Program in effect at U of I

NIU might join many other schools such as the University of Illinois in initiating a computer fee which would provide students with open access to campus computers, NIU President John LaTourette said.

LaTourette said NIU already has made some progress with computers this year. The business college and some English classes currently are increasing computer usage.

He said NIU could have a computer fee as early as next year, but it is still too early to tell.

“We don’t want to overburden the students with even more increased costs,” LaTourette said. “But we have to look also at possible benefits to students.”

Howard Diamond, special assistant to the chancellor of academic affairs at U of I, said, “Just this fall we have started a $20 per student per semester fee for access to computing.”

He said U of I will raise $1.4 million this year from the mandatory fee, which will provide funding for “large, open lab sites for general academic purposes, dedicated sites (for particular classes) and computer training programs.”

LaTourette said, “We’ve been trying to look at how we provide computer access to students across the board for about a year and a half now. I have talked to John Tuecke (associate vice president of systems, computing facilities) and vendors from IBM about the situation.”