By Max Brother
Over this past summer, AJU made a significant leap forward technologically. Within a matter of months, the wireless network speeds increased by 11 percent.
For returning students, the new network’s 40 Megabit connection (that’s roughly six times faster than a home network) speed is most apparent in the dorms. In years past, the dorm network often faltered under our constant use to the point that anything more than basic browsing could be futile, or the network would simply go down, often for indefinite periods of time.
Now, that has changed! Zofia Yalovsky, Vice President of Finance, Administration and Technology, said in an interview that the university now boasts hotel industry-grade access points. Yalovsky commented, “We are a center of higher education… [and] we want to service the community.”
The project spent a little over a year in development, and the actual upgrades and installations took place over this past summer. While the project was in development, the Campus Technology Department (CTD) installed one of the new access points (APs) in the Colen Conference Center and Auerbach Student Center. After this test worked successfully, 10 more APs were installed in the dorms. These new APs provide wireless coverage across all of upper campus, covering all of the dorm buildings, the Auerbach and many of the outdoor spaces around the residential campus.
Although funding for the project as a whole came from a few sources, the dorm upgrades specifically were funded entirely by the CTD; however, Yalovsky declined to give specific numbers. The dorm buildings, which were the first area to be completely upgraded, were deemed as the “highest priority” by Yalovsky.
Additional funding for the upgrades to main campus came from the library project. Yalovsky explained that funds from the library project were used in order to provide wireless access in the temporary library on the first floor and to provide more coverage of the outdoor and communal spaces, including the Berg, on main campus to compensate for the lack of study space in the library.
A noticeable gap in coverage exists in the third floor classrooms; Yalovsky attributed this decision to the faculty. Thus far, the Academic Senate has not responded to the Chronicle’s attempts to contact them regarding this decision. While the new wireless does not cover the classrooms, each room is equipped with a wired Ethernet connection. Located at the front of each classroom, these Ethernet connections can be used to access the Internet for a presentation or sharing web content with a class.
Yalovsky also wants students to look forward to a new technology-enhanced classroom planned to be completed soon.
Finally, if a member of the faculty, or the Senate itself, would like to respond to the decision to not provide wireless in the classrooms, I request that they contact me directly at mbrother {at} ajula.edu or the Casiano Chronicle.
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