Computer Lab Closing, First of Many Changes

EAST PEORIA — At the end of the 2013 spring semester, Illinois Central College will be closing the computer lab located at the East Peoria campus in room 308B.

Currently the ICC library and the computer lab share the duty of having computers available for student use.

“We’ve done some studies of computer usage,” said Chris Frautschi, ICC’s Desktop and Media Services Manager, “and we’ve found that both locations have not been using the computers to full capacity.”

ICC has been cutting the hours the computer lab is open since summer of 2012 and, according to Frautschi, has received no negative feedback from either faculty or students about the reduced hours.

So far, the closing has not been made entirely public to students. Beth Boyer, 38, of Washington, says even though she is graduating in the spring, she doesn’t feel closing the computer lab is fair to students. She said in her experience as a student, computers were hard to find in the library.

“I like to come here (the computer lab) better than I like to go to the library,” said another student Nikkie McDowell, 21, of Peoria. “It’s smaller and quieter.”

Of the more than 40 computers that are currently available in the computer lab, about half will be moved into the library as part of what school officials are calling the “Student Success Center.” The other half will be moved to the new computer lab in Poplar Hall at North Campus.

According to Susan Wheeler, Director of Technology Services at ICC, the Student Success Center will incorporate the Learning Lab, Math lab and Studio, all in one central location in the library.

Housing each of the help labs tools in the library will require remodeling ICC’s East Peoria campus, costing the college roughly three millions dollars, said Troy Hattermann, ICC’s Director of Facilities Planning and Design.

He stated, “The schematic plans for the Student Success Center are completed however that project has been put on hold because of more pressing needs at the North campus. I hope that we can be under construction sometime next year, but we may be able to phase in some of the changes before that.”

According to Wheeler, once the North campus relocates its library from Cedar to Elm, a similar center for student success will be installed.

Currently the plans for 308B after the computer lab closes are still uncertain. “I know there has been some various discussions with the provost and some deans about what the needs are, but nothing has been decided as of yet,” said Hattermann.