Peabody College

Sufficiency of Learning/Information Resources, Facilities, and Staff

Peabody College’s non-library learning/information resources are supported by the Peabody Library and the Peabody Technology Support Center (PTSC). The mission of the PTSC is described at The appropriateness and adequacy of Peabody’s non-library learning/information resources is verified by comparisons with those of peer institutions and by various assessments.

Comparisons with Leading Schools of Education

Telephone inquiries and a recent review of data posted on the web sites of schools of education at a few other universities provided the following information.

Open-access computers. Peabody College, with approximately 1,600 students and 125 full-time faculty, has 174 computer systems in labs and open access kiosks. Harvard (980 students, “more than 100” faculty) has “more than 100” available; Stanford (376 students, 44 faculty) has 33; and Teachers College (about 5,000 students and 154 faculty) has three labs with a total of 66 computers.

Staffing. The staff of the PTSC includes ten technologists, a number that does not include comparable personnel employed by Peabody’s research centers and institutes. Harvard reports 28 technologists and Stanford, eight. A staff headcount was not available for Teachers College.

Classroom facilities. Peabody College has 30 technology-enhanced classrooms (equipped with at least one networked computer, video projector, DVD/VHS replay equipment, one or more laptop ports, and both 802.11g “Wi-FI” and hard-wired network ports). Harvard’s Graduate School of Education has 12 similarly-equipped classrooms, while Teachers College has 20 classrooms with “media consoles.” No classroom facilities information was readily available for Stanford.

Although the above comparisons are based upon very limited data, they suggest that Peabody College’s non-library learning/information facilities and related staffing are consistent with those at prominent schools of education.

Qualifications of Staff

The ten full-time technologists of the PTSC occupy the positions ranging from Director of Information Technologies to Media Specialist. Position descriptions can be found at These employees have from six to 36 years of technical support experience (mean = 17.0), and most have academic degrees or certification in areas relevant to their areas of responsibility. Each of these individuals is highly qualified for his or her position.

Assessments

  • Incoming Peabody students complete an online survey regarding their personal computer configuration and their level of proficiency. The survey can be found at The PTSC uses the responses from this survey to ascertain the direction that our support and educational efforts need to take during each new academic year. For example, responses to the most recent surveys indicate that almost all Peabody’s undergraduate students bring their own computer to Vanderbilt University. Accordingly, we are able to design and staff our computer labs with an emphasis upon support of classroom instruction because students’ basic needs for electronic mail and word processing can be met elsewhere.
  • Peabody College is one of approximately 50 educational institutions that are early adopters of the ETS ICT Literacy Assessment. As described at the assessment is a "measure of an individual’s ability to use critical-thinking skills to solve information problems within a technological environment." In the spring of 2006, over 100 Peabody first-year students participated in the assessment process. Since that time, a taskforce has worked to make recommendations to the faculty and administration on the best approaches to improve our students’ ICT literacy. Expansion of the testing of Peabody students will occur in the months and years ahead. The PTSC and the Peabody Library are leading efforts to implement appropriate educational experiences in response to the assessment results.
  • In the spring of 2007, the PTSC will implement an annual online survey of our course instructors to solicit their input on the adequacy and appropriateness of technology support at Peabody College.
  • The PTSC provides a no-cost pool of portable equipment for checkout to members of the Peabody community. Circulation volume has increased more than 70 percent in the last two years. This increase is the result of an ever-growing inventory of equipment and the use of technologies in courses. The greatest area of growth has been in the use of digital video.
  • The PTSC uses the WonderDesk software package (see to log requests for technology support. The resulting statistics help us to identify and codify areas of greatest need and demand and to adjust resource allocation accordingly.
  • Peabody uses an online course evaluation system to assess our instructors and the courses they lead. Open-ended items in online course evaluations provide our students an opportunity to note anything they find unsatisfactory. Aside from occasional complaints about excessive use of PowerPoint by their instructors, our students do not complain about classroom technology or computer labs.
  • Students are surveyed by the Vanderbilt Institutional Research Group (VIRG) to determine their satisfaction with numerous aspects of life on campus including access to technology and its use in the instructional programs. In particular, the annual Graduating Student Survey and the recently-launched annual Spring Survey provide assessments of students’ satisfaction with support of instructional and informational needs. Recent data from the Graduating Student Survey (aggregated 2004-2006) indicate that high percentages of students completing Peabody’s undergraduate majors express satisfaction (“Generally Satisfied” or “Very Satisfied”) with classroom and laboratory facilities (96.7%), computer facilities and resources (89.3%), and computer services and support (87.7%).

In summary, we conclude that Peabody’s non-library learning/information resources are appropriate and adequate. Multiple and periodic assessments in this area will help assure that we continue to meet the high standards we have set for ourselves.

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