Combining audio/visual and computing support

In July of 1999, Academic Technology Services (ATS) was given a mandate to undertake class-related technology support for faculty in approximately 80 traditional classrooms, a service previously provided by a group responsible for campus audio/visual support. This resulted from faculty making greater use of electronic resources, and finding a disconnect between their curricular development and the capabilities of the existing classroom audio/visual support group. When Academic Technology Services began supporting classroom technology, it inherited classrooms which were under-equipped, a minimal inventory of outdated portable equipment, and a budget that was less than requested.In order to maximize the number of rooms that could be improved at one time, low-cost solutions initially had to be chosen to solve problems such as the ability to have multiple audio and video devices share the sound system and projector. At the same time, upgrades to rooms were designed to be modular whenever possible such that a minimum amount of money would be wasted on stop-gap solutions. In order to address the technical deficiencies of the Classroom Technology group, and also as a reflection of the lessening distinction between computer classrooms and a normal tech-enhanced classroom, the audio/visual group and the group responsible for supporting and maintaining computing labs were merged in 2002. This allowed for in-house cross-training to take place, and also allowed for vastly improved support of laptops in the classroom setting. Today, there are over a dozen high-technology classrooms with a common touch panel interface, all implemented in-house.