The U recently ranked among the top three most “wired” campuses in the nation, according to a survey done by PC Magazine in conjunction with the Princeton Review.
The U placed third below the University of Illinois and Kansas State University, but beat a slew of tech-savvy schools, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which ranked 20th.
The survey covered a broad scope of criteria, ranging from the breadth of the college’s wireless networks, the caliber of technical support offered to the students and online student resources.
The U didn’t make the top 20 in the same survey done in 2006.
“Technology changes quickly,” said Eric Griffith, an editor of PC Magazine who helped compose the survey. “It’s not surprising to see such drastic changes on the rankings from year to year.”
Griffith believes if the U wants to continue to stay on the cutting edge of campus technology, it needs to continually increase the number of online lectures.
“The more the U pushes this aspect, the better,” Griffith said. “It doesn’t replace class attendance, but students are living more and more on the Internet. Offering lectures or podcasts online certainly has its benefits.”
The survey shows the U excelling in the amount and variety of courses offered in the computer sciences. The wide-ranging wireless network, over-the-phone tech support and 24-hour computer labs also helped put the U in the top three.
The U lacked in a few areas, however. According to the survey, the U doesn’t loan out much hardware, such as digital cameras or audio-visual equipment.
Some students notice flaws in the technology on campus.
“A lot of my classes have trouble getting the multimedia to work,” said Kris Phillips, a junior in Middle Eastern studies. “Two of my classes had trouble with projectors just today.”
Student critiques similar to Phillips’ put the U in third place, according to David Huth, a staff member in the Office of Information Technology.
“We’re not out there actively trying to compete with other colleges and stay on the cutting edge,” Huth said. “Our goals are determined by the complaints and advice from students and faculty.”
The strategy in the U’s IT department is to simply provide people with quality service.
“Serendipitously, we ended up ahead,” Huth said.
The IT office is working to expand the wireless network on campus. Currently, wireless is offered in almost every building, but the IT department would like to see that expanded to the outdoor commons areas as well.
However, the U’s ranking on the survey is not necessarily an outcome of cutting edge technology.
“Online course offerings is not a change in technology,” Huth said. “It’s simply a matter of the faculty adopting it. In 2006 the technology was there, but it wasn’t utilized as much among the different departments until recently.”
Because technology is constantly changing, the U will have to continue its hard work to remain at the top of the game.
Huth said placing third in the country offers a vote of confidence for the U’s technology departments.
“We were pleasantly surprised,” Huth said.