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Prop. 47 contains $18.1 million for Fresno State

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Technology is transforming higher education. It is difficult to forecast just how technology will affect teaching and learning at Fresno State, but it is clear that the infrastructure upgrade that Proposition 47 plays a role in campus plans in instructional technology.

Proposition 47 is a $13.05 billion bond on the Nov. 5 state ballot that will provide for the building of classrooms, libraries and laboratories, as well as additional construction and technological upgrades at all levels of education. If Proposition 47 is successfully passed by voters, Fresno State will receive approximately $18.1 million.

Proposition 47 will provide our campus with the funding needed to update the campus data network. The upgrade is necessary to achieve the university's strategic goal to provide appropriate technology in support of instruction.

The campus technology plan calls for "smart classrooms" that give faculty and students access to digital materials. Increased use of digital media, and especially of digital video, in smart classrooms will require additional bandwidth on the campus data network. The campus wireless network, scheduled for completion in about five years, will provide students with wireless Internet access both in and out of class. Build-out of the wireless network will be based on the improved network infrastructure.

Other technology enhancements that are dependent on the infrastructure upgrade include networked services for data backup and archiving. A minimum tenfold increase in bandwidth for Internet access on campus will provide faster access to online materials, a necessity as more of the campus business becomes Internet-based.

The infrastructure upgrade will improve campus access to electronic resources in the Library including electronic journals, eBooks, the card catalog system, Special Collections, the Central Valley Political Archive and the Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children's Literature. The improved infrastructure also will facilitate sharing of library materials among CSU campuses, giving students and faculty members access to resources throughout the system.

The infrastructure upgrade is a keystone of plans to provide increased access to higher education. In another example of the need for increased bandwidth for digital video, traditional televised courses will be transmitted through the campus data network. Web-enhanced and Web-based courses will give students access to course materials anytime and from anywhere through the use of the Internet.

For a full description of the proposition, including pro and con arguments, go to the California State University Web site at  www.calstate.edu/prop47/. Other information on Proposition 47 is available at www.csufresno.edu and www.fresnostatenews.com.

Back to University Journal, 10/01/02 Issue