Susie P. Gonzalez

210-999-8406

susie.gonzalez@trinity.edu

TIF GRANTS FUNDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY, DISTANCE LEARNING AT TRINITY UNIVERSITY

March 27, 2002 — Two grants totaling $175,000 from the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF) managed by the state of Texas are helping to develop new technologies at Trinity University. One grant, in the amount of $100,000, is financing the design, development, and implementation of an Internet-based distance-learning pilot program for students seeking summer course offerings. A second grant, for $75,000, will cover the first phase of a wireless computer network, complete with about 15 laptops and wireless modems, at the Elizabeth Huth Coates Library. Ronnie Swanner, director of Instructional Media Services at Trinity, is overseeing the summer distance-learning program. “College students take summer classes for a variety of reasons,” he says, including the need to satisfy degree requirements for graduation, to get prerequisites out of the way, or to enrich their educational experience by sampling topics outside their field of study.  Money from the TIF grant, in addition to $10,000 in local funds, will be used to obtain appropriate hardware and software for Trinity faculty to develop online course content, to deliver the materials to students at remote locations, and to train faculty and staff to implement this initiative. Chris Nolan, associate professor, is directing the wireless network project at the library. “Our intent is to broaden student access to our online information resources by allowing them to access our catalog, periodical databases, electronic reserves, and other materials from anywhere in the library,” Mr. Nolan says. Advantages of using wireless technology are primarily convenience and mobility, he adds, explaining that students working in groups could sit at tables and still be able to obtain online information to enhance their research. In good weather, students could meet outside the library and take their laptops with them. The network is expected to be in full operation this summer, Mr. Nolan says. By the fall, Trinity students, faculty, and staff may be able to bring their personal laptops to campus to enjoy the same convenience as experienced under the initial project, he says. These two initiatives are not the first projects Trinity has funded with TIF funds. In 1999, the University was awarded a $188,886 grant to implement the Quest computerized information retrieval system to help library users find or reserve books and periodicals and to conduct research.  The TIF program was created in 1995 by the Texas Legislature to enable libraries across the state to ensure public access to computer technology, training, and services. Funding is provided by telephone users who are assessed a modest monthly fee in their local telephone bills.

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Last updated on April 4, 2002 by the Office of Public Relations