Attempting to accommodate students working on research papers and projects requiring computers, the Instructional Technology Support program opened a new computer lab in Betsy Cheramie Ayo Hall this semester that closes at 1 a.m. Monday through Friday. Two other computer labs sponsored by the ITS program, the Writing Across the Curriculum lab and the Cenac lab, have limited hours, Tom Bonvillain, director of the ITS program, said.

The WAC lab, located in Ellender Memorial Library, is open from 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., while the Cenac lab, located between Powell and White Hall is open from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. The nursing lab in Ayo Hall opens at 4 p.m.

“Even though it’s only been open for a couple of weeks, the nursing lab in Ayo has been good for the students. What we are trying to do is cover the labs from early morning until late at night. The new lab allows students to stay until 1 a.m. and finish their work without a problem,” Bonvillain said.

He said Ayo Hall was chosen to include the late-hour lab because of its location near the University police.

“When it’s that late at night, there’s always the chance of running into security risks. There are no faculty or staff members around at that time, so we chose that spot because the police department is so near. It was a safety issue, and I feel it will work out well at that location,” he said.

Besides opening for late hours, the new lab includes advanced computers that are up-to-date and faster than the other ITS labs, he said.

Nursing teachers temporarily used the Ayo lab to finish work for their classes until another nursing lab opened up. Their lab is designed strictly for nursing majors and supported by the department.

All three labs supported by the ITS program are open to all students.

“Our goal is to see students become educated and efficient in using technology in an effective and instructional way,” Bonvillain said.

A committee consisting of 10 students and nine faculty and staff members from each college and other areas of the University approved the Ayo lab.

An act by the University of Louisiana System in 1999 stated that the majority of ITS committee members must be students, Bonvillain said.

Proposals for projects are submitted by each college to the ITS committee, then they conduct polls from students, faculty and staff to decide which proposals will be beneficial.

“After the polls are conducted, we (look at) the results three separate times and score them according to what we feel will be helpful to the University, and how many people will be involved. After we average the scores into one score, we rank them from highest to lowest. The highest proposal wins. From there, we make a final decision and pursue the project,” Bonvillain said.

Bonvillain said an override system states that all colleges that submit proposals will receive something, even if it’s not completely what they ask for.

“Each student pays their fees, so we feel they should at least get something in return. We are all about fairness, not just about ranking certain proposals numerically (in order of importance),” he said.

Bonvillain said the committee is open to hearing proposals until April 12. Besides several advertisements that will be sent out by e-mail, each student willing to give a project proposal must contact the student representative of their college while faculty are to contact a faculty representative, he said.

The funds for ITS computer labs are taken from a $5 per credit hour fee added to each student’s registration invoice, which was passed by the Student Government Association in June of 1997. The maximum amount a student can pay is $60. This fee generates $820,000 per year for the ITS program.

The fee is specifically targeted at creating classrooms with computers, overhead projectors and other technological material that is beneficial for teaching classes. The addition of musical instruments in classrooms is accepted also, but to a lesser extent, Bonvillain said.