For Release On:   January 11, 1999

SECOND MOST WIRED CAMPUS IN NATION INVESTING
$50 MILLION TO MAINTAIN LEADERSHIP IN NEW CENTURY

NEWARK - New Jersey Institute of Technology will claim $2.8 million from the state Commission on Higher Education next week, a welcome contribution to an aggressive $50 million plan that will keep the university ahead of the curve in information technologies and serve as a national model for institutions of higher learning.

     NJIT, already one of the nation's most computing-intensive universities, is rated second-most wired campus in the country by Yahoo! Internet Life Magazine. Dartmouth is first, and MIT is third. NJIT is the only university in New Jersey listed in Yahoo's top 50.

     Now, on the verge of a new millennium, NJIT is again leading the way - with a five-year investment plan to enrich both the hardware and the software capabilities of its already robust program. The university has already invested an additional $2 million in its high performance computing and technology infrastructure this year.

     "The goal, ultimately, is to use technology to help students take more control over their own learning, to support creativity within the university community and to encourage the exchange of ideas," said NJIT President Saul K. Fenster.

     Students, faculty and staff will have access to a virtual private network so powerful, and secure, it can support seamless collaboration and research at any time, from anywhere in the world. This network opens wider doors to a wealth of information previously available only on the Newark campus - expanding access for the entire NJIT community to proprietary information and services - e-mail, library journals and collaborative research projects.

     Students already are using the Internet to submit assignments, access course notes, research library journals, register for classes and converse with their advisor. Soon, they will be able to access the tools they need to design new buildings, develop complex solutions to engineering problems or compile detailed management analyses - all by logging into the NJIT network.

     The plan also calls for expanded training and support programs campus-wide, including technical support personnel to assist students and faculty who are working together to experiment with, learn and apply new technologies.

     Investments, once made, must be maintained. "Technology infrastructure is just as fundamental to a technological research university as bricks and mortar," said David Ullman, Director of Management Information Services at NJIT and Chairman of the university's planning task force. But, on average, computers become obsolete after three years - which is why NJIT is planning to increase its current annual investment into the system by $1.5 million as a result of internal budget reallocations and a new student fee - raising annual spending to more than $9 million.

     Fenster, Chairman of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Presidents Council and the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education, emphasized the importance of careful planning for this kind of critical spending.

     "It's no longer enough to just provide computing," said Fenster. "Communication and access to information have become critical as information technologies transform the very foundation of our society and our economy. To excel in the Information Age, organizations and institutions must not only incorporate the new technologies, they must also evolve appropriate organizational and planning structures to use that technology effectively."

     "Massive capabilities and fancy applications are well and good, but if they don't advance the underlying mission of the organization, they're a waste of time and money," said Ullman. "The initiatives in NJIT's plan provide a technology infrastructure that will advance the university's focus on teaching, learning and research."

     At NJIT, Fenster instituted a campus-wide planning process to link technological enhancements to the specific needs of the various university constituencies - creating a model of how technology can be used to further the fundamental mission of any organization. The NJIT plan, formed through months of careful research and planning, reflects a progression of investment in cutting edge technology and provides a reliable template for a "virtual university."

     NJIT has a significant history of national leadership in information technologies. In 1976, university researchers created EIES (the Electronic Information Exchange System), the first computerized conferencing system and a forerunner of many of today's modern e-mail and communication systems. In 1983, NJIT became the first public university to provide incoming freshmen with personal computers. In 1985, the university's School of Architecture became the first Architecture school in the country to recognize the emerging importance of computers in design by requiring computerized design in its curriculum. In 1986, NJIT pioneered its trademark Virtual ClassroomÔ for computer conferencing and distance learning. By the early 1990s, the Guttenburg Information Technologies Center had opened and NJIT faculty were breaking ground in university-level programs for distance learning.

     Now, NJIT is maintaining that historic lead by creating a "virtual campus," which can offer access to anyone, from any corner of the globe - providing a level of connectivity rarely seen on college campuses.

     "Yahoo said we were number two, and we thank them for their confidence," said Thomas Terry, Executive Director of Computing Services at NJIT. "We're striving to continue to deserve high ranking. We plan to make NJIT the most technologically advanced computing intensive university in the country."

     NJIT is a public research university enrolling nearly 8,200 bachelor's, master's and doctoral students in 76 degree programs through its five colleges: Newark College of Engineering, School of Architecture, College of Science and Liberal Arts, the School of Management and the Albert Dorman Honors College. Research initiatives include manufacturing, microelectronics, multimedia, transportation, computer science, solar astrophysics, environmental engineering and science, and architecture and building science.

     Yahoo! Internet Life magazine ranked NJIT the second "most wired" campus in the nation, U.S. News and World Report's 1999 Annual Guide to America's Best Colleges ranked NJIT among the nation's top universities, and Money magazine's Best College Buys 1998 rated NJIT as the sixth best value among U.S. science and technology schools and among the top 100 overall.

Initiatives included in first phase of the expanded NJIT computing plan:

• Develop a virtual private network giving faculty, staff and students access to campus-based proprietary information resources, such as course registration, course notes, grade book, library holdings and purchasing from anywhere via the Internet.
  
  
• Augment high-performance computing services for long running, computing intensive projects generated by faculty and students.
  
  
• Expand research facilities for doctoral students and researchers who need access to real-time interactive visual graphics and information processing.
  
  
• Provide University Hall with technology-enabled "smart" classrooms, fully equipped with network connectivity.
  
  
• Provide web-enabling access to the university's student information systems for faculty, staff and students.
  
  
• Complete the final stages of campus rewiring for bringing high-speed network connections to all labs, classrooms and offices.
  
  
• Implement an annual distribution program of high performance computers for full-time faculty and instructional staff.
  
  
• Re-engineer a professionally managed help desk to provide a customer-centered and responsive support structure.