Now That Computers Are the Rule, U. of Florida Begins to Adapt Requirement for students is changing everything from the help desk to the way people interact By KELLY McCOLLUM GAINESVILLE, FLA. This semester, more University of Florida students than ever before arrived on campus lugging computers, monitors, and keyboards. For some, these are familiar academic tools. But for others, the computers are new and unaccustomed instruments, purchased or borrowed in response to a university requirement that began to take effect this year. This is the third article in a series about the University of Florida's new computer-ownership requirement ALSO SEE: Counselors Gear Up to Reassure Those Afflicted by Computer Anxiety, 10/16/98 A Computer Requirement for Students Changes Professors' Duties As Well, 6/26/98 At U. of Florida, 'Ramping Up' to Support 42,000 Student Computers on a Single Campus, 3/20/98 Although it applies so far to only half of Florida's undergraduates -- freshmen and juniors -- the requirement is already changing the 42,000-student university's approach to campus computing, from the organization of its help desk to the way students interact with administrators, professors, and even each other. Under the requirement, the university expects each student to have access to a personal computer powerful enough to use the World-Wide Web and run common office software. The new policy will be extended to all students next year. "At check-in this year, it was neat to see family after family carrying in a computer," says Art Sandeen, vice-president for student affairs. His office, which is overseeing a $6-million effort to provide high-speed network ports to every student in the residence halls, has worked out a plan under which the cost of computers can be figured into students' financial-aid packages, alongside tuition and fees. The university's annual summer orientation programs, which are arranged by the student-affairs office for new students, served to introduce details of the requirement, he notes. Questions about it came up at every session, with students asking what types of computers and software they would need. Representatives from Compaq, Dell, and Gateway were on the campus all summer to sell students computers configured to the university's specifications. But, says Mr. Sandeen, "the parents seemed to be much more concerned than the students about the computers." He says, "as far as the student reaction goes, I believe somebody used the term 'ho-hum.'" People all over the campus are fond of pointing out that most of the current freshmen were born in 1980 -- and are too young to remember schools without Apples or a world without Microsoft. But while many students seem comfortable with computing, they do have some worries about how the requirement will affect them. Chief among those worries is cost. Kerri Sullivan, a junior majoring in finance, got a new computer this summer as a gift from her parents. But its cost, along with that of a computer for her younger brother, who also attends the university, added significantly to the family's college bill this year. "A lot of my friends have complained that they don't have the money" to buy new computers, she says. "This is a state school -- not everyone has money to go out and spend on a $2,000 computer." Another consideration, she says, is the cost of software needed in some courses -- one of her classes this semester requires an $80 software package. Students in some architecture courses may need to spend hundreds of dollars on design software. In outlining financial-aid calculations for its students, the university has added about $1,000 a year to the estimated cost of attendance to cover computer-related purchases. Students in some programs that require laptop computers or more-expensive software -- such as architecture, business, and fine arts -- are allowed another $1,000 per year. The allowance is a help, say students, but they point out that it doesn't necessarily mean that their computers will be paid for with aid money; a student might simply get more loans. Nicia Walsh, a junior majoring in public relations, has a computer handed down from her father, but she expects to have to buy a new computer before too long. "I'm worried about how I'll afford it," she says. For now, she'll use any extra financial aid she gets to offset her living expenses, she adds. "I won't even be using it for my computer. I'll just have to save up." Jeff Corey, a junior majoring in political science, gets by with an older computer that doesn't meet the criteria set out in the requirement, although it does allow him to write papers. (Details of the requirement can be found at http://www.circa.ufl.edu/) For surfing the World-Wide Web and for e-mail, he either goes to campus labs or borrows a friend's computer. He says he hopes to finish college without having to buy a new machine, since he's not sure how he'd pay for one. "Students who can't afford a computer are at a real disadvantage," Mr. Corey says, because they're forced to rely on computer labs or friends' machines. He says he's glad to have even an old computer of his own, because his work "wouldn't be nearly as good if I had to fight with crowds and sit in a noisy lab and do it." "It's almost impossible to try and write a paper in a lab while people are walking by," agrees Ms. Walsh. Overcrowding in computer labs is a familiar complaint on this campus. Administrators hope that the computing requirement will deal effectively with what has become a seemingly insatiable need for more and bigger computer labs. As it is, students can have a hard time finding seats during peak hours at the university's several public labs, which together have space for more than 500 users. Various colleges and departments also provide labs of their own for their students. No one believes that the labs will be emptied, however. Some other institutions that have instituted computer requirements have found that their computer labs remain busy. Students will still want to check e-mail when they're not near their own computers. And they'll need backup machines when theirs break down. The university is experimenting with various kinds of labs that might be useful to students with their own computers. Already, the main facility is equipped with specialized stations, where students can use scanners and color printers. Newly installed "jet-eye" stations let students with some kinds of laptop computers hook up to the Internet through wireless, infrared connections. Another lab offers areas designed to let groups of students work together on one terminal. CIRCA, the university's instructional-computing division, operates the computer labs and helps students connect to the network and keep their computers running smoothly. Its help desk is perhaps the best example of how the university has "ramped up" to meet the challenge posed by the simultaneous arrival of thousands of new machines in the hands of thousands of untrained users. The help desk hired additional staff members this year, and opened a section downstairs from the main help desk, where staff members offer "express" service. The help desk made a point of using the university's summer orientation sessions to prepare students for the new requirement. CIRCA staffers helped new students connect to the university network during orientation. Students registered for e-mail accounts and received connection software and instructions for logging on. When they returned in the fall, many were ready to go without having to crowd the help desk's waiting area or phone lines. CIRCA consultants also helped train a group of students, organized by the student government, who made more than 2,000 "house calls" at the beginning of the semester to help students get their computers up and running on the network. "We made a lot of preparations," says Fran McDonell, who supervises the help desk. As a result, she says, "it hasn't been any crazier than last year." Even so, the help desk still saw more than 5,000 people during the first week of classes. Most of those, she says, were students needing assistance with their accounts -- e-mail boxes that weren't properly configured, lost passwords, or problems dialing in. Other students needed help configuring their computers or getting their software to work. Business has tapered off at the help desk as the semester has progressed, but Ms. McDonell expects another rise in requests as students get serious about midterm projects and research. In the long run, she argues, the computer requirement will make the help desk's job easier, by standardizing the components that students are likely to use, so that the consultants will have a smaller range of problems to diagnose. CIRCA is the official source of computer help, but most students see their peers as the first line of support. Bradley Dilger, a doctoral student who teaches an on-line writing course in the English department, says faculty members should encourage that kind of peer support. "I try to find out which students in class have the most experience with computers, then try to encourage them to work together with less-experienced students," he says. After all, "they understand each other better than they understand me." Not only do students say they count on friends for help with their computers, but for those who can't afford a computer of their own, friends and roommates can help out. "There are 40,000 people here," says Ms. Sullivan, the finance major. "You're bound to know a few people who have a computer." Once a computer is correctly configured and an account is ready to go, the university still has to worry about how that student will get on line. Richard Elnicki, a professor in the business school, has given that issue a considerable amount of thought. He teaches and does research in decision and information science, a discipline that lets him establish how many of Florida's students are using the network; predict how many will be using it in a month; and recommend what should be done so that they almost never get busy signals. Among other things, Mr. Elnicki keeps track of how many people log on to the Internet through the university, and what time of day the most people are likely to log on. By measuring dial-in traffic over time, the university's network center can add modems before the user base outgrows the system. According to Mr. Elnicki, the number of users jumped last fall, after the university introduced its "GatorLink" service, which gives students, staff members, and professors 15 hours per month of free Internet time. After that, users are charged about a cent a minute. As students returned to school this fall, upgrades to the modem pool have more than kept up with the increased demand. The university now has around 700 modems, and as usage grows, so will their number -- unless, Mr. Elnicki says, other technologies eventually curb the need for new modems. Florida has run trials with cable modems and digital subscriber lines, which give users high-speed connections at home. With such technologies, he says, the university might one day serve thousands of users through a single connection to a cable or telephone company. Students, meanwhile, say they've been given plenty of academic reasons to get on line. "Every class I've ever had has had a Web site," says Jaime Nichol, a sophomore studying early-childhood education. She bought one of Apple Computer's curvy blue iMacs this summer. Although Windows machines dominate elsewhere on the campus, the college of education requires Macintosh computers. Ms. Nichol has browsed syllabi and taken practice quizzes on the Web, e-mailed her professors and classmates, and learned how to make Web pages. She has also tried out educational software that she may use when she becomes a teacher. Most students say that their classes use e-mail or the Web in some form, and that every student needs to use a word processor at some point. Campus organizations have capitalized on student computing as well. Many university offices and student groups offer information through the Web. Most notably, students can now use their computers to register for courses, or to drop or add them, and can plan their majors on line. A new registration system, ISIS, lets a student browse through majors, instantly seeing what classes each degree would require. The system also lets them look up their transcripts and check their financial accounts. Mr. Sandeen, the vice-president, predicts that such tools will have a greater impact on student life than will anything that happens in the classroom. He recalls a time several years ago, before the ISIS system or telephone registration was in place, when "it was not unusual for students to get up at 3 in the morning and line up to get first crack at a class -- that's all completely gone." "I'm looking forward to the time we can not spend as much money on student publications and just put them on the Web," he adds. Communication between students and the administration could also be improved by means of computers. Many administrators already answer students' questions directly through e-mail. Mr. Dilger, the English instructor, agrees that the new computer requirement holds promise for opening lines of communication. "Forty-two thousand students is really big, and getting a sense of community around here is pretty hard to do," he says. "But if by some way the computer requirement could encourage that, I think it would be great." But he also worries that by automating some of that communication, tools like computerized registration could keep students from exploring all of the options that university life presents. "It's still pretty early, and we ought not jump to a lot of conclusions about how this is going," says Mr. Sandeen. "My hunch is that after this year, this will all seem routine, and students will look at computers as their predecessors look at textbooks." http://chronicle.com Section: Information Technology Page: A27