The Biology Computer Resource Center (BCRC), made possible by funds from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), opened its doors to students of the life sciences in the Fall of 1995. In the first year of operation, 4000 signatures were entered in the BCRC register; during the 1996-1997 academic year, the number of signatures tripled. Although the majority of the students who use the BCRC are from the Biology Department, the facility also attracts students from Forestry and Wildlife Management, Plant and Soil Sciences, Animal Science and Anthropology, to name a few. 
Supported by funds from HHMI and the University, the BCRC is committed to improving undergraduate science teaching and learning. One of the goals of Steven Brewer, Director of the BCRC since August 1996, is to help faculty develop and implement teaching methods that will enable students to become proficient problem posers and problem solvers.
Under Brewer's auspices, the BCRC has also adopted an instructional role.  Workshops on a variety of topics (authoring world wide web pages, using the flat-bed scanner, color printers, surfing the net, useful techniques in Photoshop, etc.) are offered to faculty and students, and faculty are being encouraged to hold occasional classes in the facility; during the summer of 1997, Peter Forey of the British Museum presented a special course in cladistics in the BCRC.  Recently, the BCRC has made available to every course offered by the Biology Department a set of instructional technology resources which permits faculty to easily create and post web pages and offers them the use of an on-line course calendar, a course mailing list and a free-links page.
For current information, visit the BCRC home page URL: