October 2003 — Applications
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Alexandria Technical College Flourishes With the Implementation of a Wireless Network
Deciding to implement a wireless network across a university or technical college is seldom easy, but there are many associated benefits for both the college and its students. Alexandria Technical College (www.atc.tec.mn.us) experienced such benefits and challenges firsthand when it completed a wireless network on its campus over a year ago. (The original implementation was covered in the April 2002 issue of T.H.E. Journal, which is online at www.thejournal.com/magazine/vault/A4012.cfm.)
Getting Started
ATC's campus is composed of several buildings on 90 acres, which are located in Alexandria, Minn., about halfway between Minneapolis and Fargo, N.D. Serving about 2,100 full- and part-time students, the college saw the need to upgrade its network to meet student expectations in January 2002.
"We have a lot of tech-savvy students here that are interested in the latest and greatest technology," says Jan D'ebbert, ATC's dean of technology. "When a technology like wireless is growing in popularity, students expect to utilize it. Going wireless provided an excellent opportunity for our students to obtain real-life learning experiences."
The initial plan was to implement the wireless network in ATC's Geographic Information Systems lab and eventually expand the network to other areas around campus. MPC Computers (800-249-1179; www.buympc.com) offered to help ATC construct a wireless network in its GIS lab by providing the necessary wireless network cards, access points and installation services at no cost to the college. ATC has had a strong relationship with MPC for seven years now, says D'ebbert. "We have approximately 700 laptops and 1,000 desktops and are very satisfied."
Benefits and Challenges
Now that the college has been wireless for over a year, it has confirmed some of the positive elements it expected and some of the areas it was concerned about. One hurdle for ATC was that the original wireless network was only designed to support its minimum requirements, even though ATC had planned to expand its network in the future. Originally, not all access points were strategically placed with future expansion in mind. Upon review, ATC realized that plans to expand should have been considered during the initial developmental phases.
Another concern is that of security. It is important that students are aware of how easily others can pick up restricted data transferred across the network. Until satisfactory security measures can be employed, students need to exercise care and discretion. That issue is being addressed for instructors who send grades, social security numbers or other sensitive data over the network.
ATC believes that both the institution and the students have benefited from going wireless. "Moving to wireless classrooms has been very effective," says D'ebbert. "It builds ATC's image as a leading-edge technology school, it eliminates the need to run wires and we believe it is going to save us money."
