Looking for Money in All the Right Places: How One Academic Library is Making Good Use of Grant Funds

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. INTRODUCTION 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 of the 2009-2010 academic year. Each university is able to determine the process for distribution of the funds. The University of Central Florida made the decision to establish a review committee consisting of sixteen members. The university developed guidelines for representation on the committee made up mostly of students from the main campus, and the branches and regional locations as well. Beginning in the summer of 2009 university departments were made aware of the process for submitting technology fee proposals. Within the UCF Libraries the library director, Barry Baker, discussed options with his management team and in the fall of 2009, two proposals were developed. Based on the success in 2009, the UCF Libraries focused on developing even stronger proposals in 2010. The result was success again with all 2010 proposals approved. Currently the library is awaiting word from the review committee regarding the proposals just submitted earlier this semester. A decision is expected by the end of November. In order to gather a better understanding of the technology fee process it is important to put it in the context of UCF and the UCF Libraries. About the University of Central Florida Located in Orlando, FL, and established in 1963, the University of Central Florida (UCF) has quickly grown in size and reputation. Despite budgetary problems that developed because of national and state budget woes, the university continues to grow rapidly and improve the overall quality of education. The university administration has focused since 2007 on positioning the university to be suc-