ARTS & SCIENCES STUDENT TECHNOLOGY
FEE ALLOCATION PROCESS
Background: The annual technology allocation to each college replaces the campus-wide
student technology fee proposal process. These funds are meant to compliment the teaching and
learning core technology services which have been implemented across campus. A&S expects
an allocation each year; the amount of funding will vary slightly by year as it is based upon a
three-year rolling average of student credit hours generated by each college/school.
A&S Process: The goal of the Student Technology Fee (STF) committee is to equitably
distribute resources to departments and programs within the College of Arts and Sciences.
Funds from this allocation will be used to meet technology needs, including, but not limited to,
hardware, software, equipment, support and services. The location of these technological
resources can include traditional classroom spaces, computer labs, student research spaces, and
cloud or server based services.
The specific objectives of the STF allocation include:
1. To sustain existing teaching and learning technology resources;
2. To support innovative approaches to teaching and learning both in existing and new
programs across the college;
3. To promote the planning and development of sustainable practices in the maintenance of
teaching and learning technologies.
The distribution of funds will be a competitive process. Successful applications will demonstrate
how the project coincides with the stated goals of the STF program. The committee will pay
particular attention to proposals which sustain and maintain technological resources funded by
STF, and preference will be given to projects showing a systematic approach to developing and
sustaining teaching and learning technologies. Additionally, the committee encourages projects
that demonstrate the creative use of existing technology and have innovative methods of
repurposing existing equipment for new needs.
To encourage and support longer-term planning for technological resources at the department
and program level, the competition for A&S funding differs from that used in previous years.
The process will no longer be handled strictly on an annual basis. The committee goal is to
move to a process of committing funds over a three-year time period. The three-year
disbursement of monies will ensure that programs and departments can plan ahead to address
their needs in teaching and learning technology. The timeline for disbursement will depend upon
resources available each year and the needs of the individual projects. To the extent possible,
applicants who do not receive immediate funding will be informed of an approximate timeframe
for disbursement of funds. For example, if your proposal is highly ranked this year, but there are
not sufficient funds, the committee may make a commitment for funding next year or the
following year.
EVALUATION PROCEDURES AND CRITERIA
General Information and Evaluation Criteria for fiscal year 2013-14
1. February 15, 2013 is the A&S deadline for STF proposals.
2. Proposals can be submitted every year, but the committee favors a three-year
evaluation process, described below. The process inherently favors proposals that
are submitted at the beginning of the three-year cycle.
 FY13-14 is the beginning of the next 3-year cycle.
 Departments should not expect another call for proposals until Fall 2015
3. The committee will rank proposals and allocate funds based on the following
criteria:
a) The strength of the proposal
b) Financial considerations (funds expected to be available each year)
c) The strength of repurposing plan for existing equipment (if applicable)
d) A willingness to release unneeded hardware into a common pool available
for repurposing and to demonstrate a willingness to share the resources
being applied for with more than one program.
4. The committee will try to fund a mix of large and small proposals in order to strike a
balance with the different needs of programs with greater and lesser technology
needs.
5. Partial funding of proposals may occur if the demand for funding greatly exceeds the
available funding.
6. The committee will attempt to fund all deserving proposals using the procedure
described below.
Evaluation Procedures
1. First year: The committee will evaluate proposals on the basis of the stated criteria
and rank them
a. Proposals will be funded in order of ranking within the limits of the year’s
allocation.
b. Unfunded but deserving proposals will be carried over to the following year.
2. Second year:
a. The proposals that were carried over from the previous year will be funded
in order of ranking within the limits of the year’s allocation.
b. New proposals will then be evaluated and ranked.
c. If there are sufficient funds, new proposals will be funded in order of ranking
within the limits of the year’s allocation.
d. Unfunded but deserving proposals will be carried over to the following year.
3. Third year: Like the second year, except that any unfunded proposals at the end of
this year’s evaluation will not be carried over to the next year. At the end of this
year, a new three year cycle will begin.