Colleges see value of upgrading to wireless technology
Driven by competition and desire to offer the best to its students, the Information Technology staffs at Kutztown University and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) recently introduced wireless technology on their campuses. Students were requesting the state-of-the-art access and some surrounding colleges already moved into the ‘wireless age’ on their campuses.
“You can’t ignore new technology,” said James A. Williams, PCOM’s director of MIS/Telecommunications. “When students come from undergraduate schools that have this technology, they expect to see it here. It just makes sense to do it.”
For several years, students and faculty at Kutztown and PCOM have relied heavily on campus computer stations and plugged into the network systems to access test scores, assignments, class schedules, course descriptions, job listings and events. In the last few years, students have begun showing up on campus with laptop computers equipped with wireless cards they hoped to use after wireless access became available.
At Kutztown, where computer science is offered as a major, the best and most advanced computer access has been particularly critical for students and faculty in the university’s software development and information technology programs, according to Beno Thomas, Kutztown’s former manager of network technology.
NRI helps Kutztown University meet its technology goals
Kutztown University had been eyeing wireless technology for several years. However, the university’s existing system needed to be redesigned and stabilized before any new technology could be introduced, Thomas said. By May 2004, Kutztown had redesigned its network and created a separate network infrastructure specifically dedicated for student use. Around the same time, other changes on Kutztown’s campus, including the construction of the new Boehm Science Center, and a 1,000-student housing complex called Golden Bear Village South, required the university’s IT staff to create wired network infrastructure.
“NRI was very professional in its work with Kutztown. The company’s work exceeded our expectations, they presented us very professional reports and documents, and they completed the project on time, which we were pleased about because of the complexity of this project.”
- Beno Thomas, former manager of network technology at Kutztown University.
With those systems in place, Kutztown University then was ready to move into its second phase – to bring wireless technology to the campus. Kutztown University hired NRI in June 2004 to develop a wireless network in and around the residence halls and the library to accommodate the growing demands for convenient, reliable network access. Kutztown also wanted to bring the wireless technology to its SMART classrooms to enable instructors and students to interact via PDAs and notebooks.
PCOM Relies on NRI
Meanwhile at PCOM, there was an increasing need to communicate more effectively with new and existing students through e-mail in the last decade, said Williams, who was hired by PCOM in 1994. That’s prompted several major computer upgrades, which included replacing older computers with newer models, and increasing the number of computers from 12 to 15 in one lab to 72 computers in two different labs. The college has increased the number of computer servers from four to more than 25 servers plus a storage-area server, Williams said.
“At PCOM, we don’t like to be on bleeding edge, but we want to be leading edge,” he said, explaining that the college traditionally has waited until the kinks are worked out with experimental new technology before it’s introduced at PCOM.
PCOM already had an excellent computer infrastructure in place, so there was no need to upgrade the system to accommodate the wireless technology, Williams said PCOM instead bought access points and wireless units, and then scheduled a telecommunications specialist to install the equipment with some consultation from NRI.
For the first phase of PCOM’s project, the college introduced wireless technology in public areas including the inner campus, the library, cafeteria, computer labs and the first- and second-floor hallways and lounges. The second phase was completed in mid-January, which included bringing wireless service into all the classrooms in Evans Hall – PCOM’s main academic building, Williams said. The college intends to complete the project and bring wireless technology throughout the rest of the campus sometime in 2006, he said.
“I felt NRI was the best choice because of the service they offer and the way they take care of business. They handle their schedule well and they won’t promise service unless they’re available to provide it.”
-James A. Williams, director of MIS/Telecommunications at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
How the colleges advanced into the wireless age
PCOM and Kutztown University both used Bluesocket wireless gateway for security and policy management, and Cisco 1200 access points and antennae.
“NRI introduced us to the Bluesocket technology, and this platform independent operating system has worked well for us so far,” Thomas said.
Both institutions also relied on NRI for site survey work, and to install the access points. NRI also programmed PCOM’s equipment and created a network specifically dedicated for wireless users. The wireless system at Kutztown has been up and running since August. The network at PCOM has been online since September.
Thomas and Williams said they are pleased NRI helped them meet their goals, which included tying the wireless network into a central database for authentication, so users could seamlessly roam to different networks without having to reauthenticate.
It took about a year of planning at both institutions and just a few weeks to implement and roll out a wireless system that could be centrally managed. The wireless network now provides campus-wide access to more than 10,000 Kutztown students and faculty, and 1,650 PCOM students and faculty.
At this point, the most challenging part about the wireless project at PCOM and Kutztown, is promoting its existence. Thomas and Williams said they expect more students and faculty to take advantage of the wireless technology in the future.
Favorable results prevail at PCOM and Kutztown
Thomas said he is happy Kutztown decided to hire NRI, particularly because the company gave the college good advice about where to place access points that would provide wireless coverage outdoors. This task was particularly challenging because the equipment had to be shielded from the varying weather conditions and other interferences.
“NRI was very professional in its work with Kutztown,” he said. “The company’s work exceeded our expectations, they presented us very professional reports and documents, and they completed the project on time, which we were pleased about because of the complexity of this project.”
Williams said he’s also satisfied with NRI’s work. PCOM officials met with NRI three times before the college hired the company. Williams said he spoke with other companies about submitting proposals to do the wireless project at PCOM, but none compared to NRI.
“I felt NRI was the best choice because of the service they offer and the way they take care of business,” he said. “They handle their schedule well and they won’t promise service unless they’re available to provide it.”
Williams said he also appreciated the work NRI did on the site survey, how they quickly identified where the access points would go, and how they offered more reasonable pricing on equipment than other vendors, which is a concern for a non-profit college like PCOM.
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