V. College Goals and Projects
John B. Goddard School of Business and Economics
John B. Goddard School of Business and Economics Computer Committee: Bruce Christensen, Business Administration; Wan Fu Chi, Economics, Chair; David Durkee, School of Accountancy; Patricia Logan, Information Systems & Technologies; Shelly Belflower, Student.
Introduction
The John B. Goddard School of Business and Economics strives to educate students to confidently use computer technology to improve their personal and group productivity. Accordingly, technology instruction for business majors includes the process of evaluating and acquiring technology to solve a business problem, and using generic and discipline-specific software packages in the course of study. The curriculum focuses upon understanding the application of technology, including how to identify appropriate technology, how to evaluate costs versus benefits of technology, the system life cycle, and technology insertion. Computer applications are emphasized in course discussions, classroom presentations, assignments, and examinations. Common application software, such as spreadsheet and presentation packages, are used throughout the curriculum. Increasingly E-mail and the Internet are a central component in business and economics classes. Customized software is used in courses such as statistics, accounting, production and operations management, and information systems. Students also acquire an appreciation for the direction and pace of technological advances. Finally, students must also have a basic understanding of intellectual property and privacy laws as they apply to technology, as well as a grasp of ethical dilemmas and practices found in business today.
PROJECTS
1. Computer displays for use in classes and Smith Lecture Hall.
Rationale. Many useful lecture displays can be generated by a computer. These can be quickly produced in high resolution graphics to exact specifications, and be custom-generated to meet any contingency or question which may arise during a class or lecture presentation. ARCC has identified these systems as a major category for campus improvement. After the 1998-1999 improvement, the school needs two types of upgrades to improve our display ability: 1) add display devices to three classrooms; and 2) develop a display facility for the Smith Lecture Hall.
Project Description. The project consists of two parts: 1)Extend the number of display facilities by equipping computers with a large monitor in three medium-size classrooms and 2) Mounting two display devices in the Smith Lecture Hall.
Budget.
|
Number of Items |
Unit Cost |
Total Cost |
| 3 computers with large monitors |
$3,600 |
$10,800 |
| 2 display devices installed |
$5,000 |
$10,000 |
|
$20,800 |
2. Small enterprise system lab.
Rationale. Many IS&T graduates find jobs as one of a very few IT professionals in a small enterprise. They must be a "jack-of-all-trades" in the IS/IT arena, and they need a variety of skills to install, troubleshoot and manage a small office system. Under the upcoming semester system, we are introducing a new course, IS&T 4410 System Administration to prepare students for the small business environment. To support student learning activities, we propose to develop a small enterprises system lab.
Project Description. The proposed small enterprise system lab will be equipped with four servers, twelve workstations, and application software suites that emulate what is found in a small enterprise. The software would include Windows NT for the network, Microsoft Office for general office productivity, and Microsoft Back Office Small Business Server and Internet Explorer for intranet/extranet/internet support and electronic commerce activities. Development platforms such as Visual Basic and Visual J++ could be used by other IS&T classes to develop applications used in a small business environment.
Budget.
|
Number of Items |
Unit Cost |
Total Cost |
| 12 Pentium workstations |
$2,500 |
$30,000 |
| 4 Pentium server |
$3,000 |
$12,000 |
| Microsoft software |
$10,000 | |
|
$52,000 |
3. Computers for new faculty
Rationale. There will be six new faculty members in the John B. Goddard School of Business and Economics, for the year 1999-2000. It is necessary to provide them with PC's.
Project Description. Purchase six new computers for new faculty.
Budget.
|
Number of Items |
Unit Cost |
Total Cost |
|
6 new computers |
$2,000 |
$12,000 |
4. Portable PC's for travel and field work.
Rationale. As computer tools become more essential to modern academic and research work, it becomes less tolerable to be without them. Faculty must travel, however, to meetings and to do research in the field, and cannot always be near their office computers. Small notebook computers are the solution to this problem. The College of Business and Economics needs a pool of notebook computers that faculty can borrow for use while they are working away from their offices.
Project Description. Four PC notebooks will be acquired. These will be loaned within the school for short-term use as needed.
Budget.
|
Number of Items |
Unit Cost |
Total Cost |
| 4 notebook computers |
$3,000 |
$12,000 |
5. Faculty computers upgrade.
Rationale. Regular upgrade of computers is essential in order for the faculty to conduct their teaching and research effectively. There are five 386 computers with Windows 3.1 that need to be replaced.
Project Description. Purchase five new computers for replacement.
Budget.
|
Number of Items |
Unit Cost |
Total Cost |
|
5 new computers |
$2,000 |
$10,000 |
6. Computers for adjunct faculty.
Rationale. There are some twenty adjunct faculty teaching in the John B. Goddard School of Business and Economics. It is necessary to provide them with computers so that they can teach more effectively. Four computers with four to five partitions in each hard drive will provide reasonable accommodation.
Project Description. Purchase four new computers for adjunct faculty to share.
Budget.
|
Number of Items |
Unit Cost |
Total Cost |
|
4 new computers |
$2,000 |
$8,000 |
7. Y2K compliance.
Rationale. During the routine maintenance checks it was found that many of the computers in the school are not y2k compliant. The test conducted on the DOS RTC, BIOS, and leap year date changes have shown that a majority of the computers are not BIOS compliant, and none of the computers are RTC compliant. This is a hardware problem that can be solved by plugging a daughter card into the ISA port of a computer, which will redirect the inquiries to the real time clock, BIOS, and leap year internal clocks to reflect the actual time.
Project Description. Purchase fifty Centurion daughter cards, which was designed to solve the above-mentioned problem, and plus into the existing computers.
Budget.
|
Number of Items |
Unit Cost |
Total Cost |
| 50 Centurion daughter cards |
$60 |
$3,000 |
8. Peripheral equipment.
Rationale. In order to efficiently process documents, special types of equipment are necessary. Without such equipment, some documents simply cannot be produced.
Project Description. Two scanners, one recordable CD drive, and one digital camera are needed.
Budget.
|
Number of Items |
Unit Cost |
Total Cost |
| 2 scanners |
$400 |
$800 |
| 1 recordable CD drive |
$800 |
$800 |
| 1 digital camera |
$1,000 |
$1,000 |
|
$2,600 |
9. Departmental Project.
School of Accountancy
Rationale. Flowcharting techniques are taught in Accounting Information Systems (Acctng 3750) and Auditing (Acctng 4510). Adequate flowcharting software is not available in the student computer lab. The present package, Flowcharting III by Patton and Patton, has been obsolete in the lab for several years.
Project Description. Update flowcharting software with Flowcharting PDQ by Patton and Patton.
Budget.
|
Number of Items |
Unit Cost |
Total Cost |
| 30 site licenses |
$1,770 |