With the school year at a close, university administrators have a new class of arrivals to look forward to in the fall, and with that a new set of technology dilemmas for campus IT staff. That was the problem I faced as director of network services at Salve Regina University until we introduced a student laptop program to provide standardized technology for our faculty and students.
Salve Regina was chartered by the State of Rhode Island in 1934, founded under the sponsorship of the Sisters of Mercy as an independent institution built on Catholic educational traditions. The school has grown over the years and now enrolls 2,600 students from 42 states and 17 nations.
The laptop program began as an option for students, but without ensuring all students have an equal technology experience, we lacked the ability to facilitate on-site support, provide a ubiquitous wireless network, and assure consistent student experience and capabilities. By outfitting our campus with standardized technology, including Hewlett-Packard notebooks, desktop PCs, printers, servers, and storage systems, we were able to infuse technology into the academic experience and grow the laptop program into a mandatory experience so all students could benefit.…Read More