U.S. Senator David Vitter was among those who spoke at the Students First initiative ceremony
The University of New Orleans celebrated more than $2.2 million in campus upgrades as part of its “Students First” initiative during a ceremony held at the University Center. The improvements were funded by federal hurricane recovery money.
The ceremony showcased new campus-wide wireless Internet access (Wi-Fi), technology improvements to labs in the music, fine arts, engineering and math departments, and new equipment and furnishings in the University Center, career counseling center, health services center and the UNO Lakefront Arena.
The ceremony featured remarks from UNO Acting Chancellor Joe King; U.S. Senator David Vitter; U.S. Congressman Cedric Richmond; Oasis Foundation Executive Director Byron Fogan and Abdulrahman Al Jaber, diplomatic attaché, United Arab Emirates embassy in Washington, D.C. The Oasis Foundation of Washington, D.C. contributes to philanthropic organizations in the United States while reinforcing and growing cultural ties between the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates. The UAE donated generously to colleges and universities in the greater New Orleans area in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and took a leading role in the global financial response to the catastrophe.
Below is a more detailed description of the classroom and lab upgrades.
Music Department: The music department’s MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) lab features eight Macintosh-based workstations loaded with an assortment of industry-standard music recording, editing and creation software. Students mix and edit their recordings with ProTools 9, create elaborate virtual instrument-based works utilizing Digital Performer and Logic and notate their compositions with Sibelius and Finale. Music students also use Transcribe musical transcription software and preview their arrangements with the Garritan sound library. Budding musical entrepreneurs can also take advantage of Adobe Creative Suite to prepare promotional materials and build their web presence.
Fine Arts Department: Four “data kiosk” mobile cabinets now allow fine arts students to engage in far-reaching art history discussions without leaving their studios. Each cabinet contains a wireless Internet-ready Macintosh computer with flat screen and digital video projector. Students and instructors can instantly access any number of Internet art history databases with a speed and ease that was previously impossible. The kiosks rely on the new campus-wide Wi-Fi access.
The digital darkroom has also been upgraded with the tools needed to professionally shoot, edit and print large-format digital photographs. Students have access to professional quality cameras, touch screen digital editing hardware and software as well as a 24-inch photo-quality ink jet printer. The data kiosks and digital darkroom offer UNO students a 21st century visual arts education.
College of Engineering: The engineering computer lab was upgraded with 31 new workstations—30 student seats and an instructor station connected to a new projector/ multimedia system. Each machine is equipped with current engineering analysis software for programming, computer-aided design (including 2-D and 3-D parametric modeling), dynamic analysis, structural analysis using the finite element method and computational fluid dynamics.
Mathematics Department: The freshman math computer lab features 30 new computers with MyMathLab software, which includes videos of tutorials, solved examples and step-by-step guides on problem solving. The web-based tutorials and videos provide 24/7 access to help. The software allows teachers to monitor the amount of time the student has devoted to online study. This technology is changing the way freshmen are taught college algebra. The traditional approach of lecturing three hours a week has been replaced by one hour of lecturing and two hours of hands-on problem solving in the lab. Students work on problems at their own pace. The lab is supported by the instructor and a teacher assistant who work with the students individually.