By MASUDUR RAHAM

Senior Reporter

The $3.4 million left over from the deferred state appropriation payments is being put to use on projects to improve Oakland University, and the projects span OU campus, Macomb campus and cyberspace.

The board of trustees approved $3,410,000 to be allocated to the Special Project One-Time Funding at the board of trustees formal session on May 7.

There are five special projects: reorganizing the departments of the College of Arts and Sciences, replacing the Uninterruptible Power System of the Dodge Data Center, building offices at the Macomb University Center and the Macomb Intermediate School District, the Capital Campaign Systems and Support and expanding the Technology Learning Center.

The $3.41 million comes from the deferred state appropriation payments that Oakland University received this January. Out of the $4.8 million received, about $1.1 million was given back to OU students because, according to the administration, at least part of the 13.9 percent tuition increase for the 2007–08 year was due to the payment being late.

John Beaghan, OU’s vice president of finance and administration, who submitted the proposal to the board, said that these projects will not increase or decrease the tuition rates for the 2008-09 year.

Expanding the Technology Learning Center will account for $1,437,000.

“[This will] bring technology-dependent units together, centralize services, increase collaboration among the faculty and staff in the units and improve access for students and faculty,” said Julie Voelck, dean of the Kresge Library.

The TLC project is manifold and includes relocating the E-Learning and Instructional Support from Varner Hall to the fourth floor of the Kresge Library, expanding E-LIS services and renovating the library’s information commons. 

Cathy Cheal, vice president of E-Learning and Instructional Support, said, “the architects are now working on the plans, remodeling will start this fall and take four to six months to complete.” She said that the move is planned to take place during the winter or spring semester in 2009.

“Through a partnership with University Technology Services and E-LIS, Kresge Library will offer continuing education programs and workshops for community members,” Voelck said. 

Relocating the government documents from the main floor to compact shelving on the lower level, a part of the project, has started already. Voelck hopes to have the information commons ready for use by the beginning of the winter semester or after winter break. 

This project is part of Kresge Library’s information literacy program, which Voelck said is “a program where librarians teach students the skills they need to identify, access, apply and evaluate information effectively and to become successful lifelong partners.”

There are also new online programs being planned to be added, Cheal said. She also hoped to improve teaching and learning by encouraging faculty to use the technology to improve interaction with their students, to teach with a constructivist philosophy and to offer everyone convenience.

Another part of the one-time funding is the development of Oakland University’s Macomb campus, which will account for $500,000 of the project.  

OU will build permanent offices at the Macomb University Center and at the Macomb Intermediate School District. Mary Otto, vice president of Outreach, said, “These offices will house faculty and staff who will develop academic programs and provide support to students.”

According to Otto, part of the funding for this project will also go toward information sessions for the community and prospective students to inform them of available programs and to seek input about educational needs.

Otto added that this project has already been started and will take several years to finish. 

Otto also said that OU plans to add two or three new programs for the Macomb Campus, and plan to continue adding programs regularly over the next three years.

The UPS for the Dodge Data Center will be replaced, touting $575,000 of the budget. According to the proposal, the current UPS is over 25 years old and the university has been notified by the service vendors that “support contracts are no longer available due to a lack of replacement parts and therefore should be replaced.”

The UPS provides instantaneous backup for a power failure for a few minutes for more than 120 servers in the data center. 

“If there is a power failure of even a short period, if there is no UPS, all these servers would stop abnormally, or crash,” said Terrie Rowe, the chief information officer of University Technology Services. “The UPS also protects against power surges.”

Capital campaign services and support will receive $164,100 of the project’s budget.

The funds will go toward the last stretch of OU’s capital campaign, which has a goal of raising $110,000,000  by April 2010.  According to the proposal, “resources needed to ensure the success of the campaign include continuation of campaign counsel, the campaign newsletter and collateral materials.”

Susan Goepp, vice president of University Relations, said that over $97,000,000 has been raised already, so about $13,000,000 more needs to be raised.

Goepp said that donors have designated for different parts of the university, including scholarships, curricular enhancements, research, faculty support, facilities, etc. “Every unit of the university has received support through the campaign,” Goepp said.

Under the academic space utilization project, different departments of the College of Arts and Sciences will also be relocated to “accommodate growth and to physically consolidate related departments,” according to the proposal. The $733,900 project will “improve operational efficiencies and enhance inter and intradepartmental interaction to promote multi-disciplinary engagement of faculty and students.”