Two years after launching the Flagship Information Technology Strategy, the University has made significant progress.Of the 84 items on the agenda, 40 are in progress and 28 have been implemented, according to the Flagship IT Strategy Update report released in January.”We want people to be able to come into LSU and have the needed resources at their fingertips as a school community,” said Sheri Thompson, IT communications and planning officer.Thompson said the biggest project is the campus computer resource project. The goal is for all students to have access to the most up-to-date computers and equipment, she said.”I use the computers at the library very often because I don’t have Internet at my house,” said Onyinye Osisioma, biochemistry sophomore. “I’m basically not able to do anything, so when I need to use the        Internet, I come here.”Marie Roussel, communications studies junior, said she doesn’t bring her laptop to school and uses the computers in the library at least twice a day to check her e-mail and work on homework.Thompson said another major goal is to establish a 24-hour technical help service. She said although GROK is very useful, an around-the-clock help center would prove more helpful.It’s hard to calculate an actual dollar amount that has been spent because of re-allocation of money between projects, Thompson said. But she estimates “a few million dollars” have already been invested in the agenda.Thompson said student technology fees assist in the agenda but are only applied to student-related projects, such as TigerWare and the Information Commons. Student tech fees do not go toward infrastructure, she said.”Everything is community focused,” she said. ”One of the big things is the Information Commons [in Middleton Library]. Teachers know students utilize the software on the computers.”Debra Kopcso, mathematics instructor and Math Lab tutor supervisor, said the computer labs — which are paid in part by student tech fees — greatly assist in students’ success in the course. “It’s cheaper because we don’t need to hire as many professors, and statistics prove that students’ grades have increased dramatically since implementing the computer lab system,” she said. This is the first published update report since implementing to strategy in 2006, Thompson said.”We want to make sure the campus community is kept up to date and interested in what has taken place so far,” she said.Thompson said improving ITS is a continuing process, though she is unsure of what plans will be made after the Flagship IT Strategy ends in 2010.”We’ll look at restarting the process over again,” she said. “We’ll look at the baseline and see what we need.”——Contact Steven Powell at [email protected]