Student-funded classroom wireless project progressing ahead of schedule

Enterprise Information Technology Services Press Release
The University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

WRITER: Bert DeSimone,706-542-5359, bert@uga.edu
CONTACT: David Stewart, 706-542-0363, stewart@uga.edu

ATHENS, Ga.— The project to extend wireless to all campus classrooms and other areas where students congregate is ahead of schedule, according to project planners in Enterprise Information Technology Services.

"We initially set out this year to deploy wireless coverage just in the classrooms with the highest number of classes," said David Stewart, IT manger for EITS and project coordinator, "but it turned out that with the addition of just a few more points of access we could provide coverage to all the student areas in the buildings."

This is particularly good news for students, especially when they visit or attend class in Park Hall, the Journalism Building, and Baldwin Hall. These buildings are all wireless today, with 16 additional buildings scheduled for wireless installation by the end of this June.

Stewart acknowledged the work of TEC (Telecommunications, Electronics, and Computer) Services, who were responsible for the site surveys and the installation of the access points.

"Without the knowledge TEC Services brought to the table the installation process would not have gone as smoothly as it has," said Stewart.

The University currently offers wireless access to students via PAWS (Personal Access Wireless/Walkup System), which covers parts, but not all, of campus. The classroom wireless project is an extension of the PAWS network.

Those using the PAWS network may receive a message on their computer or handheld device that there are multiple networks in range. Stewart advises everyone to select the network explicitly named "PAWS" to ensure access to the most reliable network.

"It is our goal to cover all the areas on campus where a student would find wireless connectivity useful," said Stewart.

The wireless classroom project is being funded by UGA's Student Technology Fee. Since its Fall 2000 inception, the Student Technology Fee has provided students with computing equipment in the Student Learning Center, Internet support to students living on campus, the aforementioned PAWS wireless network, and many other technology services. Through this fee, students are contributing $580,000 this year to the wireless classroom project.

The multi-year project will bring wireless access to 264 classrooms in 48 buildings.

Please refer to the following Web sites for related information:

PAWS (paws.uga.edu)

Student Technology Fee (techfee.uga.edu)

Student Technology Fee Wireless Project ( www.eits.uga.edu/noi/ni/wireless)

TEC Services ( www.tec.uga.edu)

About EITS
The Office of the Chief Information Officer and Enterprise Information Technology Services (EITS) are committed to the mission of UGA as a land-and-sea-grant institution where academics come first and the research extensive university community encourages research efforts at the undergraduate and graduate levels. To that end, under the direction of the University´s Chief Information Officer, EITS endeavors to provide a robust, reliable, and secure information technology infrastructure, maintain essential production services, and offer world-class support.

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