Student Services

Students expect their university’s network to meet their academic and personal needs. So how can network administrators cope with a student body whose network needs for self-expression, learning, and creativity outpace the requirements of academic departments or (institutional) business practices? Is it possible (or just wishful thinking) to predict their demands? During this session, we will identify a few trends seen on today’s information-communication-technology landscape and address why we must continuously seek alternative and more efficient ways to meet the ICT services of tomorrow’s students.

Social networking software like Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube has become a way of life for today's students. In this session, we will explore whether and how we might use these technologies, or ideas they generate, to create better and more effective student and academic services at our institutions.

College representatives at Educause conference ponder outsourcing e-mail to Google and how to embrace students’ Facebook habits.

Today’s IT leaders face multiple challenges united by a common thread: determining when to provide custom IT services for students, when to facilitate their use of external IT services, and when to simply get out of students’ way.

 A decade ago students accessed the Internet through the school’s modem pool. Today, they make their own selection from an array of broadband services. What's the future for e-mail and services like IM and personal Web pages? Students are increasingly arriving on campus with extensive experience with existing products, and many are choosing to forward their school e-mail to outside providers. Should we attempt to stem or embrace this trend?

Two of the largest undergraduate schools at Penn decided to work with Microsoft to offer students hosted e-mail and communications services in the upcoming school year. The presenters will discuss how the schools are approaching this issue, the advantages it offers students and others, and elements critical to the initiative’s success.

Outsourcing Student Collaboration Services Arizona State University and Northwestern University have successfully outsourced their student collaboration services. Ball State University has implemented Windows Live Suite and also maintains its on-campus Exchange service as the “official” method for e-mail communication. This session will share these institutions’ experiences of evaluating the available options and making decisions within their respective institutions.

Bowling Green State University (BGSU) faculty often assign projects requiring students to have an ever increasing knowledge of campus technologies. Fostering student knowledge of technology-based tools and applications is key to future professional success. BGSU lacked the appropriate on-campus facilities to meet students' needs for assistance to accomplish assignments and to expand their technology-based experience. Creating the Student Technology Center (StudentTech) was the ideal solution to this ongoing challenge.

Student Life is evolving exponentially and technology is driving the demands of the next generation of students. The prudent planning, financing, and operating of the Student Life facilities of the future will require accurate data, insight, and a peek into the crystal ball. The presenters will illustrate the impact of emerging trends on student lifestyle, media consumption, entertainment, personal communications, fitness, and computing needs found in the campus facilities that support Student Life.