Prior to 2001, the state legislature had allocated $4.1 million a year for technology on campuses, the vice president of information technology said. When the legislature halved funds in 2001, Ball State had to implement the first student technology fee at $65 per student, and in 2002 -- when state support was cut -- Ball State increased the fee to $130 per student. Now it's up to $141.
While each full-time student currently pays $141 per semester, each part-time student taking fewer than seven credit hours only pays $44 per semester. Other universities charge higher amounts, like Indiana University at Bloomington (charging $200 per semester for a full-time student) and IUPUI (charging $186.90 per semester). On the other hand, Notre Dame only charges $125 per semester for a full-time student to enjoy campus Internet access, e-mail, student services and software-package deals.
Smitherman said Ball State received about $4.8 million last year from the total collected technology fee, with the seven colleges receiving nearly equal shares. With the millions of dollars collected over the years from the fee, Ball State has joined other universities in providing advanced technology for students to prepare them for the workplace.
"We're always looking for other ways to [financially] support technology," Smitherman said.
For instance, Ball State's technology as a whole receives funding from tuition, grants, contributions by technology businesses and private donors. Funds collected by the student technology fee, however, specifically benefit students.
"A representative amount of the total spent for all technology support, when you include all of the personnel and operating costs in computing services, the Teleplex and the library as well as the hardware, software and contract services is more than $20 million," Smitherman said. "Based on data collected through Educause, this is comparable to the average spent for universities of our size."
As for the budget shortage that is likely for next year, Smitherman outlined the university's plan to handle the issue.
"Our plan is to address these and any evolving needs on an incremental basis and upgrade those areas that have the greatest need for these facilities first," Smitherman said. "We will be seeking support from vendors and grants to address the most critical needs."
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