Tech budget of $463,003 may be inadequate
Technology budget use requests outweigh the allocated budget
George Ftikas Jr.
Issue date: 2/25/10 Section: Campus
During January, the technology proposals, totaling $634,441.78 for the 2010-2011 school year, dwarfed the $463,003 allocated budget.
Due to proposals being revised or withdrawn by sponsors, the requested amount, as of Feb. 12, dropped down to $486,502.85, but still well over the budget.
So where exactly does this budget come from? There is a $3.50 Student Technology Fee that's charged per credit, for no more than 10 credits. So that means the fee cannot go over $35 per quarter for a student.
But with the increasing use of technology in the classroom there are some who feel this fee is too low.
"We have one of the lowest tech fees in the state. The state average is around $5.50 per credit," Attila Richards, Pierce IT technician, said. "But the 10 credit max is a part of state law."
To increase the budget, the fee would have to be increased. And there aren't many people who like to pay more.
"To increase it, student government would have to purpose a new rate and pass it," Richards said. "They then present it to the Board of Trustees, who votes on it. If approved, it is enacted the next quarter."
Not counting proposals that were withdrawn, a large majority of the proposals have been approved.
"[The library] wants to add 36 new computers to the ones they already have," Richards said.
The library has 35 computers, so they will have a total of 71 computers next year.
The computers will be divided between open use and two library computer labs that may be reserved as classrooms. While not being used as classrooms, students are free to use the lab computers.
But there is something being considered that could draw more from the tech budget. A student print management committee is trying to set the amount of print money allocated to each student.
"The $7.50 per student rate that was set for this year was set by IT as a figurative number," Richards said.
There are many on the committee who feel this rate is too low and want to set it at $10 per student.
During fall quarter, only 31% of enrolled students printed at Pierce. 5% of students who printed went over $5 and 3% exceeded the $7.50 allocated to them.
Going over the allocated $7.50 means buying a "Top Up" card in denominations of $0.40, $0.80 and $1.20. The pricing per page will start next quarter: $0.05 for each black and white page, $0.08 for a double-sided black and white page and $0.20 for color.
"There are those on the committee who feel that we should accommodate for students in high-print demanding classes, the 3%," Richards said. "And so they want the entire student body to accommodate for that "large group" of students."
According to Richards, the committee is considering a print allocation amount between $5 and $10.
So consider if $10 was the established value and that the Fort Steilacoom campus has 10,000 students. That's $100,000 taken from the $463,003 tech budget.
The money that students don't use each quarter rolls back into the main technology fund. So students do not get to keep the money remaining on their print account at the end of each quarter.
But despite what the print committee decides, the budget is going to be pushed to its limit.
This is the 2010-2011 preliminary budget set on Feb. 12. The amounts above may change. Withdrawn requests and unrevised amounts were omitted from the list.
Due to proposals being revised or withdrawn by sponsors, the requested amount, as of Feb. 12, dropped down to $486,502.85, but still well over the budget.
So where exactly does this budget come from? There is a $3.50 Student Technology Fee that's charged per credit, for no more than 10 credits. So that means the fee cannot go over $35 per quarter for a student.
But with the increasing use of technology in the classroom there are some who feel this fee is too low.
"We have one of the lowest tech fees in the state. The state average is around $5.50 per credit," Attila Richards, Pierce IT technician, said. "But the 10 credit max is a part of state law."
To increase the budget, the fee would have to be increased. And there aren't many people who like to pay more.
"To increase it, student government would have to purpose a new rate and pass it," Richards said. "They then present it to the Board of Trustees, who votes on it. If approved, it is enacted the next quarter."
Not counting proposals that were withdrawn, a large majority of the proposals have been approved.
"[The library] wants to add 36 new computers to the ones they already have," Richards said.
The library has 35 computers, so they will have a total of 71 computers next year.
The computers will be divided between open use and two library computer labs that may be reserved as classrooms. While not being used as classrooms, students are free to use the lab computers.
But there is something being considered that could draw more from the tech budget. A student print management committee is trying to set the amount of print money allocated to each student.
"The $7.50 per student rate that was set for this year was set by IT as a figurative number," Richards said.
There are many on the committee who feel this rate is too low and want to set it at $10 per student.
During fall quarter, only 31% of enrolled students printed at Pierce. 5% of students who printed went over $5 and 3% exceeded the $7.50 allocated to them.
Going over the allocated $7.50 means buying a "Top Up" card in denominations of $0.40, $0.80 and $1.20. The pricing per page will start next quarter: $0.05 for each black and white page, $0.08 for a double-sided black and white page and $0.20 for color.
"There are those on the committee who feel that we should accommodate for students in high-print demanding classes, the 3%," Richards said. "And so they want the entire student body to accommodate for that "large group" of students."
According to Richards, the committee is considering a print allocation amount between $5 and $10.
So consider if $10 was the established value and that the Fort Steilacoom campus has 10,000 students. That's $100,000 taken from the $463,003 tech budget.
The money that students don't use each quarter rolls back into the main technology fund. So students do not get to keep the money remaining on their print account at the end of each quarter.
But despite what the print committee decides, the budget is going to be pushed to its limit.
This is the 2010-2011 preliminary budget set on Feb. 12. The amounts above may change. Withdrawn requests and unrevised amounts were omitted from the list.
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