A report that reviews the instructional enhancement initiative
““ a mandatory student fee that pays for campus computer and
Internet facilities ““ began this week and will be submitted
to the chancellor in the spring.
First implemented in 1997, the initiative provided for increased
undergraduate education through the use of Internet services in the
College of Letters & Science. The fees were distributed between
web services and student computing labs.
Students will be charged $6 per unit at the end of each quarter
this year. Students who dropped their courses after the fourth week
this fall will still be charged for the courses. The fee went down
from $7 per unit this past winter and spring quarters, but went up
from $4 per unit in fall 2002.
A routine review of the program is scheduled to be made every
four years.
Since its inception, the program has made extensive progress,
said College officials.
“After seven years (of use) … the initiative has been a
wonderful asset,” said John Sandbrook, special assistant to
the executive dean. Sandbrook also oversees the MyUCLA Web
site.
The program has gone “amazingly far,” said Mike
Franks, a computer programmer in the College’s social
sciences division.
Franks added that according to surveys of the social sciences
division, about 75 percent of the faculty use Web sites as
supplemental resources to their courses at least to a small extent.
The number is up significantly from when the program first began,
Franks said.
The program has been useful to both professors and students.
“I use (the Internet) to introduce students to primary
source material … it is better than using a reader and brings
(students) a remarkable amount of documents,” said Richard
Weiss, a professor in the history department.
The Spanish and Portuguese department extensively uses the
Internet as well, specifically in the lower division courses.
Students often are required to refer to homework assignments, exam
reviews and audio and video supplements on the department’s
Web site.
Many students said they appreciated the resources they could
find on the course Web sites.
“It’s a convenient way for students to get the
information without going to class,” said Michael Tong, a
fifth-year material science and engineering student, adding that he
believes it is worth the money he is paying for it.
Some professors still do not use a Web site, though students are
mandated to pay for those quarters.
“I’m not using (the Web site); I am probably the
worst person you could ask about it,” said political science
professor Thomas Schwartz.
Third-year English student Georgina Wakefield said most of her
smaller classes do not use a course Web site. Additional resources
would be useful, especially during midterms, Wakefield said.
Though some courses do not use the enhancement fee, Sandbrook
said the money goes to a collective effort and on average, students
receive the services that they pay for.
“For certain courses, the amount of (Web site) usage costs
exceed the charges, and in other classes (the money) is not used
… it is a dollar averaging approach,” Sandbrook said.
In the future, Franks said he hopes to have better collaboration
with all the divisions in the College.
The College is working to combine efforts from the different
divisions so there can be a standard log-in system and standard
tools for the entire campus, Franks said.
With reports from Ari Bloomekatz, Bruin Contributor, and
Charlotte Hsu, Bruin Senior Staff.