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STANDARD 8: PHYSICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL RESOURCES

The Special Emphasis section addresses the building expansion and renovation project that is a key concern of this Standard. The generosity of the local community in regard to this project reflects the significance of the College’s physical and technological resources for northeastern Connecticut: the QVCC Foundation has raised $1.5M in a capital campaign, of which $.9M will support physical and technological upgrades.

Resource planning is critical at QVCC, as the College coordinates a wide variety of facility and technology programs with its CTC system counterparts, to identify space, infrastructure, deferred maintenance, and technology needs. The CTC system office is aware in detail of QVCC’s short- and long-term needs for fully supporting academics, student services, and other programs. The College’s capital equipment and deferred maintenance allocations have increased over the past several years, while information technology appropriations have been steady. Physical and technological resource needs are reflected in the annual development of College goals.

Regular preventative maintenance and judicious use of deferred maintenance funds have kept both physical sites of the College in good condition. At the core of the technological infrastructure is the College network, which connects the Danielson and Willimantic locations to each other and to the other 11 colleges in the CTC system. QVCC has grown to include more than 300 computers and associated servers College-wide and has installed wireless access points in Danielson and Willimantic. Continuous upgrades of software applications and operating systems have occurred since 2001.

Existing technological resources, as well as those slated for the new wing in Danielson, support student-centered teaching methodologies. Six of the 16 existing Danielson classrooms have computer workstations for the instructor and all students, while three others contain between one and four stations, and two classrooms have interactive compressed video units. Classrooms without a full complement of student computer workstations can be accommodated by two mobile computer carts containing 15 wireless laptops each. Two multimedia whiteboards (one portable) are available for faculty use, and various software applications are available for both students and faculty. At the Willimantic Center there are two 24-station computer classrooms, and seven of the total 10 classrooms have instructor’s workstations and ceiling-mounted LCD projectors; one room is equipped with interactive compressed video. In addition, a mobile cart with LCD projector and laptop computer is available in Willimantic. Nearly all classrooms at both locations have DVD/VCR players and televisions, and all Willimantic classrooms are wired for LCD projection.

In the past five years, the College has maintained life-safety code and building standards, with annual state and local fire marshal inspections. The College provides security for staff and students through leased security personnel, and Troop D of the state police serves the Danielson campus, while the Willimantic police serve the Willimantic Center. The College’s Environmental Health and Safety Committee meets monthly to review a wide range of issues, such as incident reports, disaster preparedness training, OSHA inspections and checklists, fire inspections, personnel safety issues, environmental reports and submittals, Material Safety Data Sheet training, personal protective equipment, and equipment deficiencies. Hazardous waste and material programs, recycling programs, and universal waste disposal programs are given top priority to ensure full compliance with state and local procedures.

With the substantial increase in Internet use over the past five years, the vulnerability of College networks and student data is an increasing concern. The College has improved data security techniques to ensure individual privacy. A firewall maintained in Hartford prevents intrusion from outside the CTC system, and anti-spam and anti-spyware packages have been installed on all College-owned machines. Another recent security initiative designed to protect the privacy of user data is the implementation of Microsoft Active Directory. Wireless network communications have been upgraded to prevent unauthorized users from intercepting transmissions.

With a competitive marketplace and increasing globalization, students are seeking and demanding greater access and mobility. The College is investigating the use of Virtual Local Area Network separation, to provide isolation of data for those who wish Internet access outside the parameters of the College network. In addition, the ability for wireless laptop plug-in to the network is being reviewed. Similarly, Voice-Over Internet Protocol technology is being investigated to allow unified messaging. Further activities include a three- to five-year cascading computer replacement schedule for staff and student computers, an upgrade of core router switches, and local collaboration to achieve higher speeds and bandwidth through fiber optics. All these innovations require careful assessment and review, to allow maximum flexibility with minimum risk to the College network infrastructure and data integrity.

Institutional Effectiveness

Undoubtedly, the current expansion of QVCC’s physical and technological resources will greatly enhance the effectiveness of the institution to achieve the various aspects of its mission. Yet evaluation and assessment regarding technology and infrastructure will continue. The building expansion is likely to require more staff time to support the needs of students, faculty, staff, and members of the community. The College believes that the CTC system office appropriation formula will attempt to address the impact on the College of the increase in square footage. Also, as credit and non-credit enrollments increase, coupled with community use of the buildings, planning for phase III of the Master Plan should commence, both at the Danielson campus and Willimantic Center. Additional challenges include parking in Willimantic and maintaining the currency of audio-visual, networking, and computing infrastructures.

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