ncmagel@ndsuvax.UUCP (03/21/87)
I have a question which I hope readers of this group can address. How does
a rather poor institution with a large service load in Computer Science as well
as degree programs in that area procure the software ( e.g., spreadsheets,
word processors, programming language processors, operating systems, etc.) to
support courses? We presently try to use public domain materials as much as
possible, but would like to expose our students to other items. For the sizes
of classes we have, at least 20 copies of a piece of software must be available
for the students to use.
What do you think about the imposition of a small lab fee on students
taking these courses? How carefully do you try to keep up with upgrades of
software?tmp@j.cc.purdue.edu.UUCP (03/23/87)
In article <338@ndsuvax.UUCP> ncmagel@ndsuvax.UUCP (ken magel) writes: > > ... How does >a rather poor institution with a large service load in Computer Science as well >as degree programs in that area procure the software ( e.g., spreadsheets, >word processors, programming language processors, operating systems, etc.) to >support courses? If you are talking about the "introduction to computing for non-majors" I would suggest you look into one of the packages of textbook/software that the major publishing houses are beginning to put together. The student buys the textbook and the software in a special package. For instance, there is a course here at Purdue which teaches 700+ students per semester. This is done using two labs with ~20 student workstations each. The students use the McGraw-Hill text Sanders: "Computers Today". They buy a special version of Ashton-Tate's Framework and a workbook that goes with the text. I don't remember the cost of the package, but it was reasonable in comparison to other textbook prices these days! Framework provides word processing, spreadsheet, data base management, and graphics all in one package. The special version of Framework has some limits compared to the full version (like 10 pages per document for word processing). Nothing prohibitive. Each student has his/her own copy, so there is much less concern about pirating software. I have heard that other publishers are planning or alread have similar packages. -- Tom Putnam Assistant Director ARPANET: tmp@j.cc.Purdue.EDU Purdue University Computing Center BITNET: PUTNAMT@PURCCVM Mathematical Sciences Bldg. Phone: (317) 494-1787 West Lafayette, IN 47907
kent@xanth.UUCP (03/24/87)
[in response to a query about how to pay for software for CS at an impoverished university] Perhaps a change of perspective would help. There really isn't any department in a university that can't, given proper training, make use of spreadsheets, data base software, and related support software. Why not widen the availability of your machines, add more machines and capabilities, and amortize the cost across the whole university community via a tuition based funding structure? The National Institutes of Health used (may still use) a similar mechanism to provide their user community with a superb computer system. They bought about 5 times as much computer power as they could use, rented out the excess time to off site users, and let the resulting cash flow fund a larger, more responsive staff, more and better software, newer and more cost effective hardware, and so on. The GAO got on their case several times, but they were able to demonstrate that this method provided their users with the cheapest, best computer service possible. Of course, the offsite users (I was one) loved it too. It was about the best run computer site I ever used. Put your CS department in the position of NIH, and the rest of campus in the place of the off site users, and it can work for you, too. Good luck! -- Kent Paul Dolan, "The Contradictor", 25 years as a programmer, CS MS Student at ODU, Norfolk, Virginia, to find out how I was supposed to be doing this stuff all these years. 3D dynamic motion graphics a specialty. Work wanted. Unemployment is soooo nice though...I never have to disclaim anything! UUCP : kent@xanth.UUCP or ...seismo!decuac!edison!xanth!kent CSNET : kent@odu.csnet ARPA : kent@xanth.cs.odu.edu Voice : (804) 587-7760 USnail: P.O. Box 1559, Norfolk, Va 23501-1559 Wisdom: "Peace in mankind's lifetime. Why leave a whole universe unexplored?"
ns@maccs.UUCP (Nicholas Solntseff) (03/25/87)
In article <338@ndsuvax.UUCP> ncmagel@ndsuvax.UUCP (ken magel) writes: > >I have a question which I hope readers of this group can address. How does >a rather poor institution with a large service load ... support courses? We at McMaster have driven a hard bargain with Zenith Data Systems to procure the following systems 15 x ZDS-148 (dual floppies, 640 K memory) Student Lab use Bundled software: MSDOS-3.1 and MASM 20 x ZDS-158 (dual floppies, 20 MB Winchester, Faculty Office use 640 K memory) Bundled software: MSDOS-3.1, MS-Windows, MS-Word Purchased: GEM-DRAW and Mirror Locally produced: Ethernet support. In addition, from previous years we have 15 assorted IBM PCs and clones, all with purchased PC/MS-DOS, Sidekicks, Mirror for use as terminals to University machines (VAXes and an IBM). So, we try and get as much software as possible for free. >What do you think about the imposition of a small lab fee on students >taking these courses? We are thinking of instituting a lab fee to cover supplies (paper, ribbons, use of laser printer, etc.; floppies are provided by the students), but so far we charge approximately 10c per page for printing. >How carefully do you try to keep up with upgrades of software? Not at all on a departmental basis (individuals buy their own upgrades), unless it is a result of a bug fix, when we do our best to get the upgrade for free from the vendor. So far ZDS has provided us with a patch to correct their MSDOS-3.1. Nick Solntseff [ns@maccs.UUCP]