Getting out of the computing centre
Elaine M. Hockman, Ellen Hoffman, Marvin Parnes · 1986
The goal of integrating information technology into all facets of University life provides challenges to anticipate and provide for current and future computing needs of the entire University community.One response to the challenge is a concentrated effort to reach all students, from the computer anxious to the hacker.Since August, 1985, the Residence Halls Computing Project has taken the lead in providing services for students by placing public computing areas in all residence halls, establishing educational programs for informed use of the available resources, and experimenting with unique methods of integrating information technology into residence hail life.The project has required extensive cooperation and coordination between the Computing Center and Student Services for timely planning, implementation, research and evaluation.This paper discusses the development of this multifaceted educational services project from the viewpoints of both the Computing Center and University Housing. INlXODUcI;IONOne way to provide students with convenient access to University computing services is to establish public computing areas where the students live, i.e., in the residence halls.At the University of Michigan, a significant proportion of the student community (approximately onethird of the total student population of 35,000) lives in the residence halls.The fourteen residence halls for single undergraduate and graduate students have capacities ranging from 80 to 1300 students.The Residence Halls Computing Project (ResComp) has been the vehicle for establishing a solid computing program in the residence halls that goes far beyond the mere provision of microcomputers and software.A basic assumption made by ResComp is that information technology is progressively becoming an essential tool in the students' curricular and extra-curricular lives.Both educators and administrators need to ensure that this burgeoning technology has a positive impact on