Many of the larger classrooms on campus have
been equipped with technology to assist in the creative and
efficient presentation of lectures. Others have been outfitted as
computer classrooms. The largest classrooms such as DPC 100 are used
to teach several thousand students each week. Faculty spend hours
preparing presentations that rely on the technology in the room -
projectors, computers, microphones, etc. Staff and technicians from
Information Technologies, Office of Student Records, and Facilities
Management have worked hard to keep these facilities in good
condition. However, at times projectors and computers fail and
projectors have historically required long periods (weeks) to
repair. When this has happened there have been extended periods when
faculty have been frustrated in their efforts to present quality
lectures and large numbers of students have not received the quality
education they deserve. Many faculty have not known where to report
problems or how to get them solved. Some equipment users leave the
equipment so it cannot be used by those who follow. Faculty are not
given advance warning of malfunctioning equipment and so cannot
alter their lecture plans accordingly.
The following campus organizations share
responsibility for maintenance of these facilities:
1. Information Technologies (John Gregory,
Executive Director). Responsible for computers (Campus Networking,
Andrew Moody, Manager) and projectors and microphones (AudioVisual
Services, David Bagley, Multi-Media Specialist).
2. Faculty. Responsible for proper use of
the equipment and reporting problems promptly when they occur.
3. Office of Student Records (Alison Cox,
Director). Schedules classes in the lecture halls and classrooms.
Also schedules other events when the rooms are not being used for
classes. Responsible for making the rooms available for repairs.
4. Facilities Management (Anita Wihry,
Executive Director of Institutional and Facilities Planning).
Responsible for lights in the lecture halls and classrooms, for
erecting and removing scaffolding (if needed for work on the
projectors), and for unlocking buildings in the morning.
Motion
The overall goal will be to keep our
technology-equipped teaching facilities (lecture halls, classrooms,
and computer classrooms) in excellent working condition. This
means that all equipment is fully functional and repairs, when
needed, are made quickly (within minutes, hours, or a few days
depending on the difficulty of the repair). To this end the Senate
recommends that:
Information Technologies
1) Designate a single individual or office
where problems can be reported. This person/office will quickly
contact Audio Visual Services and/or Campus Networking as needed.
2) Place information cards on the podium
with instructions for whom to call about problems and specific
instructions to turn off the projectors as appropriate. Check, as
needed, to ensure that the cards are still there.
3) Make repairs quickly. When computers
malfunction a qualified technician will respond within minutes to
minimize loss of valuable class time.
4) Keep sufficient spare parts on hand so
projector bulbs and other frequently needed parts do not take weeks
to obtain while the equipment cannot be used.
5) If a particular system cannot be repaired
before the next class scheduled in the room, faculty will be
notified so they can make adjustments to their lecture plans.
Faculty who are scheduled in the room within three hours will be
notified by telephone and e-mail. Faculty who are scheduled at a
later time will be notified by e-mail.
6) Train faculty and other users of the
equipment in the particular systems in the room they will use.
7) Develop step by step written instructions
for the use of the equipment in each room. These instructions will
be handed to everyone who receives instruction in the use of the
equipment. They will include the name of the person/office where
problems are to be reported.
8) In any lecture halls that were used over
the weekend, qualified technicians will check the teaching
technology and replace items on the stage (podium etc.) in their
proper places on Monday morning prior to the first class.
9) Install a telephone in Neville 101 and
other lecture halls used to teach hundreds of students to allow
faculty to efficiently report problems in these large auditoriums.
10) Check overhead projectors on a regular
basis and maintain as needed.
11) Include significant faculty input into
the design of new classroom facilities to ensure that these
facilities are easily used by ordinary faculty as well as those with
advanced knowledge of technology.
12) Involve the Academic Computing Advisory
Committee (ACAC) or its successor in a review of existing facilities
and the design of new facilities in line with their responsibility
for "helping to develop short and long range plans for the
maintenance and enhancement of academic computing technologies on
campus."
Faculty
1) Obtain training in the proper use of the
equipment in the rooms in which they teach.
2) Return any computer or other settings
that they changed during their class to the standard settings.
3) Report any problems promptly so they can
be solved before others use the room.
The Office of Student Records
Designate an individual/office to receive
requests for making lecture halls and classrooms available for
repairs. Making the room available may involve moving or canceling
one or more scheduled events. Repairs have a very high priority
because the primary function of these rooms is teaching.
Facilities Management
1) Designate an individual/office to receive
requests for help with repairs and to arrange for the needed
scaffolding.
2) Set up scaffolding when needed to repair
projectors. This will need to be done when classes are not in
session (late afternoon, early morning, or weekends).
3) Make sure that the buildings are unlocked
in the morning.
Top 2.
Motion concerning the replacement or repair of
the library steps
Submitted by the Finance and Institutional
Planning Committee
Preamble
The north face of Fogler Library and its
massive limestone-framed steps serve as a focal point for the entire
campus of the University of Maine. The steps also function as a
stage for gatherings on the mall and are among the most widely
photographed items at the University for promotion and recruiting.
Unfortunately, the limestone framing the
steps is in a state of obvious decay, is shedding large chunks of
stone, and has become visually unattractive. Moreover, the steps may
be reaching the point where they pose a safety threat and/or are in
danger of accelerated disintegration.
Motion
The steps of Fogler Library should be
replaced within the next two years. If this is not possible for
financial reasons, the University should make any and all reasonable
efforts to protect the library steps from further decay, to mitigate
hazards to the University community, and to restore their aesthetic
appeal until such time as they can be replaced.
