The University will close the computer-based testing lab located in Pentagon Dining Hall by fall 2006 upon completion of a new lab in the basement of Himes Hall.
University officials have selected a company to renovate the entire Himes Hall basement, where walls will be knocked out to house a lab of 392 computer-testing stations. Among those computers will be the 96 now in the Pentagon.
The 50-computer testing lab in 102 Himes will remain in operation.
The University purchased 140 computers this past year and the Student Government Technology Fee Oversight Committee approved 42 more computer purchases in a meeting Tuesday.
“I guess it was worth the wait,” said Bobby Matthews, director of the Center for Assesment and Evaluation at the end of the 2.5 hour meeting in which he waited for the committee’s decision.
The committee allotted CAE $64,260 for the 42 new computers from this school year’s student technology fee income – approximately $4.1 million.
“I don’t think we can wait until July to fund this,” Jerry Baudin, vice chancellor of finance and administrative services, said to the committee Tuesday.
Matthews said the new lab supports the Flagship Agenda because more students can be tested with computers, which can simulate a real-world experience from content.
“The computers allow students to do many things such as streamline video,” Matthews said.
Some students offer mixed views on the lab change.
“I like Himes because you don’t have to walk,” said Kate Clark, mass communication sophomore who tested for her biology class in the Pentagon lab Wednesday. “But [the Pentagon] is not as cramped.”
Clark said she enjoys the environment of the Pentagon lab because it has many windows and is spacious.
For the past three semesters, CAE has borrowed the space from Chartwell’s Dining Services, which runs LSU Dining.
“The Pentagon space has always been temporary,” Matthews said. “We looked down the road knowing that faculty will want more computer-based testing.”
Some students said they are upset with the reduced number of time slots for computer-based test takers this semester not with the future lab change.
Stephanie Cascio, political science and history freshman who also took a biology test in the Pentagon lab Wednesday, said the CAE Web site tells her where to test.
Although she is indifferent to where she tests, she said last semester she was able to test until 9 p.m.
She said she could schedule to test until only 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
“I had to miss the last 20 minutes of my class to come take my test,” Cascio said. “A lot of people are upset. The timing should be like it was last semester.”
Joseph Hutchinson, director of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, said the same number of class sections are using the lab with fewer operational hours.
“Like everyone else, we’re having to tighten our budget,” Hutchinson said. “We just can’t afford to have large time spans in the computer lab where very few students are testing.”
 
Contact Chris Day at [email protected]