Enhancing the Higher Education Experience Through Networking Services
Imagine this: You are cramming for a test in the library. Teaching a class and sharing a video about your latest research project. Presenting architectural plans for a new construction project. And the Wi-Fi drops. Suddenly, productivity halts as everyone works to get back online.
As the IT provider for the university’s Wi-Fi network, the Office of Technology and Digital Innovation’s networking team and university partners like OARnet work together to prevent this type of scenario every day. Over the last few years, with the help of the Ohio Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funds, the two organizations were able to upgrade technology on all of Ohio State’s regional campuses to put redundancies in place that minimize disruption to teaching and learning that can be caused by network outages.
While the need for reliable internet services has increased greatly in the past several decades, higher education experienced a quick and sudden move to online education during the COVID-19 pandemic that required an even larger need. During that time, the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) awarded more than $10 million in Ohio Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funds to OARnet to increase broadband capacity at community colleges and technical schools around the state. Ohio State’s regional campuses are all co-located with Ohio technical schools. This provided the perfect opportunity for Ohio State, OARnet, and these technical colleges to work together to provide a more efficient and effective experience for students, faculty, and staff in these locations.
Having reliable internet in place requires having the right amount of broadband access to provide the speed and connection needed for people accessing the network, and redundancies in place to prevent outages. OARnet provided 10G connections to each of the technical schools affiliated with Ohio State regional campuses using the GEER funds, increasing the broadband connections at those locations. With those connections in place, Ohio State regional campuses and affiliated technical colleges were able to share those connections to increase broadband access. As a result, both Ohio State and the technical colleges saved money: Ohio State was able to save by sharing in the 10G connection provided by OARnet, and the technical colleges were now able to share in the bulk rate that Ohio State gets in ongoing services with OARnet. A win-win.
Going even further to enhance networking services, the cost savings that resulted from this were used to put redundancies in place that make the network more reliable at all of these locations. Redundancies provide multiple paths for networking traffic that provide backups in the event of failures.
“At Newark, we have already seen the impact of upgraded technology on the experiences of our students, faculty, and staff, all of whom rely on consistent internet access literally every day.” said Stephanie Brown, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Ohio State Newark. “This project also highlights the incredible value of the cost-shared relationship on the regional campuses. When we work together, we can almost always ensure that state funds are used more efficiently and effectively.”
In higher education, like many industries, reliable internet access is no longer a commodity; it is a necessity to accomplish the incredible work that occurs here at Ohio State University. In the end, the partnership between OARnet, Ohio State, and technical colleges, initiated by the GEER funds provided by the ODHE, was a win across the board. Technical colleges got more internet capacity, they shared that capacity with Ohio State, Ohio State shared our internet rate with technical colleges, all resulting in cost savings that was leveraged to build redundancies. Everyone came out better, especially students, faculty and staff who rely on internet access to learn, teach and work.