Faculty Computer Needs Addressed

Recently a faculty member on campus expressed this concern:

One concern I have is that faculty computer needs have (over the years) been shifted to a very low position.  The attitude that faculty don’t need up-to-date fast computers worries me.

Manuel Lopez from CTS addresses this concern:

The goals of SMC’s Technology Replacement plan are to ensure that the college’s resources are used in a way that will address the many needs for technology.  The focus of the plan is to provide sufficient technology capacity both in the learning environment and at the employee desktop levels.

In order to do this, under our current budgetary limitations, we need to look at the functional needs of the unit.  The classroom and computer lab computers serve many different software applications for multiple classes in a shared environment – and therefore need to be at a much higher level than the desktop of faculty and staff where, typically, individual applications used are office productivity related (email, Microsoft Office, web browser).  These applications tend not to require high-end technology to be productive.

In some cases, a faculty member may require more resources to run a specific discipline related software application.  For those special cases, there is a process to have that need reviewed and addressed. Contact Manuel if you feel you fall into this need category.

For more information, see the Technolgy plan: http://www.southmountaincc.edu/Employees/Departments/Budget/TechPlan.htm