The Student Tech Fee Oversight Committee approved six campus improvement projects Monday at its second meeting of the semester.
The proposals, which were submitted by Information Technology Services, will have an immediate impact of $175,290, according to an ITS document handed to attendees before the meeting.
The first project will replace seven video cameras within the Gear to Geaux program, which allows students to check out mobile technology such as laptops, cameras and clickers for three-day periods from the Middleton Library Circulation Desk.
Another proposal approved will install Adobe Connect equipment in 10 classrooms that hold large numbers of students, such as Dodson Auditorium.
Other approved projects include: purchasing an add-on to restore the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, a computer program used for statistical analysis, to the VLAB environment; continuing MySTART, a program that trains users on how to use various computer programs; and enhancing collaborative learning spaces in Middleton Library room 126.
But the most heated topic of the meeting related to buying 10 iPads to be checked out in the library as part of the Gear to Geaux program. The proposal was dismissed because several board members thought the iPads were unnecessary.
“Why do we need iPads when students can already check out laptops?” said Student Government President Cody Wells. “An iPad is nothing more than a