The information technology department at the university will begin charging each department a basic fee of $100 per faculty or staff member to cover technology services.

The fee will help keep each department up to date with technology across campus by paying for newer desktops, network access, e-mail accounts and directory services. The objective with the new fee is to help centralize all technology services to the IT department, and allow better service to faculty in all departments, said David Crain, assistant provost and chief information officer.

Currently, it is the responsibility of each department to take care of issues such as wireless access points, telephone lines, voicemail services and new desktops.

Crain said because each department pays for their own IT services, there is a wide variation of technology services across campus.

“The colleges that had plenty of money were up to date on their technology, while those departments that did not have much money were using nine- to 10-year-old computers,” he said.

Crain said some departments even cancelled their phone lines and voicemail services because of budget cuts in an attempt to save money. Unfortunately, the cancellations were not saving money because the university already pays for those services, he said.

Keeping an old computer for more than five years could also cost individual departments and the university more money than it would save because of computer downtime, lost productivity and support costs, Crain said.

He said with the new fee, the IT department will put computers on a five-year replacement cycle to provide each department with constantly updated computers.

Crain said although the payment method will be different from what the faculty is used to, he hopes they will understand how much it could help keep the university up to date.

“At other universities, they are charging more than $100 for these services for all users, not just your all-time permanent staff. So, these are highly subsidized services,” Crain said. “We realize it is somewhat controversial because it is new way to pay for technology services, but it is still a real bargain for our users.”

University spokesman Rod Sievers said since each department has had to deal with its own computer problems, centralizing IT services would help solve technological issues faster.

“Say a computer in a department goes down, you just call someone and they take care of it,” he said. “The faculty do not have to worry about it. It’s going to take away the burden of maintaining computer systems within the departments so each office can concentrate on their tasks at hand.”

Michael Shelton, deputy director of telecommunication services, said if faculty can open new channels for communication, such as more telephone lines and voicemail accounts, it can also help inter-department relations.

“Keeping updated with phone lines and voicemails is important for all departments to connect with students,” Shelton said. “But it also makes it easier for different departments to contact each other and find a direct link to other university faculty.”

Crain said standardizing technology across campus would also help the university become a leader in higher education technology and provide a positive impact on the recruitment and retention of students by providing better access to faculty.

Sievers said he agreed and that standardizing technology on campus would give students better access to all departments.

“If everyone is standardized, then it can only help the efficiency between departments,” Sievers said. “ If we can improve efficiency, then we are bound to improve services to students and other people who come into contact with the university.”