The 1995-96 Higher Education Technology Initiative (HETI) funds were not transferred to Weber State University (WSU) until March 1996. Although all of the funds had been committed per WSU’s 1995-96 proposal, not all of the projects were completed as of this report. Accordingly, the following reflected both work completed and work in progress.

I. Faculty Assistance/Development Funding (one-time -- $98,600)

Funding in this category was intended to be used to "further expand the capabilities and resources of the faculty assistance centers on each campus." The faculty assistance center at WSU is called, Communication Arts & Technologies, or "CATS." The amount expended or encumbered as of June 30, 1996 was $48,855.

Per our original proposal, approximately half of the money in this category has been used to purchase computers for the CATS multimedia classroom. We had previously underestimated the extent to which adequate training in the use of emerging technologies requires hands-on experience. The newly-equipped classroom, which is already in use, is enabling CATS staff to provide much more effective training than was provided in the past.

Approximately half of the remaining money in this category is currently being used to add new equipment to the CATS Communication Technology Laboratory, as planned. When completed, this Lab will provide a place for faculty and staff to get help and hands-on experience outside the formal training sessions provided in the CATS multimedia classroom.

The last of the faculty assistance money is being used for faculty development and/or course development projects planned by CATS in collaboration with the Teaching and Learning Forum. The most important of these projects, and the one on which most of the money will be spent, is the "WSU Online" project approved by the President's Council, Deans' Council, and Faculty Senate Executive Committee, in Spring Quarter 1996. In harmony with the objectives of the Western Governors University, WSU Online will make a wide range of student services and a variety of courses of instruction accessible to WSU students by means of the Internet.

The extent to which the Technology Initiative is working may be gauged by the fact that entire departments are now coming to CATS to ask for training and help in putting courses online. Work began with two departments (Radiologic Sciences and Nursing) in Summer 1996 and the trend is expected to continue.

II. Classroom Enhancement Funding (one-time -- $129,300)

Funding in this category was intended to be used "to add an additional enhanced classroom to the campus network. [It] will be outfitted with originate/receive equipment for the EDNET system, multi-media capabilities for amplified instruction and learning, and for access to information resources internal and external to the USHE. After achieving the primary objective, the campuses may develop additional enhanced classrooms, or they may consider enhanced computer labs to provide student access to instruction and information networks." The total amount expended or encumbered in this category as of June 30, 1996 was $48,238.

To comply with the mandate to create an additional "enhanced classroom," we proposed to create an EDNET-style classroom/video conferencing facility at the WSU-Davis Center. The new classroom/video conferencing facility at the Davis Center will make it possible for faculty there to teach courses involving students on the Ogden campus. The cost of this facility will be about $35,000. However, the recently approved decision to purchase the old Mountain Fuel building in Layton and move from the current inadequate leased site has placed this project temporarily on hold. It is still our intent to use these funds for this purpose, but it may be several months before transition plans are complete and actual implementation can begin.

The remaining funding in this category is being used for three major projects: (1) upgrading of video conferencing facilities in the Library; (2) expansion of WSU’s fledgling ISDN video conferencing network, and (3) creation of a new multimedia/video conferencing classroom in the Library.

The first of these projects is nearly complete. We have moved our existing video conference origination facility to SB 74, making various improvements in its design. The previous location (SB 77) has been converted into a badly-needed small-group video conferencing facility.

The second project is also nearly complete. Two workstations in the current WSU-Davis Center have been connected via ISDN video conferencing with up to eight selected offices on the Ogden campus. These offices include Academic Advising, Career Services, and Student Financial Aid and will enable Davis County students to receive personalized service without driving to the Ogden campus. Work in progress includes equipping one of our existing multimedia classrooms on the Ogden campus with an ISDN video conferencing system. During 1996-97 we will experiment with using this system to bring "live" guest lecturers to campus electronically.

The final project will create a new multimedia/video conferencing classroom to be shared by the Library and the College of Arts and Humanities. This project is necessarily delayed while the proposed location in the library is being physically remodeled. The remainder of the funds will be expended later in the year when the remodeling is complete.

III. Infrastructure (one-time -- $301,600)

At least 20% of these funds were to be designated for science or applied technology. This year, WSU requested that $65,900 be allocated for this purpose. A detailed proposal for how these funds would be spent was provided by J. Ronald Galli, Dean of the College of Science. All the science technology funds have been expended or encumbered per Dr. Galli’s original proposal.

Per USHE instructions, $100,000 of the funding in this category was to be expended on network connectivity. This category includes such things as " . . . fiber to and within buildings, supplemented with appropriate end-point equipment to include the connected building and associated classrooms with the campus and system networks." The remaining $135,700 could be used to provide even more connectivity, or for appropriate hardware, faculty workstations, lab workstations, EDNET classrooms, media-enhanced classrooms, or " . . . acquisition of related software."

In 1995-96 WSU proposed to use all of the non-science funds in this category to complete the next phase of campus network development. However, prior and ongoing commitments of WSU technical staff and the high level of activity in the local telecommunications industry have made this the slowest moving HETI project. As of June 30, 1996, only $11,089 of the $235,700 total funds available had been expended or encumbered.

Because of the relatively long lead times associated with most of the network projects to be funded with the HETI funds, most of these projects are in process at this time. However, wiring to previously unconnected offices and classrooms in the Lind Lecture Hall and the Swenson Gymnasium has been completed and the installation of network connections for the LaSalle student residence hall is in progress. Connection of the Architectural Services Building to the campus network has also been completed. In addition, an open student computing laboratory in the Education Building has been re-wired, replacing old "Thinwire" Ethernet cable with Level 5 UTP [unshielded twisted pair] wiring for 10-baseT Ethernet. The largest project in this category, the re-wiring of the Engineering Technology Building (per ITSC standards), has been commenced. Completion of this project will take place during the 1996-97 academic year.

An upgrade to the management module of the LanPlex 6000 Ethernet switch, which is at the center of the Weber State network, has been purchased and installed. The LanPlex is the central endpoint for the fiber-optic links to other campus buildings, as well as the means by which most centrally maintained servers and hosts are connected to the campus network. This upgrade was necessary in order to increase the capacity of the switch to handle anticipated increases in network traffic.

In order to increase the reliability of network operation, planning for the implementation of SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) capabilities has been undertaken. Purchase of equipment and software to provide this capability is now in the acquisition stage. Also, expansion of network activity at Weber State has resulted in a great increase in the amount of equipment and wiring required in our facilities. Effective management and operation of the campus network requires that this equipment be physically arranged in an organized, secure, and accessible manner. Equipment racks and accessories were purchased and the planned reorganization was recently completed.

IV. Personnel (ongoing — $60,000)

The ongoing funding we received for personnel was used to move the CATS video producer from a position that depended on grant funding to a permanent position. This will enable CATS to continue providing video production services to the University. The balance of these funds not needed for salary and benefits are being used for hourly support wages. While it lasts, the grant funding that was previously being used to support the video producer position will be used to fund the operating expenses of the Video Communication Team. All of these funds were expended in 1995-96.

V. Equipment Maintenance (ongoing — $111,500)

Seventeen percent of the funding in this category ($18,955) was earmarked for use by the College of Science. The remainder was used to be used to maintain and expand the University's network of multimedia/video conferencing classrooms; to create a complementary ISDN video conferencing capability; and to maintain and enhance CATS' video and multimedia production capabilities. As of June 30, 1996, all but $5,015.47 of these funds had been expended.

The equipment maintenance funds were combined with matching university funds to enable WSU to launch a project that will ultimately upgrade the existing Video Communication Center to handle video communications -- both one-way and two-way -- to ten multimedia/ video conferencing classrooms. By the end of the 1995-96 academic year, the number of planned multimedia/video conferencing classrooms had grown to thirteen; as of this report, nine are completed and seven of these have been wired and equipped for interactive video communications.

Equipment maintenance funding was also used to expand WSU’s ISDN video conferencing capability. The significance of this capability is that it uses ordinary telephone wiring and is becoming increasingly available across the world. In 1995-96 this effort involved adding ISDN capability to the campus PBX, installing ISDN repeaters in strategic locations on campus and acquiring ISDN-compatible desktop video conferencing workstations. The ISDN capability is now being used to provide on-line interactive student services to the WSU-Davis Center. As mentioned earlier, it will eventually be used to bring guest lecturers to campus electronically and to provide a video conferencing alternative to the often-unavailable EDNET system.

Finally, equipment maintenance funding was used to maintain and upgrade CATS video and multimedia production capabilities. The major acquisition in this area was the Media 100 digital video editing system, which replaced an outdated system and expanded and enhanced our video editing capability. We were also able to upgrade workstations and software for three members of the multimedia production team, and to acquire needed additional equipment for the Communication Technology Lab. These upgrades and acquisitions have enabled CATS to provide better support for faculty and staff video and multimedia production projects.