By Alexis Elder

Computer lab hours at Midwestern have been altered to save money.

From 2007 to 2012, Michael P. Dye, chief information officer, said the 20 computer labs were not being utilized and was costing MSU too much money.

The computer hours have changed at the Clark Student Center to 7 a.m.-11 p.m. Mondays through Sunday. The other open labs are closed on Saturday and Sunday and the hours are from 7:30 a.m to 5 p.m.

Dye said it was hard to find a student that wanted to work midnight to 8 a.m. The students would work it, but it was difficult to balance with school.

The cost of using the computer labs has increased since 2007. That year MSU was $349 over budget. In 2008, MSU was $1,919 over budget while in 2009 the budget was over $3,949.

The largest case of the computer lab spending was in 2010 when MSU was $28,800 over budget. Summer of 2011, MSU was $15,000 over budget.The money increase was based on the extended hours of the computer labs.

Dye said when the minimum wage started going up in 2007 the wage allocation was flat.

Cutting back on the hours for the computer lab has helped tremendously by not having to pay a worker for those eight hours.

Dye thinks the fiscal year of 2011 to 2012 will still be $2,000 short, even with the hours cut.

For students who find the changing of the hours inconvenient, Dye advises for them to utilize the wireless network MSU has throughout campus.

This Friday there will be a November board meeting to discuss technology advancement opportunities at Midwestern.

The board is currently working on a mobile Web CT program.

“By next fall, students can register for classes, pull up the catalog and look at financial aid through their mobile,” Dye said.

They also want to have a portal, which will give students their own web page that consists all their favorite websites together on one page.

“We are fortunate that we can use a few extra dollars for technology,” Dye said.

Dye said the board is also thinking of replacing the Dillard computer lab with a wireless lounge.

“Two years from now, all the stuff we talk about will be old school,” Dye said. “On the amount of technology budget we have, we are trying to do the most we can.”