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In 1996, ACS received from The Lettie Pate Evans Foundation a $497,000 grant to fund six distinct cost efficiency/cost-cutting programs, to be implemented over a three-year period. Projects included energy conservation, joint purchasing, and the analysis of administrative functions. Goals of these programs were to increase efficiency, produce significant annual savings for ACS member institutions, and to improve service delivery for students inside and outside of the classroom.

Like other higher education institutions in the 1980 and 1990s, the ACS member institutions faced challenges in enrollment and an upswing in major operating costs. To respond to these and other factors, ACS members developed a plan to promote efficiency and cost containment. In Phase One EMAX, Inc. worked with the consortium to identify means for conserving energy resources. This included a detailed energy analysis of Rollins College, which could serve as an audit model for other ACS institutions. In Phase Two, results from the Rollins audit were shared with other ACS members for their review and adaptation.

PROGRAMS

Cooperative Training Programs in Technology

Since technology plays a considerable role in ACS' cost containment efforts, this program combined the resources of ACS institutions in the joint training of faculty in networking, Internet use, interactive multimedia, distance learning and other technological techniques.

• New Instructional Approaches to Introductory Computing

This pilot program for ACS faculty linked multimedia computing and networking concepts as learning tools, to help students better learn introductory computing.

One technology-based workshop held in 1997-98 focused on the use of the World Wide Web as a tool for teaching introductory computer science by means of a "virtual lab." The project, "Creating Laboratory Environments for Introductory Computer Science," explored the expansion of computer science laboratories via the World Wide Web. The expansion encouraged instructors to reach a larger group of students, offer an expanded amount of laboratory practice opportunities, and access a larger store of labs and tutorials. Dr. Ken Abernathy, professor and chair of computer science at Furman University, developed the workshop.

• Multimedia Applications to Foreign Language Study.

A second area in which ACS faculty applied technology towards cost containment was foreign languages. The pilot program "Multimedia Application for Language Study" enabled ACS faculty to combine their interest in language-across-the-curriculum with multimedia teaching methods to enhance learning and improve cost effectiveness. It utilized interactive computer simulations of authentic overseas environments to teach students to use the subject language to solve problems, act out roles, and respond in culturally relevant ways. In some cases this replaced the more costly textbook and Tape" approach.

An ACS-sponsored workshop for teachers of modern languages was held at Millsaps College in the summer of 1997. Participants experienced new ways of approaching language instruction, examined learner-centered interactive multimedia episodes developed in the Culpeper Language Acquisition Resource Center at Millsaps College, and experimented with designing similar lessons.

In explaining the model video episodes developed at Millsaps, Robert a Quinn, chairman of the Department of modern Languages and chair of the Humanities Research and Technology Group at Millsaps, said, "Foreign language skills are increasingly viewed as a practical means of equipping oneself for active participation in a global society. The model video episodes will re-create environments in which the subject language is spoken and will challenge students to use the language to solve problems, act out roles, and respond in culturally relevant ways. Using the episodes, students will engage in problem-oriented, self-paced discovery guided by interactive feedback which takes into account different learning styles and presents supplementary information when students request it. Practicing with discovery techniques will encourage students to experiment and to gain insights into the systematic functioning of language."

As a follow-up to the initial workshop, participants used the model episodes to develop lessons tailored to the needs of the students and faculty at their home institutions. They were to solicit student and faculty evaluation of their lessons and then return to Millsaps the following summer to demonstrate the multimedia materials they developed and share the insights they gained.

Explaining the project, Quinn said, "[It] is based on the premise that sophisticated multimedia lessons can be delivered on cost effective multimedia systems. Hands on experience with these models will provide an engaging, inexpensive way for sharing the most up-to-date pedagogy and technology for language learning. In addition, since the lessons simulate the study abroad experience, they can make many of its benefits available to a wider range of students at sharply reduced expense. Such lessons can also be used to prepare students before they travel so that they will be able to take full advantage of a study abroad experience."

Energy Efficiency Pilot Program

This project included a detailed energy audit at Rollins College and produced a "blueprint" for other ACS member institutions.

Joint Purchasing

Hoping to identify ways in which costs of goods and services could be contained, ACS institutions were invited to suggest specific services and goods that might be purchased cooperatively. In addition, a group consulted with the Massachusetts Higher Education Consortium to learn more about methods and best practices of consortial purchasing.

Admissions/Registrar's Office Process Improvement

This grant made funds available for cost containment projects in administrative areas. One of the first projects focused on the office of registrar to identify "best practices" and "best performers" in service delivery. A number of registrars, academic deans and chief financial officers met to identify the key questions about how functions were discharged in the office of registrar and what improvement(s) might be made. Throughout the analysis of individual campus operations, the group looked for models for carrying out the registrar functions, including cooperation among ACS institutions. ACS engaged an outside consulting firm, The Innovation Network, to transform the findings into concrete suggestions.

Technical/Project Support

Funds were used to schedule and coordinate workshops, to gather and disseminate information generated by each project, and administer and evaluate the program.