Friday, February 24, 2012

School's technology reevaluated ? Old Gold & Black

In the 1990s, the university devised a technological plan that began with the class of 2000. Since then, Wake Forest has grown accustomed to Lenovo laptops and the campus-wide interconnectivity and compatibility.

Students and faculty often take the supplied programs and their electronic certificates for granted. For students, it?s almost strange to see someone with a non-Lenovo laptop.

Wake Forest?s contract with Lenovo is coming to a close, and Wake needs to determine its new technological pathway.

This is more than a ?big deal? ? these changes will affect the technological culture on campus for the next 10 to 15 years.

The IT Executive Committee (ITEC) is assigned with conceptualizing the initiatives.? ITEC is comprised of administrators including the Provost, the Dean of the College, the CIO of Information Systems and a variety of others.

The committee is extremely comprehensive, but this will ensure that everyone?s needs are met and that multiple campus voices are heard.

The university is committed to providing computing platforms for all faculty and staff whose job requires computing.

Furthermore, the council will recognize the current technological culture on campus, in the sense that the current integration of the laptops provides numerous academic benefits.

For example, the Chemistry department can be certain that all students have access to Spartan, a molecule building program.

Purchasing and installing the software on the many individual different computers is no longer a concern with a uniform campus distribution program.

Moreover, the current technology conversations are going to be mainly for the short-term decisions with respect to the upcoming termination of the Lenovo contract, but will play a large part in the new long-term plan.

The university has several factors to consider when constructing the new technological plans. The first question is, ?what is the need for a common hardware or software platform??

Many students would argue that they use five percent of preloaded hardware that is provided by the university.

Secondly, ITEC must consider other operating system possibilities. Thus, if the university sees it fit, the new computers could be Macs.

However, several of the departments may be fond of Windows?-only programs.

Therefore, the university may find a need to dual-load the computers with the Apple and Windows operating systems.

Yet, the university must also keep in mind the cost factor, especially since tuition has increased frequently in the past years.

Lastly, the members of ITEC will also be considering the recently developed technology of cloud-based software. As this technology develops further, it could prove useful to the university.

Students, administrators and professors are just hitting the tip of the iceberg when they use online services like Google Docs.

Cloud-based software can become a way of life with respect to everything on an individual?s computer.

It has the ability to free-up massive amounts of space, which could ultimately lead to the selection of much lighter and faster computers.

Overall, the university has much to consider with the upcoming termination of the Lenovo contract, but they want to hear and consider your opinions.

Consult the university calendar to see when Information Systems will be hosting town-hall style meetings to be sure to hear the opinions of all university students.

Source: http://oldgoldandblack.com/?p=17751

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