Phasing Out Public Computing Labs

At first blush, sustained support for public computing labs would seem to be as close to a "no brainer" as is possible in the IT space. Students love them, judging by the amount of time they spend in them. At U. Va., however, we are entering the second year of a three-year project to retire the public computing labs in favor of a virtualized lab model. We are actively closing labs and reducing the number of seats available. In this session, we will discuss the reasons behind this decision, the challenges that it poses, and the reactions of students and faculty to this change.