Monday, October 20, 1997
High price of class web sites raises concerns
Fees cover maintenance costs; students wonder if they should
pay
By Mason Stockstill
Daily Bruin Contributor
For students in the College of Letters & Science, the price
of attending UCLA just increased.
While these students get ready to shell out $40 to $56 per
quarter for the privilege of using web sites devoted to their
classes, their counterparts in the other schools and colleges are
getting access, at varying levels, for free.
The money is going toward the Instructional Enhancement
Initiative (IEI), a project three years in the making, whose main
function is to bring the full potential of multimedia education to
UCLA.
Half of IEI’s $2.4 million price tag covers the purchase and
maintenance of new computing systems for use throughout the campus
– computers that can be used by all students, not just those in
Letters & Science.
Simply put, half of the approximately $120 each L&S
undergraduate will cough up for the initiative this fall covers
things that benefit the entire campus.
"Over the course of the year, there will be 800 new computers in
our labs," said Harlan Lebo, director of Letters & Science
public information.
The fees, $2.50 per unit ($3.50 per unit for life and physical
sciences), will be instituted for the next three years, at which
point the program will be re-evaluated for its effectiveness.
The portion of the fees not used for new computers will cover
web site production and maintenance, such as paying graduate
technology consultants (GTCs) and purchasing new hardware.
It is up to each individual professor to send information to
their GTC in order to have it posted on the web site.
While the addition of new computers benefits the entire school,
some students wonder if the cost of the project is something that
should be passed on to students.
"It’s up to the university to keep up with the latest
technology," said undergraduate president Kandea Mosley in a
previous interview.
"(But) I have serious concerns about whether this is a fee that
students should assume," she continued.
Some classes began using web sites long before IEI became a
reality, said Karie Masterson, director of the Humanities Computing
Facility.
But what’s changed, regardless of their value, is the sheer
number of web sites. Eric Splaver, director of Information
Services, said that of the nearly 1,000 class web sites now
available, less than one-fourth existed before IEI.
"Before the initiative was passed, there were roughly 20 (in the
humanities department)," Masterson said.
Of the nearly 1,000 sites, "humanities currently has 528 class
sites," she continued.
Those 528 sites encompass every undergraduate course taught in
the humanities department.
"Each site has a generic template, with class links, a syllabus
and faculty information," Masterson said.
The 304 sites in the social sciences department also adhere to a
template format, which can be updated by professors or teaching
assistants (TAs).
However, of the first 100 web sites listed on the social
sciences course pages site, only 26 had more than one significant
change (updates to links, announcements posted or use of a
discussion board) from the original template.
Most students blanched at the idea of paying roughly $120 each
year for access to class web sites, most of which contain class
syllabi and not much else.
"I’m amazed at the cost," said Oliver Bouriaud, a second-year
graduate student in computer science and a TA in physics.
"But I also think it is the best way for students to communicate
with TAs," he continued.
In fact, the fee was rejected in early June by the Student Fee
Advisory Committee (SFAC), but because the committee is only
advisory, then-Chancellor Charles Young overrode their decision and
approved the fee.
"It’s unfortunate that the chancellor made this decision without
taking into consideration SFAC’s position," Mosley said.
The launching of IEI coincides with the introduction of "My
UCLA," a web-based system that allows students easy access to a
personalized web page containing links to each of their class web
sites.
"Requiring each professor to have a class web site is like
requiring each professor to have a phone in their office," Splaver
said.
"It’s a necessary tool, but how often they use it is different
for each professor," he continued.