From...

November 19, 1998
Web posted at: 7:48 PM ET

by Cynthia Bournellis

(IDG) -- Attracting students to a university requires more than a scholastic reputation and campus charm.

That's why Widener University in Chester, Pa., is investing $5 million over the next five years to upgrade its shared Ethernet/Fiber Distributed Data Interface network to a high-speed, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Ethernet network that delivers data, voice and video traffic to 8,000 students and 700 faculty members.

"We may be a nonprofit, but we are no different than any business. ... We have to deliver a service students can't get anywhere else for comparable or less cost," said Gary Habermann, Widener's director of technology resources.

The university also will save money. To date, Widener has spent $3.5 million on fiber-optic cable, copper cable and hardware and software upgrades. Carrying voice, data and video on one pipe will save Widener $1 million in wide-area network costs within five years, Habermann said. With the old network, WAN costs were $10,000 per month; now they're $8,000 per month and should drop to $2,800 in five years.

MORE COMPUTING INTELLIGENCE
	IDG.net home page
Computerworld's home page
Computerworld "Emmerce"
Get Media Grok and The Industry Standard Intelligencer delivered for free
Reviews & in-depth info at IDG.net
IDG.net's personal news page
Questions about computers? Let IDG.net's editors help you
Search IDG.net in 12 languages
Subscribe to IDG.net's free daily newsletter for IT leaders
News Radio
	Computerworld Minute
	Fusion audio primers

Students don't pay for network services when they use PCs or Macintoshes in the computer laboratories. Those who own their computers must buy a $99 network interface connection kit. There are 7,500 10M bit/sec. switched Ethernet ports installed throughout Widener's three campuses (two in Pennsylvania and one in Delaware), including student dormitories, conference rooms and cafeterias.

The connections tie in to the university's ATM backbone and let students and faculty members access high-bandwidth data such as digital video discs, videoconferencing, multicast video and Web-based materials.

One key service the network supports is a networking lab, which is part of the newly formed Computer Network and Data Communications track in Widener's electrical engineering program. In the lab, students gain hands-on experience building LANs and diagnosing and fixing problems.

The program was created to address the lack of enrollment in information technology courses. Habermann said the program has attracted more students than it can handle, and enrollment now is regulated to 20 per year due to the hands-on training. That training wasn't part of the previous curriculum, but it's in high demand among potential employers.

The university benefits here as well: In their final year, students work as apprentices on the university's network.

Widener's approach isn't unique. Campuses have long depended on students taking part in supporting and maintaining campus networks, said Kenneth Green, director of the campus computing project at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, Calif.

The network also was designed to create partnerships with business and industry. In a joint effort with the city of Chester and Crozer Keystone Health System, Widener established the University Technology Park. Start-up businesses can access campus data such as research papers and graduate programs -- as well as medical information from Crozer -- at the technology park, which is connected to Widener's ATM backbone.

The network is built on networking hardware from 3Com Corp. and is managed by 3Com's Transcend networking software. As part of the upgrade, Widener replaced its older, emulation software-based PCs with new desktops and Web-based applications.

Widener's IT team wants to use the network to provide distance learning to businesses and homes. The university is in talks with Boeing Corp. on a project that could, "in theory," expand the on-site training Widener provides Boeing's technical employees to the Internet, said Raymond Jefferis, a professor of engineering at the university.