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The University allocates $500,000 annually to be used for maintenance and upgrades to classroom technology. The following outlines what the Technology Fund will cover in order to best utilize funds across the University.

Classroom:

A classroom is defined as a designated room where the schedule is managed via schedule.smu.edu and credit bearing classes are conducted.

If a school wishes to convert a room to a classroom, they must fund the initial conversion and all equipment. Once all equipment is in place, the room can be added to the list of rooms eligible for Technology Funding for maintenance and future upgrades.

Exception: There are several spaces across campus that are primarily revenue generating event spaces. These also may be used for a small number of credit bearing classes. These spaces are not eligible for Technology Funds at this time. Departments overseeing these spaces should plan accordingly to ensure AV technology is maintained and replaced when necessary.

Conference room:

Departments are responsible for the initial costs of all equipment in a conference room including the computer and AV equipment. Following the initial investment by the department, the technology fund may be used for maintenance to AV equipment. The Technology Fund will cover replacement of standard AV gear and the standard computer (up to $5,000) when the existing equipment is no longer functional. Specialty components will be supported; however funding for replacement devices will be the responsibility of the department.

In order for conference rooms to receive funding, they must meet certain requirements:

• Regularly utilized by staff or faculty across multiple departments/divisions
• Support of the space would require certain components to be added to the design
• Easily book-able in Schedule.51²è¹Ý or Outlook

Standard Components:

We have designated four basic room design types for rooms: Collaborative, Presentation, Seminar and Conference rooms. Within each of these types is a designated set of technologies that may include the following

• Projector/Screen
• Computer/Monitor
• Keypad interface
• Controller
• Podium
• Audio components
• Wireless screencasting (new- limited deployment)
• Interactive Tablet (new- limited deployment)

There are several newer devices that are being deployed to a set of rooms. Due to the cost, it is not feasible to install these devices in every room. Following an evaluation of these devices, they may be added as a standard deployment option for specific types of classrooms if requested.

Funding and Prioritization process

Emergency maintenance requests should be reported via the help desk ticketing system (help@smu.edu) or the classroom support line.

For planned upgrades and changes to technology in classrooms, a request should be made to the Academic Service Director of each school. They will review all requests for changes and prioritize the list. The AV team will also assemble a list of all requested changes based on the age of the room as well as the support issues reported. The full list of requests is then reviewed, prioritized and submitted to the Academic Technology Council for approval.

For AV design and installation projects that are not covered under the Technology Fund, please complete the request form below. 

Request Here