Freshman English classes are being held in the Douglas Hall computer lab for the first time, and the department plans to extend the number of classes offered there next semester.

Director of freshman English Rosalie Hewitt said the classes using the computer lab this semester are sections of English 103 and Communication Skills 103. There will be more English classes added to the computer program. She said sections of English 104 and three sections of English 105 will be added next semester.

It is the only computer lab in a residence hall which is used by classes as well as hall residents. There are computer labs in Grant North and Stevenson South but they are used by hall residents only.

Hewitt said this is the first semester the lab has been in use.

“It was designed to introduce computer skills into writing skills,” Hewitt said.

“Computer assistance is an integral part of our writing program,” she said. “We’re hoping it will create a positive attitude toward word processing.”

Linda Tillis, assistant director of Student Housing Services in charge of lab operations, said, “We’re hoping it will provide a living and learning environment.”

Tillis said the development of a lab for the English department “happened real fast.”

She said the idea came about during a meeting with the director of housing and the English department in the 1987 spring semester. They were discussing how important computers are to education, she said.

She also said Lida Barrett, who was then assistant provost, was very much in favor of the idea to create a computer lab for the English department.

ewitt agreed Barrett was instrumental in getting the English department and housing together to decide on setting up a computer lab.

Douglas Hall was chosen because it is a self-contained facility, Hewitt said. “There is a traditional classroom next to the lab.” She also said the teachers’ office was located in Douglas near the lab. “It’s all there in one complex.”

She said by mid-semester all of the class work is done on the word processors. She also said the students enrolled in the computer classes do the same amount of work and the same type of work as the students enrolled in the regular English classes.

Labs are held once a week and classes are held in the regular classroom during the rest of the week, Hewitt said.

She said students in the English classes usually spend three hours a week in lab. “There is unlimited access.”

English students have precedent over residence hall students when using the 39 computers in the lab and are able to reserve times to use the computers, Tillis said.

Computers are available to hall residents on a first come first serve basis. There is a sign-up sheet for students to use when the lab is full.

Lab assistant Nancy Gron said the computer lab is being used more as the semester goes on. “We have a long waiting list.”