FY03_2.1.7 Undergraduate Psychology Laboratory Research Enhancement Page 1 of 8 GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY Proposal for the Use of FY2003 Technology Fees Submitting Organization(s) Major Unit: College of Arts and Sciences Department: Psychology Contact Person Name: Lauren Adamson Contact Person Email: ladamson@gsu.edu Contact Person Phone: (404) 651-1620 1. Project Short Title Undergraduate Psychology Laboratory Research Enhancement 2. Total Requested Amount (reference to funding for Years Following removed) Fiscal Year 2003 $ 82,065 3. Executive Summary Project Description (Three or four sentences) Funds are requested to purchase the equipment and software licenses needed to enhance and expand the undergraduate research capabilities in the Department of Psychology. The upgrade and enhancement of the equipment in the 212 Kell Hall undergraduate student research laboratory is proposed. Also, an expansion is proposed of the undergraduate research facilities into the Urban Life Center, where the majority of the faculty and students in psychology have their offices and laboratories. The additions are sorely needed to bring the undergraduate student research facilities up to a level that will support the delivery of the appropriate research experiences needed for undergraduate student education in psychology and to enhance competitiveness for later employment or admissions to graduate school. 4. Project Description Psychology is an empirical scientific discipline. As such, it is imperative, to truly understand the discipline, that students in Psychology receive substantive training in research. Psychology, however, is also a diverse discipline and research in Psychology employs a wide variety of techniques. Beyond the undergraduate experience, if students wish to pursue graduate training in Psychology after graduation, research experience is needed to be competitive for graduate admissions. Hence, research training and experience is central to the discipline, a fundamental component of undergraduate education in Psychology, and needed for graduate admissions. Due to a lack of facilities in the past, training in research has been limited to paper and pencil lab experiments in the undergraduate Principles and Methods of Psychological Investigation course. The Department of Psychology has made a major commitment to develop the facilities for undergraduate training in research and the pursuit of independent research by advanced students. The Department was extremely disappointed that it did not receive Student
FY03_2.1.7 Undergraduate Psychology Laboratory Research Enhancement Page 2 of 8 Technology Fee appropriations to develop this capability. But, the Department s resolve to rectify the problem was so strong that it allocated scarce Departmental resources to the project. The Psychology Department purchased 20 computers for an Instructional Lab in KH 212. Psychology paid for much of the renovation, network cabling and AV Projector and installation costs which were in excess of $30,000. In addition, Eprime software with site license was purchased for $10,000. This departmental commitment has produced a facility that is usable and functional, but severely limited in the types of research methods that can be executed. Although this undergraduate research laboratory services four upper division research psychology courses; PSYC 4100 Cognitive Psychology, PSYC 4110 Physiological Psychology, PSYC 4120 Learning, and PSYC 4130 Sensation and Perception. These upper division courses, however, have not utilized the laboratory to a large extent due to the lack of appropriate hardware and software to perform discipline specific research. The current request for a Student Technology Fee allocation is to purchase the equipment and software licenses needed to enhance and expand the research capabilities of the 212 Kell Hall student research laboratory and to extend the capability into The Urban Life Center, where the majority of the faculty and students in Psychology have their offices and laboratories. The 212 Kell Hall enhancement will extend the capabilities of the lab to allow for vocal and manual reaction time measurement, recording of onsite and offsite interview and survey responses, research website development for data acquisition over the internet, analysis of research results, and for the production and presentation of undergraduate research findings. The Urban Life lab will provide independent research facilities for undergraduate thesis research, independent research, analysis of research results, and production and reporting of these results. It will also be a support facility for Psychology undergraduate Honors students and undergraduate members of the Psychology club and Psi Chi (the honors society in Psychology). 5. Relevance to Regents Guidelines The proposal is entirely responsive to the Regent s Guidelines: 1) meeting the educational objectives of their academic program 2) licenses for primary productivity tools for discipline specific software 3) general purpose and special purpose laboratories used by students for discipline related activities 6. Relevance to Strategic Plan(s) The proposal is entirely responsive to the University Strategic Plan to 1) enhance the undergraduate experience 2) enhance academic student services 3) enhancement of scholarly research 7. Impact on Students Served The department of Psychology currently serves 975 majors and during the current semester has 1883 undergraduate students enrolled in its courses. All Psychology majors are required to take PSYC 3030 Principles and Methods of Psychological Investigation in which the undergraduate research laboratory facilities are utilized. During the last year 287 students enrolled in this course. In addition, the undergraduate research laboratory services four upper division research psychology courses; PSYC 4100 Cognitive Psychology (yearly enrollment
FY03_2.1.7 Undergraduate Psychology Laboratory Research Enhancement Page 3 of 8 130), PSYC 4110 Physiological Psychology (yearly enrollment 92), PSYC 4120 Learning (yearly enrollment 84), and PSYC 4130 Sensation and Perception (yearly enrollment 32). These upper division courses, however, have not utilized the laboratory to a large extent due to the lack of appropriate hardware and software to perform discipline specific research. In addition, the Urban Life laboratory will service all majors and in particular will be utilized by honors students, students in the Minority Access to Psychology (MAP) program, psychology practicum students, and members of Psi Chi (the psychology honors society). 8. Justification of Funding Requirements for Fiscal Year 2003 Object of Expense Itemized Descriptions Quantity Extended $ Total Staff Salaries Item 1 $ Fringe Benefits Item 1 $ Student Salaries Item 1 $ Equipment (Note: Use standard Item 1 Dell Dimension 4400 (P-4, 1.7 9 $ 16,200 dollar amounts and replacement thresholds from sections 10/11, or provide explanation in sections 10/11) Ghz, 256 MB RAM, 80 GB HD (6 for use in the instructional undergraduate labs KH 212 & 3 for use in UL 1159) 6 of these replace PC s in KH212) Item 2 LCD Portable Projectors (1 for 2 $ 6,000 room 1159 UL Undergrad space, 1 for offsite use for presentation @ $3000 each) Item 3 Dell Inspiron 4100 Laptop. 2 3 $ 6,900 are for UL 1159 (for onsite & offsite use for interviews and surveys for various assignments) 1 which will be used in KH212 due to space restrictions ($2300 ea.) Item 4 1 Apple Macintosh G4 Laptop 2 $ 5,400 (550 MHz, 256MB, 30GB HD) for UL 1159 (used for Audio, Video, & Website editing of various survey, interviews, etc.) Onsite & offsite. Also used as a desktop due to limited space. (1 in KH212-due to space restrictions, 1 in UL1159) Item 4 1 Apple Macintosh G4 Desktop (8 MHz, 256MB, 30GB HD) for UL 1159 (used for Audio, Video, & Website editing of various survey, interviews, etc.) 1 $ 3100 Item 5 Color Scanner (for scanning photos and documents for editing for presentations and website development 1 $ 400
FY03_2.1.7 Undergraduate Psychology Laboratory Research Enhancement Page 4 of 8 Item 6 Black/White Laser Printer- HP 1 $ 1200 2200N (to be networked to existing cabling). Additional 32MB RAM Item 7 Color LaserJet (HP 4550N) for 1 $ 2500 use of printing various images on paper and transparencies for presentations and instruction. Additional 128M Printer RAM Item 8 Dell Web Server (for placing 1 $ 4500 Psychology surveys on the internet for data collection and student collaboration). Will be installed in existing server rack and use existing network connections. Item 9 TV/VCR Combo 1 $ 400 Item 10 Fax Machine (Brother 1 $ 300 IntelliFax) Item 11 Digital Cameras (to 2 $ 1300 document class related student activities and various Psychology student organizations such as PSI CHI-honors program) Item 12 PST Serial Response Boxes or student response to signals generated in class by Eprime software which Psychology has already paid for. 25 $ 11,250 Software Maintenance or Contractual Services Supplies Construction Services (Requires review of Planning & Facilities) Item 1 Graphics, Web Publishing, Photo Editing Software licenses for 50 PC s, Macintosh, & laptops Item 1 Dedicated Phone line for fax machine in 1159 for sending and receiving forms and evaluations for Undergrad Special programs such as MAP, HONORS, Practicum and their Conventions. $ $ 15,000 1 $100 (one time) $28.45 (recurring chargemonthly) total= $440 Item 1 Toner or B/W laser printer $ Item 2 Toner for Color Printer (B/W & $ 3 colors) Item 1 One-Card system connectivity $ 4000 (used to control access and secure UL 1159 computer equipment). This will include electron lock and swipe card module. Cable has to be pulled from 11 th floor to basement)
FY03_2.1.7 Undergraduate Psychology Laboratory Research Enhancement Page 5 of 8 Network Connections and Item 1 Cable installations and 3 $ 1200 Infrastructure Costs (Requires review of UCCS) Ethernet activations installed high on wall to facilitate Ethernet connectivity to wireless access points (one for UL 11 th floor, UL 7 th floor, & UL 6th) Item 2 $ Item 3, etc $ Other Expenses (explain) Item 1 Wireless Network Cards for 6 $ 600 new and existing laptops (to be used with Access Point that will be installed in Graduation Student lab in UL 1169) Item 2 Memory upgrades for computers in Undergrad lab KH212@ $60 per PC 20 $ 1200 Item 3 Kensington Security Lock for 5 $ 175 Laptops ($35ea) TOTAL $ 82,065 9. Consequences of Partial Funding Only 75% funded: The project would be viable, however, there would be a reduction in the number of students having access to a computer and/or with the necessary software to fully interact with the classes, assignments, or surveys in a timely fashion. Budgets would be cut to reduce the number of software licenses to 35 and the number of computers to 6 and laptops to 2. The reduction in the number of laptops would limit the ability of the students to survey in more than 2 locations, on or off campus. Only 50% funded The project would be severely limited due to a large reduction in the number of students served. The server could be cut from the budget, but this will impact the students ability to conduct online surveys with other students and document the various program activities, events, and document results to the websites. 10. Standard Dollar Amounts Standard amounts were employed in the proposal. 11. Standard Replacement Thresholds Six of the PC s in KH 212 are Compaq Deskpro computers and meets the 400 Mhz speed standard, however, they are 3 years old, out of warranty, and well below the standards of the other equipment in the laboratory. Repair costs would be high. The Department of Psychology purchased 20 computers from Psychology s budget. The lab was designed for 26 computers and supports laboratory courses enrolling 26 students. The remaining six PCs are considerable slower than 20 that we purchased in 2001.Replacement with comparable equipment is being proposed. 12. Prerequisite, Non-Technology Fee, Funding: N/A
FY03_2.1.7 Undergraduate Psychology Laboratory Research Enhancement Page 6 of 8 13. Matching Funds The Department of Psychology purchased 20 computers for the undergraduate student research laboratory in KH 212. The department paid for much of the renovation, network cabling and AV projector and installation costs, which were in excess of $30,000. In addition, Eprime software with site license was purchased for $10,000. 14. Staffing and Other Support Availability The Department of Psychology Network Support Group supports computer facilities in the Department, including the equipment and locations proposed in this project. Terence Collis is the Manager and has one full-time technician, and 3 other temporary and graduate student technicians. The Psychology Graduate student technicians also assist students during class time. Salaries are paid completely from Department of Psychology funds. 15. Space Availability Kell Hall 212 and Urban Life 1159 is current Psychology space. 16. Impact on Facilities Swipe card readers for the One Card system will have to be installed as well as magnetic locks. Cables will have to be run from 11 th floor to the Terminal Server in basement of the Urban Life Center. 17. Impact on Computing/Network Infrastructure Networking of all workstations will be via wireless or existing Ethernet connections. Three additional cable pulls and activations are necessary to facilitate connectivity high on the hall walkway for the Wireless Access Point. The users will continue using Psychology Department server/s and/or the new web server. There is necessary internet traffic for the web server as well as the workstations, therefore will have minimal impact on the current University-wide infrastructure. 18. Post-Project Assessment Criteria The primary endpoint is the installation of the proposed new equipment and software and verification of functionality. Secondary endpoints include increased numbers and varieties of undergraduate research projects and development and incorporation into Psychology research oriented courses of new undergraduate research experiences
Attachment 1 FY03_2.1.7 Undergraduate Psychology Laboratory Research Enhancement Page 7 of 8 GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY Technology Fee FY 2003 Itemization of Equipment to be Replaced Due to Obsolescence or Inadequacy Unit: Proposal Submitter: Proposal/Award Title: Arts & Sciences/ Psychology Current Station Number GSU ID Serial No. Room Location Make Model CPU Mhz Manu. Date 129882 C2FGJ UL1159 Dell Dimension XPS P-II 266 5/99 205516 205518 205525 205522 205517 205526 K590 K696 K591 K572 L009 K647
Attachment 2 FY03_2.1.7 Undergraduate Psychology Laboratory Research Enhancement Page 8 of 8 GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY Technology Fee FY2003 Equipment Replacement Exception Form Unit: Proposal Submitter: Proposal/Award Title: _ Arts & Sciences/ Psychology Six of the PC s in KH 212 are Compaq Deskpro computers and meets the 400 Mhz speed standard, however, they are 3 years old, out of warranty, and well below the standards of the other equipment in the laboratory. Repair costs would be high. The Department of Psychology purchased 20 computers from Psychology s budget. The lab was designed for 26 computers and supports laboratory courses enrolling 26 students. The remaining six PCs are considerably slower than 20 that we purchased in 2001.Replacement with comparable equipment is being proposed. This will have and effect on the entire 26 students who are participating in instructional research activities as 20 students with faster equipment will be required to wait while 6 class members load software and/or calculations/results on the older, slower PC s. The final results for response time will adversely be affected due the slower processor speeds. Specific minimum hardware: Pentium-III 1Ghz, 40 GB HD, 256 MB RAM