Investments in IT infrastructure are vital, even as the costs of this essential item continue to escalate. In particular, the demand for videos and live streaming among students, faculty and staff is high and growing, even as we work to increase the bandwidth that we pay for to help cover it.
Although there are three months left in this financial year (July 2024 to June 2025), thanks to Anthony Richards as Chief Information Officer and Furqan Seith as Chief Financial Officer we have purchased more than 440 new computers, providing for a much-needed IT upgrade across the College and University. This includes 146 computers for the Campus Center; and 150 computers for college computer labs; and 80 computers for university computer labs (plus another 20 computers for university physics labs).
Virtually all of these purchases have been internally funded, the main exceptions being three computers for the Forman Population Research Center provided by the UN Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA); five computers for the Center for Biblical Training and Research (CBTR) funded by an anonymous foundation via Friends of Forman; and 40 computers for the Light of Hope Computer Lab, also funded by Friends of Forman.
In addition, the IT Equipment Policy approved last year has led to many members of faculty and staff buying laptops and receiving reimbursement for some of the costs involved. With respect to staff specifically, Assistant Managers and higher are eligible to apply for laptops — and, so far, at least 40 eligible members of staff have by now requested and received them.