardware allows us to be competitive with state and regional programs and attract strong candidates to the MTEN MFA .

Following the goal of "place", this proposal is a critical part of “aligning programs with the unique cultural, demographic and environmental characteristics of each of the campus communities.”  Following the strategies of this goal, the proposal would help to “support workforce and economic development in FAU’s regional and global communities” by training students on the industry standard of high-end graphics technology in preparation for internships and public and private sector jobs. Additionally, the upgraded lab would better "build out the capabilities of FAU branch campus" and “enhance technology infrastructure to promote research and education” by creating an updated studio in which graduate students can produce high quality creative research.
Facilities
n/a
Hardware Requirements
?

(13) Apple 27" iMac 
        3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 workstations
        + applecare service contract

        $23,634

(13) IntuosPro
      
Digital Pen Tablet (Medium)

       $3533


TOTAL: $27,167

Estimates provided by Apple Education, JourneyEd    

Software Requirements
? N/A.  All software is managed through the Broward Visual Desktop Image shared between the Department of Visual Arts and Art History, the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies, and the School of Architecture.
Personnel Costs
n/a
Other Costs
n/a
Timeline
?Installation of workstations in the MTEn MFA lab (ES-402, Davie) over summer 2016 for use beginning fall 2016.
Sustainability

Replacement in 5 years through college funds or additional TechFee proposal.

Resource Matching
?n/a
Implementing Organization
? Broward Technology Service (OIT) and the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies

Proposal Budget

Fiscal Year 1 Fiscal Year 2 Fiscal Year 3 Total
Hardware One-Time $ 27,167.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 27,167.00
Hardware Recurring $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Software One-time $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Software Recurring $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Personnel One-time $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Personnel Recurring $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Other One-time $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Other Recurring $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Totals $ 27,167.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 27,167.00

Supporting Documentation

Filename Size Description