Looking for Money in All the Right Places: How One Academic Library is Making Good Use of Grant Funds
Date
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
In 2007, the Florida Legislature addressed the need for technology funding at the eleven state universities by amending the Florida Statutes. The change permitted each university to collect technology fees from students at the rate of 5% of tuition. The new fees went into effect with the fall term 2009-2010. The presentation at the Charleston Conference focused on the success the UCF Libraries has enjoyed in 2009 and 2010 in securing large awards for use in providing access to relevant content and outlining the key factors that have contributed to the overall results. Each university in Florida is able to determine the process for distribution of the funds. UCF administrators decided that the technology fee funds would be awarded through a competitive bid process. All UCF departments are invited to submit proposals and these are reviewed by a student panel. Winning proposals are ranked into one of three tiers based on the overall impact they will have on students at the University of Central Florida. The tier designation given to a proposal has an impact on when it will be funded. Located in Orlando, FL, and established in 1963, the University of Central Florida (UCF) has quickly grown in size and reputation. By fall 2010, the university had grown to 56,235 students making UCF the second largest public university in the United States. In 2010-2011, the UCF Libraries expended $6,040,023 on library resources. Over $400,000.00 of this total expenditure was a result of technology fee awards. Keys to developing winning proposals include matching the proposal to department and university priorities, outreach to faculty, librarians, publishers and vendors with an eye toward acquiring the most relevant content for the students and faculty. Analyzing usage and turn away data and working with publishers on pricing models that result in low cost per book or low cost per article is critical to developing a winning strategy.