America's Most Connected Campuses

foghorn666 writes "Forbes and the Princeton Review have posted their list of America's Most Connected Campuses, which measures the technological capabilities of the country's 357 top colleges and universities. They're looking at infrastructure stuff like whether wireless networks are available, if you can register for classes online, and so on - not really curriculum. But the results are interesting, and the winner not a huge surprise: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute."

Not a surprise?

[Frisky070802 (591229)]

RPI's not a huge surprise? I expected MIT at number one... not below the top 25. Same for many others. WTF?

Re:Not a surprise?

[poot_rootbeer (188613)]

MIT is in Cambridge Mass, where there are lots of interesting things to do. RPI is in... Troy, NY. I'd spend all my time on the Internet too if I were there.

Re:Not a surprise?

[tonsofpcs (687961)]

RPI was the first technical institution. MIT is newer and is not as tech based as it is science based.

Re:Not a surprise?

[MaestroRC (190789)]

But still, there are gross inconsistencies with the data on there when compared to reality. For example, my university, The University of Tennessee at Knoxville, has the following:

Is there a Wireless Network? (No)

Well if our "nomad" network is not wireless, I don't know what is. And it's been around for about 7 years, starting out as a pre-802.11 network and then upgraded to 802.11b, and just this year upgraded to 802.11g.

Does the school provide web pages? (No)

Every student (rather, every person who has a valid NetID) can sign up for a free page and unix access. You just fill out a simple form and they send you the account info.

Does the school stream audio or video of any courses? (No)

We have a distance education program that streams audio out from a shitton of courses, including one of the classes I'm taking right now. I know this because it's annoying when something screws up and my professor has to take care of that rather than teaching me. And my freshman year they were streaming video online of my engineering fundamentals course, and storing it so we could review lectures later.

Is a computer ethics policy in place for the school? (No)

Then what is this [utk.edu]?

Do students have access to Usenet newsgroups? (No)

Well, according to this [utk.edu], we've had usenet access since at least 1995, but I would venture a guess that we had it earlier, since our first network access was a government partnership with Oak Ridge National Labs.

Does the school provide multimedia equipment? (No)

Well, what about this [utk.edu]? Or if they're thinking of in classrooms, almost every classroom has a projector and Smartboard (thing you can write on), and many have sound systems. In classrooms.

Does the school offer courses in emerging technologies? (No)

What the hell. You know, I think that that Internet2 Link we have, and all the related CS courses, including a project for a new file system structure for network storage is just for fun.

Does the school stream its campus radio or TV stations? (No)
Uhmmmm.... Try here [wutkradio.com]. Damn these people either suck or we suck at reporting.

And I know for a fact we have more than 1000 computers that are provided by the university for students to use. We have almost that many in the library *alone*.

Re:Not a surprise?

[the quick brown fox (681969)]

I believe there were some mistakes in the MIT data.

Does the school provide Web pages?
Can students register online?

Both these answers were "No" according to the survey, but they should be "Yes".

Re:Not a surprise?

[the quick brown fox (681969)]

Oh, here's the MIT page [forbes.com]. I think with those two "No" answers corrected, MIT should be #3 on the list.

Re:Not a surprise?

[AEton (654737)]

We can't register online. We can -pre-register online; you have to go to the office physically and hand in a piece of paper to confirm registration (or to add or drop classes), and freshmen don't get to preregister. (Anecdote: the freshman credit limit is 54 credit hours - four x 12ch classes + 1 x 6ch seminar. After the last class drop opportunity, the registrar's office reported one junior was signed up for 160some credit hours.)

Other qualifications that made MIT not a very wired school:
*We aren't provid

Re:Not a surprise?

[Ohreally_factor (593551)]

They probably mean campus-wide wireless, and I kinda doubt you've got coverage in every pasture and field. =)

Re:Not a surprise?

[qplnm (228906)]

And what about CMU? A few years back they were considered way up there, if not #1. T1 to all the dorms by my freshman year (1996), wireless at big chunks of campus in 99, hell we had a robot that roamed the halls freely and took commands issued via a web site.

Perhaps in the past few years there has been less of a focus on technology than there used to be.

Re:Not a surprise?

[qplnm (228906)]

After reading some of the posts below (and TFA), the criteria were very generic and didn't really capture true "wired-ness".

They also didn't get accurate info. for example, CMU absolutely allows personal web pages, nearly every student, professor, and class has one. You can run your own server, or use the school's network. There is a campus-wide file system. When I was there, every incoming freshman (humanities and all) was required to take a computer literacy course that included Unix and emacs. And stude

Re:Not a surprise?

[QuantumFTL (197300)]

RPI's not a huge surprise? I expected MIT at number one... not below the top 25. Same for many others. WTF?

Well, unlike MIT, RPI is much much more interested in technology and applied science than pure science - it is an "engineer factory" so to speak. Not only that, but their campus is tiny. A few wireless access points is all it takes to cover the entire place, unlike my school (Cornell University).

When I was there last, it was hard to find a place without wireless or ethernet available. Very cool. Good job RPI!

BTW, if you wonder what they do there, I was talking to Freeman Dyson the other day and he seemed to be very excited about their lightcraft [rpi.edu] - UFO looking space ships powered by earth-mounted laser generators. He seems to think they are much more likely to work than space elevators.

Cheers,
Justin

Re:Not a surprise?

[Hoplite3 (671379)]

My experince at RPI this summer was very different. There wasn't wireless coverage in the dorm where we were housed. Worse, to get on the wireless network seemed to require some windows-only tool (according to the confrence organizers), so I was SOL with a linux laptop. I didn't much care for the situation as a visitor. I hope it is different for the students.

Then again, some of the measures of how wired the campus is seem a bit stilted. Online registration? Does it matter for small (1000 students) colleges? I'd rather talk with THE registrar personally than have some webform. She can ask me how things are going, suggest alternate courses, and generally keep the system running smoothly.

We're #13! -- We're #13!

[The I Shing (700142)]

I am pleasantly surprised to find my school ranked as #13 overall, ahead of Boston University, even!

Re:We're #13! -- We're #13!

[general_re (8883)]

I passed that info to my boss, mentioning that I graduated from #13. It did not, however, result in the raise I asked for.

sincerely,
Your Future

Sad commentary...

[potus98 (741836)]

That every year I hear the rankings of Top 10 party schools in Time, Newsweek, and other mainstream media outlets. I never hear a thing about campus rankings on issues that actually matter unless I turn to (relatively) obscure news sources like /.

Re:Sad commentary...

[StevenHenderson (806391)]

That every year I hear the rankings of Top 10 party schools in Time, Newsweek, and other mainstream media outlets. I never hear a thing about campus rankings on issues that actually matter unless I turn to (relatively) obscure news sources like /.

Um...this is from Forbes, not Slashdot.

Someone Think Of The Students...

[thealmightyegg (824365)]

"...which measures the technological capabilities of the country's 357 top colleges and universities."

But where's the survey measuring the technological capabilities of the students?

Re:Someone Think Of The Students...

[commodoresloat (172735)]

Or, often more importantly, of the faculty.

I teach at a good sized state university, and we were well ahead of the curve in being "wired" (we could easily answer "yes" to almost all the questions on the forbes survey). But I have colleagues who don't know how to use their computers. While there are attempts to train faculty and draw them more into the information age, there are still far too many (usually older) faculty members (and staff) who are out of touch technologically. Department pages are very slow to be updated on the web (if they exist at all), students freely plagiarize from online sources knowing their professor won't use google to catch them, and computer labs are cesspools of viral activity because the OS's aren't kept up to date.

What's worse, the university has bought into inflexible proprietary software solutions such as PeopleSoft, WebCT, and Blackboard to try to manage tasks which would be much better served by more flexible tools. I don't know as much about Peoplesoft (other than that I hate using it and it doesn't always work with my Mac), but my experience with the online teaching tools is that we would have been much better off with open source solutions like classweb [ucla.edu], being developed at UCLA.

But of course it's a lot more difficult to measure such things on this sort of survey.

What about most secured?

[TrollBridge (550878)]

With as much emphasis as the survey put on wireless networking, I'd think good security would be one of the most important factors in a well-wired campus.

It's sad that something this high-profile apparently dismisses the importance of network security.

It's a... Nokia campus?

[G3ckoG33k (647276)]

Or at least a Nokia sponsored campus?

Kids today have it too easy...

[bennomatic (691188)]

I remember dialing in with a 9600 baud modem to do my CS 60A (scheme) homework at UC Berkeley and only getting 2400 baud because of the answering modem's speed most of the time.

And then once I got on, the slowdown was that our new superfast server (danube, IIRC) was bogged down running poorly written interpreted, recursive, memory-hogging programs by 500+ students all trying to get in under the wire.

Sigh. The good old days.

Re:Kids today have it too easy...

[nick-less (307628)]

I remember dialing in with a 9600 baud modem to do my CS 60A (scheme) homework at UC Berkeley and only getting 2400 baud because of the answering modem's speed most of the time.
[..]
Sigh. The good old days.

9600 Baud? Come on youngster, I bet I got pants older than you...

I don't buy it

[WilliamGeorge (816305)]

A major portion of their analysis seems to be the ratio of students to computers, but that is rather unfair: they are only counting campus-owned computers, not the ones students bring with them. For example: my alma matter, the University of Washington, has two EXCELLENT, large computer labs, plus others scattered about the various buildings. They also have Wi-Fi network s (though not campus-wide). But still, the majority of students bring their own computers (wether laptops they carry or desktops in their dorms). And ya know what, it didn't even make the list! This is bull-crap!

Re:I don't buy it

[dfj225 (587560)]

Yes, I was kind of surprised that my school, Drexel University, didn't make the list. Since Drexel is mostly an engineering/science/technology focused school, it seems like it should be up there. I know there is a lot of technology on our campus, plus everyone is required to own a computer. This means that there is not much use for the labs outside of commuters who don't have laptops, other small groups of people that need a lab, and the ones required for a class. Most of my geekier friend even have 2 or

reminds me...

[LiquidMind (150126)]

I read this on some IRC channel a couple'a years ago...

A: this school i'm trying to apply for is asking me all these stupid questions. like "why do you want to attend our school?"
B: tell them 'cuz you got a phat pipe that i can use to download porn, warez and mp3s.

not to nitpick...

[npistentis (694431)]

sadly, the most connected campus seems to be fairly irresponsible with their student data. 3 years ago, i did a search for a friend who went there, and got a hit on a page including student names matched with Social Security numbers and a test score. We sent an email to the IT guys there... a year later, I did it again- the page was still up, so I told them again. Out of curiosity, I just did the same search, and got the same list. How would you feel knowing that your school was this irresponsible with personal data?

Re:not to nitpick...

[RPI Geek (640282)]

Do you think that the SS#s might have been the student ID #s? I remember a few years ago that a law was passed in NY requiring schools to NOT use SS#s as their student ID#s. Because of this RPI switched to another 9-digit number.

I'd initially blame the professor who posted the page because there are places to post them electronically that can only be accessed through a password/login. Then I'd blame the IT staff because posting names matched to ID#s is a violation of RPI's privacy policy.

RPI's networ

Rating Criteria

[anglete (782289)]

I have a problem with these ratings. According to the criteria, ratings are strongly based on how many computers there are per student. I dont know about your university, but i rarely use the campus computers. When i do, there are always many and they are mostly not used. Most people either have a desktop at home / dorm or a laptop they carry everywhere. To get my university to be on the top 25 on this list, they'll need to have even more unused machines scattered about campus.

In summary, I disagree

Way to go RPI

[pertinax18 (569045)]

I graduated from RPI this past may and I can definitely agree with their assesment. Almost everything could be done online, from registering for class to attending class (via live video streams) to contacting the bursar or financial aid. They put a lot of effort into it and it is nice to see some recognition.

RPI sucks

[Herbmaster (1486)]

The only reason RPI is so high on the list is because the administration is a bunch of pandering suck-ups who will do whatever it takes to meet a trendy benchmark rather than actually earn respect the old fashioned way. RPI wants to be at the top of this list, so they excel at filling this requirements that Forbes is looking for. Yahoo does such a ranking, and for years RPI has been near the top of that list.

In reality, RPI's dorm network is a mess, they manditorily firewall off all students, and computer labs have disappeared because since 1999 they've required all students to have a laptop (and essentially required them to run windows). They've had among the worst problems with file sharing and the RIAA. Sure, there "is a" wireless network. Great. Ooh, and email access off campus! Too bad Rensselaer alumni free email for life is, as of this month, no longer.

Re:RPI sucks

[ldspartan (14035)]

Although it's been a few years since I've lived on campus, I do know some of the people who take care of the network, and I don't think calling it a mess is at all accurate. They firewall off students because students are dumb, and do dumb things, like getting infected with spam bots. And, if you have some semblance of a brain, getting around the firewall isn't very hard. As for off-campus mail support, I agree that sucks, but you can always VPN in and it works fine.

Also, alum mail is broken because it's n

Re:RPI sucks

[pertinax18 (569045)]

Yes it is true that the administration are a bunch of tools who really only care about rankings. But the other stuff you said was a little misinformed and outdated.

Yes general purpose computer labs have dwindled in the past years, but everyone has a laptop why do you need a lab? And because of this, the money originally budgeted for labs can now be spend on high end specialized labs (like the new math/compsci labs running linux only).

Also, nobody requires students to run windows, in fact there is a larg

The University that I went to...

[NerveGas (168686)]

Now has amazing connectivity. The entire campus (quite large) is entirely "lit up" with wireless hot-spots, and most buildings have an ethernet tap for every classroom seat.

To make it better, in the student housing, for some pitifully low amount ($25?), you get a 20 megabit(!) connection. All paid for by student fees, of course.

Now, I'm all for computers. But when tuition has tripled over the past ten years, parking costs have quadrupled, and student fees are going out the roof - all the time real services to students are decreasing - it makes me wonder if it's really worth it.

Am I really going to be a better engineer if I have a 20 megabit connection to my home vs. a 1- or 2-megabit? Not really. Will a sociologist find better research to study over the 20-megabit connection? Nope.

The matter extends into the classrooms - while some connectivity has a very good payoff, they've gone to such lengths that the cost has far, far exceeded the benefits. It's just plain irresponsible.

steve

False information

[ktulu1115 (567549)]

Anyone else notice that their school had incorrect information? Funny, I never knew NJIT didn't host personal websites, I guess that makes my website [njit.edu] null and void under the DMCA... oh wait, I mean they just had misrepresented data.

The reports of NJIT lacking a wireless network are greatly exaggerated.

I also recall we were the top #1 wired school in the nation my frosh year or so ('99), but now not even given a rating despite a massive upgrade of equipment.

NYU underrated

[Anonymous Coward]

NYU has aeron chairs in the library computer lab....doesn't that count for something? Or not, but maybe it explains why I pay $1000 a unit here.

Stay away!

[Zardus (464755)]

Don't be fooled by the promise of connectivity and online registration! If you care at all about your sanity, go somewhere else! RPI is not a g -- asfedj;sah( &Gfsogf AGOYD SABDAISLHD!! MUST ... KILL ... LINCOLN.....

RPI

[IceFox (18179)]

So that is how they are going to get people to come to that dead town! Seriously, I visted there on my school tour. The campus is all on a hill and looked like half of it was under construction and the town was the last place I would care to live.

Re:RPI

[Greyfox (87712)]

Yes, the town looks like a nuclear bomb went off there... and sure it rains all the time... and um... snow gets asshole deep on a camel in the winter... but the area does kind of grow on you. And um... you could do worse when global warming comes... it's ah... not like it's freaking New Jersey, or anything.

Re:RPI

[cnj (87028)]

it's ah... not like it's freaking New Jersey, or anything.

Because Troy sure is nicer than Princeton, and damn if I don't love having it snow during commencement [rpi.edu] ceremonies in May!

Inaccurate

[nns6561 (559085)]

This article is completely inaccurate. I checked a couple of schools I'm familiar with and they were all missing multiple items. The rank is more a factor of whether the appropriate person filled out the form. In many schools, there are few administrators who actually know all of the services provided on the campus. Sadly, it's very difficult to get accurate information about technology at a school. The best way is probably to talk to a student. The admissions office has no idea what's going on. I remember listening to the admissions tour at one school. The tour guide lied on multiple facts which I had easy methods to verify. The tour guides are just there to sell the school.

An example of why this study is a crock

[mmmmmhotpants (800341)]

Case Study: California Institute of Technology (who recently broke networking speed records)

The study says there is no wireless network (there is), school doesn't provide web pages (it does), can't register online (we do), no ethics policy (a very loose one: the honor code), school doesn't provide multimedia equipment (its available for use), doesn't stream its radio (our radio is only streamed).

What the study got right: I don't think classes are provided online, students are not required to own a computer, tuition doesn't include a computer, and I don't think courses are offered in emerging technologies (if by emerging technologies you mean MS Word). I wouldn't want to go to a school that has these features.

Personally, I think this idea of connectedness is a horrible measure of a school's IT saviness, and I'm not even talking about the erroneous study itself.

Completely wrong

[Alcimedes (398213)]

I just looked over our school's info. A lot of it is wrong. It was off in at least three or four categories too, not just one or two.

Anyone else's school got the wrong info for it? From what I saw of the school where I work, I wouldn't give this list much credence.

Usenet access

[Octorian (14086)]

Ok, I graduated from RPI not too long ago, and noticed a glaring error in their report on the school. Yeah, I know we won this ranking, and I'm happy to see that. However, when I look at the question "Do students have access to Usenet newsgroups?" and see an "X" (no), I see something wrong.

We definitely have Usenet access, and even have a bunch of rpi.* newsgroups accessable inside the school. Someone definitely overlooked something.

Finally we're number 1 in something.

[colin_n (50370)]

Its about time RPI was number one in something other than student depression and nothing to do around campus! Go Shirley! [rpi.edu]

This site is just plain wrong

[Hypharse (633766)]

Not only is this study biased towards universities that include new computers in the tuition (which is dumb since if I need a computer I'll get one if I don't I don't want to be forced to, but those that do decide to get a computer aren't included in the computer to student ratio), but it is also full of wrong information. Here is an example of where I go to grad school

North Carolina State University [forbes.com]

It says the school does not supply web pages. This is bull crap since I've had a website on the school server for over a year. Plus it explains right here on state's own server HOW to set up your web page.

Create your own homepage [ncsu.edu]

Heck, every freshman undergrad is required to take a computer class where they make their own website.

Now down to the bottom, it says the school does not provide multimedia equipment. Again, completely false. Look at this site again on ncsu.edu

Multimedia Reserve [ncsu.edu]

This is why I hate school rankings like these. They are usually very misleading and often contain false information.

The Real Surprise

[Thunderstruck (210399)]

I'd expect a lot of smaller, more obscure schools to rank more highly. Particularly when the ratio of technology to student body is so heavily used. USD for example not only has a great ratio of desktops to students, but also provides PALMs to incomming students and has network/power conneectors for laptops at most classroom seats. Yet they only scored number 17.

It would seem that a college with very few students would have a far easier time beating the ratio game.

New Ranking Options

[Ba3r (720309)]

1. %bandwidth used by Counterstrike & Warez Servers
2. number of students that refer to their 'other' computers as boxxen
3. number of students who let out bloodcurling yells when flashed with a UV lamp
4. %students who respond "html" when asked for a programming language

That being said, my school [rit.edu] was 12th, and unlike RPI, we have well over 10,000 students.

Flat Out Wrong

[asv108 (141455)]

Lets look at Penn State University [forbes.com], which happens to be my employer.

• Is there a campuswide network?: yes
• Is there a wireless network?: yes
• Can students access e-mail away from school?: yes [psu.edu]
• Does the school provide Web pages?: yes [psu.edu]
• Does the school offer classes online?: [psu.edu]
• Can students register online?: yes [psu.edu]
• Can students do other administrative functions online?: yes [psu.edu]
• Are students required to own a computer?: No, thats what labs are for!
• :Can students get discounted computers? yes [psu.edu]
• Does the school support handheld computers? yes
• Does the school stream audio or video of any courses?: yes
• Is network access available in dorm rooms?: yes
• Is network access available in dormitory lounges?: yes
• Is a computer ethics policy in place for the school?: yes [psu.edu]
• :Do students have access to Usenet newsgroups?: yes
• Does tuition include a computer?: No, thats what labs are for!
• Does the school provide multimedia equipment?: yes
• Does the school offer courses in emerging technologies?: yes
• Does the school stream its campus radio or TV stations?: yes [lion-radio.org]

Looks like they didn't even bother doing the minimal amount of research.

The research done for this article is HORRIBLE!

[wetshoe (683261)]

I'm not sure how they conducted the research for this article, but it wasn't very good. I'm a former student at George Washington University [gwu.edu] and MOST of the answers for GW are incorrect.

I really can't tell how they did the research for the article. With so many basic wrong answers for GW, I can't imagine that they surveyed the schools themselves. Some of the questions that were wrong were the first things they tell you about on the tours when you visit; I can't imagine that GW wouldn't tell Forbes what they tell high school seniors. If the writer did the research himself, he needs to think about another career. The same can be said if they had interns doing the work, which is probably the case. But I still don't understand, many of these questions could have been answered by simple searches from GW's homepage.

Simply said, this article has no founding whatsoever. If other school's information is as wrong as GW's, then this article can't even be taken with a grain of salt.

Re:The research done for this article is HORRIBLE!

[wetshoe (683261)]

The letter I got back after writing the author:

Thank you for your recent letter to Forbes.com regarding the "Most Connected Colleges" list.

The data contained within this list was provided to us by The Princeton Review, therefore, we are unable to elaborate, clarify or alter the information contained therein. If you would like, you may direct your questions, concerns and comments directly to Erik Olson, Director of Guidebook Publications for The Princeton Review, at [e-mail]. We will also be pass