Policy for the Use of Instructional Media Services

Instructional Media Services (IMS) is comprised of Media Production, Media Distribution (including Distance Learning production and videoconferencing), Media Repair, and the Courseware Development Center (CDC).

IMS is funded by Academic Affairs for the purpose of providing services in support of the instructional program. Services will be provided at no charge, other than for consumables, to HSU faculty members when used in support of academic department classroom instruction, FTES-generating distance learning instruction, or in anticipation of potential classroom use and in support of Library information competency programs. Because IMS does not have a special budget for consumable materials (e.g., video tapes, cassettes, diskettes, transparencies, etc.), faculty should provide such. Depending on availability, IMS may use its own limited supplies and charge the appropriate department or faculty. IMS shall maintain a list of standard services and technologies available to faculty. Requests for services and technologies beyond those generally available may require the faculty's participation in obtaining additional funding. All requests for services from individuals, departments, and the Library, not directly engaged in classroom instruction or information competency programs will be subject to a service charge to compensate the instructional program for use of resources by non-instructional units or for non-instructional purposes.

IMS will provide a working station for faculty drop-ins in the CDC for up to two hours at a time. Faculty who wish to use the facility on a "do-it-yourself"' basis and take advantage of the CDC staffs’ expertise may use the workstation. The use of this workstation will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

Definitions:

Grants and Contracts is defined as an externally funded project of which Humboldt State University has become a participant. In accordance with Executive Memorandum P 00-3, all costs, both direct and indirect, shall be recovered for each project. Therefore, such projects will be treated as non-instructional for charge-back purposes unless prior agreement is given by the Manager of IMS to offer IMS resources as an "in-kind" contribution to the grant or contract.

Instructional is defined as an activity in direct support of classroom instruction or FTES-generating distance learning under the supervision of a faculty member in a department which issues academic credit to enrolled students. A reasonable level of participation by HSU in support of instructional programs originating from the CSU sister campuses and generating FTES for any of the academic programs at HSU, will be considered instructional with the approval of the Manager of IMS.

Library is defined as an activity in direct support of the CSU or HSU information competency programs under the supervision of a faculty member in the Library. Support for such activities will be considered instructional for charge-back purposes.
Non-instructional is defined as projects that do not generate FTES through any HSU academic department or which are not part of an information competency program offered through the Library. Courses offered through Extended Education will be considered non-instructional.

A charge-back is a fee assessed for the use of equipment, a labor charge for a service performed, or a charge for a product. A schedule of fees will be kept at the IMS office.

Projects shall be classified as Grants and Contracts, Instructional, Library, or Non-instructional upon intake. If there is disagreement as to the appropriate classification, the requester may ask the Faculty Advisory Committee to the Center for the Support of Instructional Technology (FAC/CSIT) to review the project description and make a classification recommendation to the Manager of IMS.

Criteria for prioritizing proposed IMS projects:

New projects will not be given priority over the projects already underway unless necessary to meet a contractual obligation. The general order of priority for servicing projects will be based on classification, as follows:

• Meeting contractual obligations (i.e., Grants and Contracts).
• Instructional.
• Library.
• Non-instructional.
  

IMS will consult with the FAC/CSIT to assist it in setting priorities for competing instructional projects when requests for service exceed IMS's ability to meet deadlines with available resources. Availability of matching funds may be a consideration. Considerations for prioritizing instructional projects include:

Would this project be used on a recurring basis (i.e. is this class offered every semester, every year)? Impact on the number of matriculated students. Does this project make use of new technology that is important to explore? Will the course be effective in supporting the department's integrated or programmatic-wide technology strategy as determined by the faculty member's Department Chair? At the department's request, IMS will assist departments to develop such strategies. Is there a similar commercially available product that could be purchased at a lesser cost? Has the project been designed with appropriate consideration for necessary copyright permissions? Is the equipment to use this project readily and widely available to the student on campus? Has the requestor received prior services from the IMS?

From time to time, assuming the availability of funding, staff, and facilities and in consultation with the Manager of IMS, the FAC/CSIT may issue a request for proposals to faculty for projects to advance the use of technology-mediated instruction at HSU. The Faculty Advisory Committee also may issue calls for participation in-responding to requests for proposals from outside funding sources.

Procedures:

Project requests are made on an "IMS Project Request Form". It is not necessary to complete all of the items on the form prior to an initial meeting with IMS staff - staff will assist requesters in completing the form. Usually within three to five working days after receiving the completed IMS Project Request Form, IMS will arrange a consultation meeting with the requester. The purpose of the consultation meeting is to determine the scope of the project. A number of factors can influence scope, the three most important being:

Technology and pedagogy to be used.

IMS, if desired, will provide suggestions to the requester, but the requester ultimately is responsible for selecting the technology and pedagogy to be used.

Availability of requestor's course materials.

It is best if all materials for the project can be submitted to IMS at the same time. If it is not practical to have all the materials available at the start of the project, the requester should inform IMS of projected submission dates.

Availability and sophistication of the requester.

Courseware development is an interactive process involving both the requestor and IMS staff. Normally within three working days after the consultation meeting, IMS will inform the requestor of the anticipated project completion date, based on the sophistication level of the project and the availability of IMS staff and equipment, and an estimate of charges, if any. It is very important to provide IMS as much lead time as possible to ensure that projects can be completed by the time the products are required. It is not unusual for it to take a full semester to develop courseware for a class - trying to develop the courseware during the same semester it is to be used is problematic at best.

To keep the requestor current on the project's progress during the course of production, IMS periodically will prepare a progress report for the requestor. IMS will make its utmost efforts to meet the deadline and stay within any agreed upon budget. However, unforeseen events such as equipment breakdown, staff or requestor's illness, price changes for consumables, etc. may alter the deadline or the project cost. It is the obligation of IMS to inform the requestor of such incidents promptly and provide a new completion date and/or cost estimate. Delays in receiving course materials, decisions to change technologies in the middle of the project or the content of portions of the project already completed, or loss of availability of the requester may alter not only the deadline but also the priority for the project

When completed, projects should be fully operational. IMS will use due diligence to test and debug the projects, ensure they are operational, and provide necessary operating instructions. However, the real test of courseware comes when it actually is used in the classroom or in a distance learning environment. IMS will endeavor to fix bugs as high-priority items when the courseware is being used in a production environment.

The requester's materials will be returned to the requestor as soon as they are no longer needed for project development.

Ongoing Support:

One of IMS's missions is the development of courseware and provision of faculty development support in the use of instructional technology. In general, IMS is not responsible for presentation, monitoring, or update of content after delivery of a project. Any additional alterations or updates requested after delivery of a project will be considered a new project unless these services were identified as part of the original scope of the project. It is a more effective utilization of resources if the IMS develops the product and provides the requester with the knowledge and tools to accomplish these on-going support functions on his/her own:
In the normal course of project development, deployment, and use, IMS ensures that adequate back-ups of all on-line materials are performed. Unless specifically requested, IMS might not maintain back-up copies of off-line materials, such as video tapes and CD-ROMs, after final product delivery. The requestor should ensure that an appropriate back-up strategy is identified for such materials.

Fair Use Guidelines:

Educational multimedia projects incorporating copyrighted works, even for in-class use, are subject to the Copyright Laws and accepted Fair Use practices. Because this is a dynamic area, the Library and IMS will maintain a collection of the most current publications describing the current status of copyright and fair use practices. Individual permissions for all copyrighted works incorporated in a project must be sought before replicating or distributing the work. Individual permissions must be secured before using copyrighted works in any project for commercial reproduction and distribution.

Intellectual Property:

All products produced with the assistance of IMS are subject to the intellectual property policies of Humboldt State University.

MEDIA DISTRIBUTION CHARGE-BACK POLICY

Policy

Instructional Media Services is funded by Academic Affairs for the purpose of providing equipment and services in support of the instructional programs. All requests for equipment loans or services from individuals and agencies for non-instructional purposes shall be subject to a service or use charge to compensate the instructional program for use of the resources.

Definitions

Definitions used herein are those given in the "Definitions" section of the Policy for the Use of Instructional Media Services.

Applications

3.1 Media equipment loans and services shall be provided free of charge to HSU faculty members when used for instructional support. Equipment and services requests by faculty for uses other than instructional support shall be subject to charge-backs.

3.1.1 Authorized clerical or technical staff members of academic departments may act as agents for faculty in the securing of Media equipment and service.

3.2 All users will be charged for the cost of consumable materials such video- and audiotape used to honor a service request if the materials are permanently retained by the department and not made a part of the University's circulating Media inventory.

3.3 Students may check out equipment (excluding computers and data projectors) for classroom activities free of charge if authorized by the course instructor.

3.4 Equipment requests from official academic clubs will be treated as instructional requests if authorized by the faculty advisor of the academic club.

3.5 Media equipment loans and services will be provided to non-instructional agencies of the University only if they are not in demand at the requested times by instructional users. Support for non-instructional use will be provided on a charge-back basis.

Excessive Use Fees

Users of the equipment are responsible for on-time return (as shown on the check-out document) of the checked-out equipment. An excessive use fee will be applied to a late return.

4.1 Fees for excessive use are computed from the time the equipment was due until the time the equipment is returned.

4.2 Fees are computed on a per transaction basis, which includes all items that were checked out on a single check out transaction.

4.3 Fees are computed based on the charge-back fee schedule.

4.4 Fees are not negotiable and may be rescinded only in case of IMS error or other extenuating circumstances which may be recognized by IMS as excusing timely return of loaned items.

Charge for Damages

Users of the equipment are responsible for exercising care to protect items from theft, loss, or damage and to return equipment as scheduled. The State holds borrowers accountable for the value of the equipment. Financial responsibility for the replacement or repair in case of negligent damage or loss lies with the individual who checks out the equipment or, when a faculty member authorizes clerical or technical staff members to act as an agent in the securing of Media Equipment and/or authorizes students for equipment use, with the faculty member.

Equipment Repair

IMS Media Repair is responsible for the repair and maintenance of the equipment that is under IMS inventory. Non-IMS equipment repair and maintenance will be treated as described in Campus Equipment Policy (approved by SCCA, 19 April 95 and URPBC, 19 May 95) and Computer Equipment Maintenance Policy (Office of the President July 1, 1995).

Humboldt State University • Academic Affairs • Information Technology Services • Instructional Media Services • CDC
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