Classroom improvement funding gets a little boost
The annual allotment of funding for improving classrooms across the USU campus was doubled this year after last year’s funds went unused, said Senate Pro Tempore John Rentschler, chair of the Classroom Improvement committee.
Rentschler organized this year’s committee of senators – no faculty is on the committee – to decide how to split the money, which totals $75,000, among various buildings and departments. Rentschler said the money comes from Tier II tuition funds.
A final recommendation from the committee has been sent to Sydney Peterson, secretary of the Board of Trustees and President Stan Albrecht’s chief of staff, who said she will coordinate with the Facilities department to make sure the money is spent on the appropriate projects. She said the improvements will likely occur over the summer.
Ten projects were selected from various departments across campus, with the amount allocated varying from $1,000 for an LCD screen and scanner for the interior design program to $20,000 for updates across the journalism and communications department. The projected total cost is $74,123.
Rentschler said some of the costs, such as those for painting and repairs in BNR 278, are only estimates, so the extra $877 creates “a little buffer to play around with.”
Any unused funds will remain in the Classroom Improvement Fund and added to the amount next year’s council will work with, Rentschler said. He said all the projects were chosen based on student needs and suggestions, with the senators of the colleges going to department heads and “basically anyone who would listen” to ask for suggestions and then contacting the appropriate personnel to work out details.
Project details for the largest allotment of funds include enhancing the computer lab with HD-video cameras, audio recorders and software that will be used for a new class focused on multimedia use, while the smaller projects like buying a projector for political science and replacing chalkboards with whiteboards in two Ag Science classrooms, rooms 243 and 245. Both of those projects will cost less than $2,000 each.
Other allocations include tables and chairs for the South Farm facility, electronic equipment for Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, HPER 114A and ASTE 104, for which the Ag department will also provide funding. The estimated cost of the room upgrade is $19,000, of which the Classroom Improvement Fund will provide $8,000.
A detailed proposal was submitted to update the Family Life Building. It included a link to the specific benches the department would like to purchase for classroom seating, as well as estimated costs for reupholstering and refinishing existing furniture.
The rules and regulations for the Classroom Improvement Fund state, “The main goal of this fund is to make as many minor improvements to as many classrooms as possible. We do not want to make any major renovations to any classroom until all minor improvements have been made.”
For this reason, if money is leftover from the accepted improvement proposals, the rules state that the process can begin, again, to get to as many small-scale changes as possible.
Changes scheduled for BNR 278 include new paint for the ceiling, walls and cabinets, new lighting and flooring, replacement of the existing tables and new shades for the windows. The more technology-based improvements include projector screens and mounts, an audio-visual cart that can rotate between classrooms and the small equipment for the JCOM lab.
– chelsey.gensel@aggiemail.usu.edu