In 1997-98, growing recognition of the critical nature of information technology in higher education inspired a concerted effort by Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) and institutional officials to increase base budgets for technology.  Unfortunately, other needs (including massive highway reconstruction costs) dominated the 1998 State Legislature and no new base budget dollars were appropriated for technology for the 1998-99 fiscal year. 

A relatively small amount of one-time funding for institutional technology was appropriated for 1998-99.  WSU's share of these funds was $105,000.  President's Council added this amount to the institutional dollars already allocated to the Academic Resources and Computing Committee (ARCC) to address the following priority needs:  (1) student computing labs, (2) faculty computers, (3) electronic resources, (4) discipline specific [technology] support, (5) computer classrooms and displays, (6) support and training for faculty and students and (7) WSU Online.  The ARCC planning process and 1998-2000 priorities and goals are described in detail at http://www.weber.edu:80/arcc/acadplan.htm.  

USHE staff were successful in keeping the Higher Education Technology Initiative (HETI) alive and were able to provide a small pool of resources for state system schools for 1998-99.   WSU's share of these funds were:  $90,034 for student support systems and $117,519 for technology infrastructure maintenance and improvements.  In keeping with the long-term goals of the WSU Information Technology Plan, the following draft recommendations are proposed for the use of these funds in 1998-99:

1. Student Support Systems (6-38380 - $90,034). One of WSU's key long term technology goals continues to be to "Construct and maintain modern, accessible voice/data/video communications systems for both Internet [World Wide Web] and Intranet access" (see Long Term IT Goals).  In approximately three short years, web-enabled applications have revolutionized the way students, faculty and staff interact with computer systems at institutions all over the world.  Continued expansion of secure web access to admissions, registration and course enrollment data is a priority at WSU.
   
   A key area of need in 1998-99 will be for additional programming staff to accelerate development of web-based student systems.  Of the HETI funds, approximately $47,600 will be used for this purpose.  The remaining $42,434 of the HETI monies will be used to obtain necessary hardware and network interface equipment for kiosk-type access to student systems for on-campus students.
   
   
2. Institutional Infrastructure/Equipment Maintenance (6-38381 - $117,519). With the remarkable success of WSU Online, continued effort and resources will be devoted to the long term goal of providing a "full set of high quality courses, programs and services to the growing number of Internet-based WSU students."  This could consume all of the available HETI funds in this category in 1998-99.  However, other infrastructure needs, including continued implementation of the WSU Networking Plan, development of multimedia classrooms and faculty and staff technology training are also important.
   
   As agreed by the USHE Technology Subcommittee in May 1998, a portion of these funds will be held back by USHE to pay centrally for each participating institution's Novell site license.   In 1997-98, WSU's Novell software site license cost was $41,302.  If the Novell cost for 1998-99 is roughly the same, it will leave $76,217 to address other needs.  Of that amount, approximately $38,000 will be devoted to WSU Online-related infrastructure upgrades, enhancements and training; approximately $30,000 will be devoted to continued development of the WSU Network; and maintenance of multimedia facilities will consume the remaining approximate $8,217.  Because these amounts are so small and are essentially one-time funds, progress will be very limited in 1998-99.  WSU will continue to struggle with internal reallocations for technology, but as noted earlier, has not received base budget funding for technology from the state legislature.