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Computer Services provides administrative and academic technology-based services to the campus and provides support for the campus network. Available services include technical assistance and desktop support for faculty and staff, training for faculty, staff and students using a wide variety of computing resources, Internet access, hardware and software configuration and purchasing assistance, and administrative programming support.
A variety of computing platforms support administrative, instructional and research functions for faculty, staff and students. Access to IBM/MVS and DEC/VMS is available. Lotus Notes is used for email. CourseInfo is utilized for development and management of web-based courses. Computer Services manages servers running NT, Unix, Linux, and OS X to support computing resources for the campus. Technical support is provided for web servers and campus web pages.
A general-purpose student computer lab, open 24 hours a day during the academic year, is maintained in Room 115, Otto Olsen building. The lab contains both Macintosh and Windows-based machines with network access. A lab monitor is always available to provide assistance. Small computer labs are also maintained in each residence hall and in the Nebraskan Student Union. General-purpose labs provide access to a standard suite of software, including browsers, word processing, and spreadsheets. There are student computer labs, some with Macintosh computers and some with Windows-based computers, located in several other academic buildings, maintained by individual departments.
Accessible workstations for students with disabilities and special needs are available in the Calvin T. Ryan Library. Students with disabilities and special needs should contact the Counseling Center for information regarding these workstations.
A computer store in the Nebraskan Student Union offers full retail services for those wishing to buy computer equipment, including configuration advice and demo units. Contracts with major vendors provide attractive educational discounts, with sales limited to faculty, staff, and students of UNK.
The Help Desk is available to answer questions, resolve problems and provide information about computer use and network services at UNK. Training sessions and hands-on assistance are offered for faculty, staff, and students wishing to learn more about many aspects of technology. A student-staffed Help Desk is located in Otto Olsen 115 and offers assistance to students on Sunday through Thursday evenings during the academic year.
All of the residence halls, except Men's Hall, offer network access to students in each room. With this connection to the UNK network, students who have their own computers and install an ethernet card in them can access all campus computing resources, including library databases and the Internet from their residence hall room.
Administrative software includes SAP for financial management and payroll and SIS Plus, a student information system from Systems and Computer Technology (SCT). Both dial-up and web access to student information and registration are provided for students. A Diebold system validates campus ID cards for meal plans and for network printing.
Two sets of guidelines, the University of Nebraska Policy: Responsible Use of Information Resources, Technology and Networks and Guidelines for the Use of Computing Resources at the University of Nebraska at Kearney apply to computing at UNK.
The Museum of Nebraska Art is one of three art museums in Nebraska with permanent collections. It contains works of Nebraska artists and works with Nebraska subject matter by artists from all over the world. Located in Kearney Centre, the downtown area, it is an important bridge between the University, the community, and the citizens of the State.
The collection was begun in the 1970's; the land and original building were acquired in the 1980's. The original building, the old Kearney Post Office, is on the National Register of Historic Places. A four million dollar fund drive resulted in the complete renovation of the old building and a large new addition that opened in the fall of 1993.
In addition to serving school groups, other organizations, and the public at large, UNK students and faculty use the museum's extensive archive on Nebraska artists and related material for research and writing purposes. Art Education instructors send 40 to 50 students per semester to monitor tours and teaching techniques in the museum, and the Travel and Tourism program provides interns to the museum.
MONA is an important and growing educational facility.
The Learning Materials Center has, via NEB*SAT satellite system uplink and downlink, the capability for transmission and receipt of televised classes from various distant sites. Currently six classrooms on campus are equipped to handle these transmissions. Instructional technology and services are also provided by the Center. The Center maintains an inventory of 600 audio-visual equipment items such as film projectors, slide projectors, filmstrip projectors, audiocassette recorders, TVs, VCRs, and overhead projectors. Instructional materials production is another service offered by the center. Production includes audio and video duplication, making overhead transparencies, and lamination. The Center requests and distributes NETCHE videos for instructional purposes. NETCHE videos can be cablecast into any classroom on campus through its campus television distribution system.
The Learning Center, which is located in the lower level of Stout Hall, provides a variety of short special topics courses or modules for students who wish to improve their learning techniques and skills. The areas of study have been designed to assist all participants who want aid in developing skills and habits that lead to academic success.
Modules are offered in Listening and Notetaking, Study Skills, Vocabulary Expansion, Test Anxiety, Reading Improvement, Spelling Improvement, Writing a Research Paper and Critical Thinking.
Each of these modules is for one hour credit and is listed under LNSK Courses in the Courses Section in this catalog. Since each module only lasts for four weeks, a student may sign up for three modules in the same time bracket during any semester. Credit for these modules does not apply toward degrees.
The Learning Center is also responsible for administering the University Foundations program. University Foundations is a three-credit hour class designed to serve as a guide to successful matriculation, and these hours do count toward graduation. The three broad areas of life skills, study skills, and campus/community resources are explored in order to prepare incoming students to be efficient consumers of higher education and to successfully meet their academic goals.
The Resident Tutoring program is also located in the Learning Center. Forty content-area tutors who have national certification at the "master" level, as certified by the College Reading and Learning Association, provide free assistance in nearly every academic area. ("Master" level indicates over 30 hours of training in specified areas and activities.)
In partnership with the faculty, the Calvin T. Ryan Library provides
students opportunities to acquire information, materials and skills which will support
their current educational pursuits and aid in enriching their personal lives, in
furthering their career potential, and in preparing them for lifelong learning. The
University library is committed as well to providing access to the information resources
and expertise needed to support the research and scholarship of the University of Nebraska
at Kearney.
The library includes the original building constructed in 1963, and the east wing added in
1981-82. It provides study and classroom seating for 1,250 students. Group study rooms,
lounge seating, individual study carrels, and typing and copying facilities are available.
The campus Writing Center is located on the second floor.
The College of Education Computer Lab is located in the lower level and is available for
general student use.
The library provides users with both text and graphical user interface access to a wide
range of computer-based information resources including the library catalog, online
encyclopedias, and numerous indexing and abstracting sources as well as full-text
periodical databases. The library's home page, http://rosi.unk.edu/,
offers access to these resources and general information about the library.
The library collections contain over 299,000 volumes and 75,000 non-print items. It
subscribes to 1,628 magazines and newspapers. A 15,000-volume general reference collection
is maintained to provide essential educational tools such as encyclopedias, dictionaries,
handbooks, and atlases. A Special Collection contains rare titles and titles on Nebraska
history and the history of the American West. The University Archives contain material
concerning the history of the institution and its faculty, staff, administration, and
students. Interlibrary loan services, which open up the resources of other libraries in
the state, region and nation, are also available. The library has an active program of
acquiring Internet-based indexing, abstracting and full-text databases.
The library is an official depository for more than 258,000 U.S. documents which represent
publications of all major U.S. governmental agencies and cover numerous topics. It is a
depository of Nebraska state documents and also has selected British, Canadian and United
Nations documents.
Microform materials now number over 1,020,000 pieces. Newspapers, periodicals,
dissertations, and major sets such as Hansard's Parliamentary Debates and Educational
Resources Information Center (ERIC) documents are in the microform collection.
These facilities are operated by the Department of Physics and Physical Science, which offers coursework in astronomy. In addition to use of these facilities for UNK classes, both are used to provide programming for the public. In the 1996-97 year, there were 77 Planetarium shows for the public, including 31 for public school groups. The Observatory was open for 20 nights of viewing. All shows are free, including a special Christmas presentation.
The Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic is the center for BSE program in Communication Disorders and MSE program in Speech/Language Pathology. It offers a site for the integration of professional coursework with extensive practical experience for those students choosing this major.
The Clinic, located in Welch Hall on the West Campus, offers clinical services in consultation, evaluation, and remediation for both students, faculty, and area residents. Services are available for communication disorders related to articulation/phonological problems, language delay, stuttering, voice problems, hearing loss, cleft palate, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, laryngectomy, and language disorders secondary to head injury and stroke. The Clinic is open Monday-Friday from 8am-5pm and selected evenings.
The Gallery, located in the art wing of the Fine Arts Building, is used for student art shows, including senior and graduate thesis exhibits, faculty work, and the shows of visiting artists. Programming is continuous and year-round.
The Writing Center, open to all UNK students, provides tutorial services to encourage and support better student writing. The Center, located on the second floor of the Calvin T. Ryan Library, is open during the day and in the evenings. Tutors will help students revise and edit their writing projects on both an appointment and drop-in basis.
A one-credit hour writing tutorial is also available through the Center. Students may register for this course through the ninth week of the semester.
20 May 2005
