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Hello Andrew,

Your questions raise important issues about priorities, fairness,
center design, etc. My thoughts:

-As directors, perhaps we should find a way to minimize the situation
where we have to "choose" or judge. For example, who is more important,
the professor taking up the whole room for a class, or the individual
students who want to come in on their own time? Impossible to say,
really.

-Suggestions that try to satisfy all needs seem helpful, for example
placing a few workstations out in another area, such as a hallway, even
if it's only two or three. Students might complain that it's
insufficient, but they can't make the argument that they are being
ignored.

-I like your operating principle that  "faculty are a multiplier for
effective learning via technology." I think it's true. However, I don't
think we should assume that individualized student usage is always just
personal email or Facebook. Students investigate other things online,
often related to their course work.

-My situation is that we have an open-use space that can be reserved by
instructors. However, there are a few workstations that they just can't
reserve. They're always open for drop-in use. If that means that there
are not enough computer stations for students in the class, then they
have to double-up. (Sometimes instructors learn the advantages of pair
work this way....hehe.) Also, we're lucky to have two small group rooms
where two or more students can go, shut the door, and use a computer or
watch a film, undisturbed by the class in session.

Happy managing...<grin>

David Pankratz
Loyola University Chicago