BGSU Trustees Okay State-of-the-Art Technology Infrastructure Project

Construction and installation of a campus-wide, high-performance technology network infrastructure was approved Wednesday (Sept. 1) by the Bowling Green State University Board of Trustees.

The plan, projected to cost more than $36 million, will involve 140 buildings on BGSU's 1,338-acre main campus as well as the entire Firelands College campus near Huron.

"This high-performance infrastructure will keep Bowling Green competitive with top universities regionally and nationally," said Trustee Edward A. Ferkany, a businessman from Columbus. "It's an investment that will significantly enhance academic and administrative services. It also will promote innovation in teaching and research to boost BGSU in reaching its goal of being a premiere learning community."

The new infrastructure is important for several reasons, University officials say. In addition to increasing amounts of network traffic on the current system, the changing nature of computer applications for teaching, learning and research require high performance network capability.

"We're now using a network that handles mission-critical University applications yet the current network was never designed to provide the level of reliability required for these types of applications," explained Dr. Ann Marie Lancaster, vice provost for technology and chief information officer.

"The state-of­the-art technology will not only enable us to provide greater consumer services‹everything from class registration to transcript requests‹but it also will help us prepare students to function in a knowledge-based economy," University President Sidney Ribeau pointed out. "Every student will benefit."

Faculty member Dr. Alan Lord, who chairs the Department of Accounting and Management Information Systems, said the high-performance network will be a boon to academic areas.

"My department is building leading-edge programs to integrate accounting and management information systems technology. Improvements in the technology infrastructure will help us to not only recruit high-quality students but also to attract and retain high quality faculty. Our ability to offer state-of-the-art technology will also positively impact our relationship with the professionals who hire our graduates and support our programs," Lord said.

The data, video and voice infrastructure project approved Wednesday includes construction of a fiber optic cable plant as well as a new copper cable plant; excavation and construction related to installation of the fiber optic network; wiring for video, voice and data; installation of telecommunications hardware and management software, and installation of intrabuilding and interbuilding network electronics.

Trustee approval of the funding enables the University to proceed to negotiate a final agreement with IBM/Lucent to provide materials and installation services and to proceed with the bidding process for the public works portion of the project.

One-third of the cost will be provided by capital improvement funds from the state of Ohio and the remainder, by various University budgets.

Initial planning for the proposal began in January of 1998. IBM/Lucent's proposal was chosen for final negotiation from among six submitted, Lancaster said. The design portion of the project was completed during the fall semester of 1998.

According to Lancaster, the targeted completion date for the project is Nov. 1, 2001.

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