| Critical Information, Notes, Justification, Rationale | Hardware/Software (CIT 112) is one of the core courses of our curriculum. It is currently housed in BT-253, a small, cramped room with insufficient power and networking facilities, and no proper laboratory benches. In addition, this course currently requires several complete computer component kits (case, motherboard, memory, hard drive, etc.) so that students can assemble an entire functioning computer system solely from individual components. Due to wear and tear, the kits have a limited usable lifecycle, and must be replaced at a regular interval. It has been several years since the last rotation, and our current batch of kits are nearly worn out. As such, we require a new set of kits if we are to continue to offer this course in an acceptable manner.
The current laboratory space (BT-253) used for this course is no longer sufficient to accommodate the student load. This artificially caps the number of students we can enroll in any particular section due to crowding and safety concerns. In addition, the room is not optimally configured for this type of class, as it lacks proper laboratory furnishings such as workbenches, power outlets, and network connectivity.
As such, we wish to identify a new laboratory environment. There are several rooms in BioTech which already have such facilities that may currently be underutilized (e.g. BT-352). Other facilities recently vacated by the Biology Program appear to be sitting idle on the top floor of BioTech. These rooms, or even just one, would be ideal for our purposes and would go a long way toward alleviating our space issues. We need to select a more appropriate space, outfit the room with appropriate furniture (desks, lab tables) and computers, and ensure the presence of appropriate infrastructure and facilities (electric, networking, HVAC). As noted above, there appear to be several areas in BioTech already suited for the purpose, the most fiscally responsible path to move forward would be to reallocate one of these underutilized spaces for laboratory use. Our existing Hardware/Software lab (BT-253) will hopefully be repurposed as our Cloud Computing lab environment. |
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| Consequences of this initiative not being funded | Without suitable replacement kits, students will not be able to complete the laboratory component for this course. In addition, the current cramped laboratory location and lack of sufficient kits artificially caps the number of students we can house in any particular section of this course. A larger lab space and additional kits would allow us to raise the cap for this course and allow additional students to register. Over the past few years, we have been given access to equipment that had been scheduled for HAZMAT removal. This equipment has gone a long way toward extending the lifespan of our current kits. However, it has recently been suggested that our Department may lose access to this valuable resource. If that is the case, this initiative will need to become one of our top priorities.
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