The proposal met with the approval of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee at its Feb. 11 meeting, where members urged that such a plan be implemented as soon as possible, even before the current Fall 2000 target date.

Universities that have adopted such strategies have seen increases in admissions applications and acceptances, as well as improved retention, Joseph Tufariello, dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, told the FSEC at its Feb. 11 session.

While Tufariello, chair of the Student Access Subcommittee of UB's Information Technology Committee, described a likely implementation date for the plan of Fall 2000, senators urged him and other IT officials to make every effort to move that up to Fall 1999.

Tufariello outlined to FSEC members why it is important to provide "convenient and affordable" computing access to students:

- It will personalize and customize instruction.

- It will do away with most of the poorly equipped, public computer laboratories, although there will have to be specialized labs, such as those that deal with geographic information systems.

- Students who are computer- savvy are more employable.

- Equity. Seventy to 75 percent of students in natural sciences and mathematics already own their own computer, and about half of all students entering UB are computer owners.

- Marketing. Implementation of such a policy would allow UB to market itself as "a high-tech institution."

Tufariello described two models that UB's IT subcommittee is studying: the "Sonoma model" at California State University at Sonoma and the "Wake Forest model" at Wake Forest University.

Both models, he pointed out, require student ownership of laptop computers, rather than desktop models. The main difference between them, he said, is that Sonoma's model is a multi-vendor plan, while Wake Forest uses IBM as the sole vendor.

He emphasized that both institutions report increased applications and improved retention, and Wake Forest claims the strategy has aided in faculty recruitment and increased alumni giving.

"None of the schools (across the country) that have done this (adopted universal access) has seen an enrollment decline," Tufariello emphasized.

He noted that Sonoma has a number of options available to aid students in purchasing their computers, including a loan program, bundling the cost of the computer into financial-aid packages and a program to allow students to "work off" the cost of the machine.

Michael Cowen, professor of mathematics and former chair of the Faculty Senate Computer Services Committee, told senators that "the benefits to this program accrue to early adopters.

"Once everybody is doing this, we're going to lose out," Cowen said, noting the lead time to implement such a program is at least one year.

Tufariello said that while the original target date for the program was Fall 1999, "it's far too complicated to do it that quickly." A more realistic target is Fall 2000, he added.

He agreed with Cowen that "if we don't do it quickly, we are going to lose all of the advantage," noting that campuses with these programs are seeing the results in enrollment because they are being "pictured as the high-tech campuses in their particular area. If we delay, I think we're going to lose that edge. There's real urgency on our part, not to rush into something and do it badly, but to do it as quickly as we can and still have a good program."

Jack Meacham, professor of psychology, praised the initiative, calling it "absolutely essential for our university."

He said he was disappointed that the timetable may slip, and asked what the university could do to put the proposal "on the fast track."

Tufariello noted there were many deterrents to implementing the proposal quickly, including training some faculty to use computers, enormous infrastructure challenges such as making deals with Internet providers and installing computer hookups, and getting faculty to introduce computer use into their curricula.

"All of this takes time," he said. "I don't want to go later than 2000, but I'd rather give ourselves that amount of time to do it right."

Maureen Jameson, associate professor of modern languages and literatures, also expressed concern about a delay in the timetable, noting that "if we wait until the year 2000, it's not going to look very flashy anymore.

"Why don't we do the easy thing and take the faculty who know already (about computers) and redeploy them�and move ahead this fall with at least the beginnings of something?" she asked.

Tufariello noted two such pilot programs are planned to begin in Fall 1998 in the School of Health Related Professions and the Department of Computer Science. But "full-fledged" implementation is targeted for Fall 2000, he said.