The money to improve classroom teaching, which includes computers, student computer laboratories, and access to computer networks and electronic information, is part of a preliminary operating budget request being prepared for the 1997 session of the Indiana General Assembly. Purdue trustees approved the request in conceptual form today (Friday, 5/24). University planners now will complete the detailed legislative request, which will be voted on by trustees in September and considered by the Legislature when it convenes in January.
"Our requests for this additional funding are based on the fact that new technologies are revolutionizing the way we approach teaching," said Robert L. Ringel, executive vice president for academic affairs. "With the right equipment, professors can provide more individual attention, and students' learning and retention are improved. In addition, the students of today and tomorrow must be fully literate in the use of computer-based technologies. This request continues the emphasis begun in the current biennium to acquire this technology at a rapid pace."
The General Assembly passes a two-year state budget every other year during its "long" legislative session, which typically begins in early January and ends in late April. The two-year budget that will be passed in the upcoming session will take effect July 1, 1997.
The teaching and other technology improvements amount to $9.1 million for 1997-98 and the same amount for 1998-99. The figures are broken down by campuses this way: $7.1 million for the West Lafayette campus, $900,000 for Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, $800,000 for Purdue Calumet, and $300,000 for the North Central campus.
The operating request calls for an increase in student fees of 4 percent each year of the biennium and salary increases for faculty and staff of 4 percent each year.
"It is difficult to project what the rate of inflation will be three years into the future, but we believe our assumptions are based on sound information," said Frederick R. Ford, executive vice president and treasurer. "The university is on solid financial footing, and continued support by the General Assembly will allow us to sustain our current programs and greatly improve the student learning environment through the expanded use of technology."
jbc/operating/9605f39
Sources: Frederick R. Ford, (317) 494-9705; home, (317) 463-2037
Robert L. Ringel, (317) 494-9709; home, (317) 463-1496
Writer: Jay Cooperider, (317) 494-9573; home, (317) 497-6446; Internet, jay_cooperider@purdue.edu