6.0            Infrastructure and Technology

 

6.1            Facilities

 

Albany’s main campus has begun to take on a new look over the past several years with the infusion of new capital funding. These changes are essential for maintaining the institution’s developing programs and enrollment base and for providing the infrastructure to support the institution’s upward trajectory.

 

·        The University advocates a SUNY-wide matching grants program that would assist all campuses in competing for large capital grants from federal and private sources.

 

The State University Construction Fund authorized the campus to conduct a full facilities planning process in 1996. That process, concluded a year later, produced a Campus Master Plan that sets out a facilities program for the next decade, involving the construction of new buildings and the refurbishing of existing structures. The Governor and the Legislature have authorized $120 million in capital spending to fund the initial phases of the Plan, which include:

 

           - Reconfiguration of the campus perimeter road;

           - The New Life Sciences Building;

           - The Arts/Sculpture Studio;

           - The Public Safety Building; and

           - The Admissions/Main Entry Building.

 

The new Science Library, which opened in fall 1999, while not part of the $120 million allocation, has had a major, positive impact on the campus.  Other facilities and land acquisitions such as CESTM and the East Campus have been funded by public (e.g., state economic development funds and federal monies) and private (industry and philanthropic) partnerships.

 

Work is already underway to develop plans for the second phase of the Campus Master Plan.  Albany will be looking to System Administration for support and assistance in advocating for the next round of funding to fully realize the goals and objectives embodied in that Plan.

 

Library:  Albany is a member of SUNY’s Library and Information Services (LAIP) and will join the SUNYConnect initiative to take advantage of new opportunities for resource sharing as they become available. While the investment in upgrading the University’s computerized library cataloguing and retrieval system, and improving access to and management of Albany’s databases, is recent and the system is working well, Albany expects to participate in the SUNYConnect program as its current system ages.

 

6.2            Academic technology

 

Distance Learning: The University at Albany currently supports some of the highest enrolled courses offered through the SUNY Learning Network and was the first campus to offer an entire master’s program in instructional technology using this technology. Albany is also the lead campus for the EastNet Interactive Distance Learning Initiative, offering graduate programs in social welfare and educational administration and policy to learners in Binghamton, New Paltz, and Oswego. Albany’s goals include expanding on this initiative by reaching out to other SUNY campuses with both undergraduate and graduate offerings.  Albany was recently reviewed and accredited by the New York State Education Department to deliver programs via distance learning, one of the first institutions in the State to be so certified.

 

Albany will:

 

·        Continue to expand its distance learning offerings via the SLN;

 

·        Further integrate distance learning into the University’s overall academic planning model;

 

·        Continue its regional leadership role through partnerships and sharing expertise with area institutions; and

·        Develop a coherent, campus-wide technology strategy and implementation plan to support its significant investment in academic technology and facilities.

 

The University at Albany is committed to providing its on-campus resident student population with the means to be fully connected to campus computing and the Internet.  Albany will continue to provide various options to its off-campus student population and faculty to connect to its library and other university facilities and services. The University’s investments in on-campus high-speed connectivity will continue.  Likewise, Albany’s strategic use of ‘smart classroom’ funding has allowed it to upgrade facilities and create new interactive learning spaces. Combined with the expansion of computing spaces and labs for public use, the restructuring of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, and the cyclical technology replacement program, the University will be at the forefront of the use of technology in teaching and learning.

 

 

Table of Contents University at Albany