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'One Port Per Pillow' For College Students By Mona R. Litt With the start of school each fall, parents once again worry if their children's college tuition is going toward the best education offered. Babson College in Babson Park, Mass., has a secret weapon for providing a quality business education: GlobeNet, its state-of-the-art computer network. "Students now have complete access to college information resources from each residence hall room via an Ethernet connection--one port per pillow," says Patrick Laughran, Babson College's director of network services. The colleg e provides students with all the tools necessary to take advantage of these resources. The campus computer store even offers discounts for those who want to buy PCs. Every student at Babson receives an account before the start of the academic year. Most professors send course assignments through e-mail and students return completed projects via e-mail. Students can access e-mail, shared applications, course material, the catalog of Horn Library and information databases through GlobeNet. College employees also rely heavily on Babson's computer system. Lotus Development Corp.'s Lotus Domino and One Wave provide the primary Web delivery system and development tools respectively for Babson's intranet. The admissions department uses the Exeter Student Marketing System for processing student registration and application forms and for compiling demographic information for recruiting efforts. Applied Business Technology's Power Campus software helps the registrar and financial -aid departments organize and process student applications, while Campus America's Poise handles the college's general ledger. Business Systems Resources' Development System stores alumni statistics and contact information in a database. Banyan Systems' Banyan Intranet Connect gives users access to files and services on other servers through the Web. The college's greatest challenge in managing this network, Laughran says, "is keeping the alignment between capabilities and business needs. Network computing at Babson is not a backroom operation. It is a selling point to attracting students to Babson, keeping them enrolled and getting alumni engaged with the community." Babson College plans to offer textbook information and case studies, such as those from Harvard Business School, on the network by next spring according to Laughran. Firewalls and certificates will provide more security for the intranet and network by January. Laughran hopes to implement virtual LANs (VLANs) on a small scale by November to create a classroom environme nt for students in their own rooms in the residence halls. For more information on Babson College, visit its Web site at www.babson.edu.
Updated August 23, 1997  |
