Last Friday, Forbes.com released the results of a Princeton Review survey that ranked RPI America’s Most Connected Campus. Data for the survey was obtained from 357 colleges and universities around the country deemed to be top-tier by the Review. Twenty questions were asked regarding the level of computer connectivity on campus (with a certain point value for each question), with particular emphasis on the presence of a campus-wide network, a wireless network, online class registration, and audiovisual streaming of courses.
One of the criteria that seemed to really set RPI apart from other top ranked connected schools is the 3:5 Computer/Student Ratio. The schools ranked below RPI all seemed to have ratios less than 1:5 by comparison.
According to John Kolb, RPI’s chief information officer, “This ranking was a huge win for everybody. But if you look at the culture at RPI, this is a very high-tech place, and given the talents and interests of our students, it’s no surprise we’re able to do an awful lot of stuff in the realm of technology.”
However connected we may be, however, the rating was not without its minor inconsistencies. For instance, the profile for RPI states that students do not have access to Usenet groups and that laptop costs are not included in the tuition. With regard to the laptop cost inclusion in the tuition, Kolb explained that it was more of a matter of semantic than anything else. Though a laptop is required and the cost can be bundled in the tuition, a school laptop is not forced upon students, as in other schools.
As for Usenet access, as far as anyone, Kolb included, seems to know, it’s up and running. A brief test confirmed this to be the case, though many will be distraught at the lack of alt.binaries groups. RPI students do in fact have access to Usenet groups.
As for the contribution of the Mobile Computing program to our success in the Most Connected Campus rating, said, “The Mobile Computing Program allows us to leverage our lower hardware, software, and support costs, which results in a lower total cost of ownership for students and faculty.”
As for future plans for the network, Kolb said that the Institute, and DotCIO in particular, are committed to keeping RPI America’s Most Connected Campus by constant improvement and oversight. Of particular interest to students living on campus is the proposed plan by DotCIO to improve ResNet, primarily by upgrading 10Mbit equipment to 100Mbit.
When asked for a timeline on this, Kolb pointed to the process RPI follows called performance planning. This process is a type of planning process that takes proposals from many departments and officials and reviews them all on the Cabinet level. According to Kolb, the process allows the planning committee to place only the very highest priorities on the table with regard to what is best for RPI and its students.
