Tech support undermanned

              Computer staff lacks the necessary resources to maintain various campus equipment
P t.C Courier oct B 1 1qq 5 p. '
bers who actually can help. fix those eXtra coverage
By ANAMARIA GONAZALEZ ·systems. · Read TIVhat stuc:lents have
Staff Writer The college's staff to support · to.sayon thistopicin this
Beneath what appears to be a
healthy number of computers on
campus for this technological age, the
college is combating a technology
"support crisis."
There is a total of 850 computers
on campus, yet fewer than seven staff
members are employed to trou­bleshoot
the five 486's; forty-three
386's, one hundred twenty-seven
486's, 529 Macs, and 12 other com­puters.
The college is, hands down, .
no where near the national average of
one support staff member for every
900 students.
The college averages one support
staff member for each 2,900 students.
That's 2,000 more students per each
support staff member than the nation­al
average. There are now 31 places
on campus equipped with computers,
but only a handful of faculty mem-instructional
technology includes two 'l'll.leek~ Sou:ncl Off, page 2
Jab technicians, one instructional pro­ject
development specialist, one fac­ulty
support technician, and shared
responsibility for the positions of
repair technician, network manager,
programmer, clerical, and manage­ment.
The support crisis is not. a new
problem. "The campus has been
warned for years that the crisis was
coming, but for a variety of reasons .
the campus has been in denial," said
Dr. Bob Cody, assistant dean of the
instructional computing center, in a
letter sent to various administrators
on campus. Cody stated that the only
way a solution to the problem is
going to be found is through planning
and prioritizing.
The reading lab in the D Building
provides an example of how a lack of
support staff for computers hurts stu-dents.
"Only four out of 12 comput­ers
can be used by students in the
Reading Lab. Eight haven't even
been set up yet or are missing parts
like sound cards, said Inger Moen,
· director .of the Reading Center. "One
or more computer programs · is an
integral component of the reading
courses. The computer problems
deprive students of essential lab
hours."
The computer support crisis has
already been given much attention. A
·"technology management retreat" in
February was dedicated to addressing
the different aspects of the problem
and possible solutions. Recently, .
there have also been weekly meetings
of a technology advisory group,
whose members include Cody, Dale
COMPlJT'E, pagE 4