As UMass Boston expands, so will the state of the art technology that powers the workload of the campus. As part of the university’s renewal plan, new technology will fuel a better environment to support teaching, learning, and research.

Apurva Mehta, Director of IT Client and Education Technologies, spoke about new plans and projects down the pipeline to improve the school on a technological level.

One of the projects he and his team plan to implement includes “PCPhoneHome”, and anyone familiar with Lojack products will recognize how useful this service would be.

For example, if your notebook computer was “missing” from your dorm, this service will be able to locate your computer through various methods. Another project he plans to release are E-portfolios. Though mostly useful for artists and other media-driven resumes, these portfolios would also be extremely valuable for individuals wanting to show off any type of work ranging from a paper to a presentation; E-portfolios would create an organized location for all your work.

Apurva and his team also plan to introduce Microsoft Live to provide a virtual storage for all students. Such a program would come in handy for larger files that can’t be stored via e-mail.

In addition to all these projects, Apurva plans to increase computer access for all students at UMass. One way would be the implementation of print kiosks, which would allow students to print documents from computers from all over the campus, rather than just the Healey Library.

Additional computers for the disabled are also planned to be introduced at the Ross Center.

To tie in all loose ends, Open Courseware, which is already out, provides students with online classroom lectures, labs, and resources.

Apurva said he plans to notify and inform all students of these services by hosting events that would spread the word throughout campus.