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The mission of the Residential Computing program is to enable students to make effective and efficient use of information technologies in education. Central to the program is the belief that such technologies are best provided in the residence halls that serve as students' homes and are most effectively supported by student staff who live in these residences. Input from students and faculty as well as constant evaluation of high tech industry are the driving forces of future planning.
With its commitment to four years of guaranteed undergraduate housing and its high percentage of housed graduates, Stanford has a special opportunity to bring computing resources and support to a majority of students where they live. The residential computing program has undertaken, over the past decade, to take advantage of this opportunity.
Our basic assumption is that information technologies will continue to be a critical and growing part of academic, administrative, and residential life at Stanford. The following principles have helped us to plan our support strategy regarding our student computing environments.
Principle #1: The University should provide adequate resources for those students who do not own computers. Providing a computer cluster in each living group helps ensure equitable access to information technology by making computing resources available in a way that simulates, as closely as possible, the convenience of owning a computer.
Principle #2: The University should leverage off of and add value to the computers that students own by providing resources in residences, such as in-room internet connections and laser printing, that support those computers.
Principle #3: We believe that the most effective way to provide computer resource management, consulting, and education, both with respect to cost effectiveness and quality of support, is through student mentors who live in each house.
In support of these principles, the Residential Computing program now provides an extensive computing environment in residences and a staff of live-in Resident Computer Coordinators who support information technologies in a timely way, and with respect to changing technologies and the special needs of each house.
At this time, residentially based computer clusters are available in all of Stanford's living groups. These clusters provide over 350 computers in 77 locations, and serve all of Stanford's approximately 10,000 housed students. The clusters consist of Power Macintosh computers and some PCs running Windows, with laser printers, color scanners, CD ROM drives and limited multimedia capability. All clusters are connected to the Internet via the Stanford University Network (SUNet).
All of Stanford's 10,000 housed students can also access the Internet from their rooms. Besides allowing students to use SUNet and Internet resources, these connections provide access to resources such as laser printers conveniently located in residence computer clusters.
Resident Computer Coordinators are house staff members (along with RAs, Head AAs, TAs etc.) who manage computer clusters, provide computer skills education, and consult with residents on any and all computer related problems. RCCs teach the CS1c, Introduction to Micro Computing, course in each house with Freshman residents, and provide other types of educational programs as necessary. Those RCCs are also responsible for supporting in-room connections. RCCs have become the primary campus consulting resource for Stanford's housed students, especially for undergraduates. Our reliance on these expert students is the key to the efficiency and effectiveness of the program. They comprise over 90% of all ResComp staff.