Despite the tightened budget outlined in last year’s strategic plan, students returned to Oberlin College this semester to find that most of the computer labs on campus had been stocked with brand new upgraded models.

According to Chief Technology Officer and Director of the Center for Information Technology John E. Bucher, older computers in several of the Mudd, Burton and King labs have been replaced with approximately 90 G5 iMacs and Gateway Profiles.

For the students who want to add more color to their papers, in addition to the new computers CIT has also installed a new multimedia print station equipped with a color printer that will allow them to retrieve bright printouts any time A-level is open. Yet another change includes the former multimedia room, which is now transformed into a scanning room and holds both Mac and Windows flatbed scanner stations and a Mac slide-scanning station.

But the question of financing this new technology may seem perplexing, considering the supposedly dismal condition of the budget.

“There is a specific capital budget for the replacement and upgrading of computer lab machines,” said Bucher. “This centralized budget has been in place for several years, and has been adequate up to this point.” Buying these new computers, of course, fitted into this fund.

Henry Bent, client services support specialist for CIT, explained that the College keeps their computers on a four-year replacement cycle. This means that every year they consider upgrading the computers that are three to four years old. This ensures that the College machinery stays up to date with current technological standards and avoids compatibility issues.

“We don’t want people to have computers that they can’t use, that can’t run what they need to run,” said Bent.

Thus, all the Macs on campus have been upgraded to OS 10.4, or Tiger, and all Windows PCs have had Windows XP installed.

However, the fund set aside for yearly updates may be reevaluated in response to changes in the budget. Even though the 2005 updates were not affected by the new, more stringent budget, later updates may feel the effects.

“Several budgetary factors have combined recently, such that we may have to delay some lab upgrades in the summer of 2006,” said Bucher. CIT will then — based on the available budget and the capability of the computers on hand— make a decision as to whether or not replacements will occur.

The outdated computers have been primarily recycled to other places on campus, such as to new or replaced staff and temporary faculty. Additionally, some have been donated to K-12 schools and other institutions.