The Columbia Spectator has taken Columbia University to task in a “scathing editorial about the lack of ubiquitous Wi-Fi”:1 across the University and its dormitories.
bq. Internet access has become a necessary tool for every facet of a college education, and wireless coverage that benefits administrators more than it does students and faculty is absurd. It is unacceptable that Earl Hall, Avery, and the President’s house are the only campus buildings with full wireless coverage. Not even Butler, the 24-hour library where a significant percentage of the student body can be found at any given time, has the same wireless coverage provided to Bollinger and other administrators. Many classrooms and dorms have yet to be provided with wireless coverage at all.
bq. Lisa Hogarty, executive vice president for administrative and student services at Columbia, recently explained the University’s wireless priorities by saying that “Our strategy … is that all of the learning spaces, most broadly defined, get this technology.” Hogarty’s self-proclaimed strategy, while an admirable start, is not good enough. If the University is truly set on improving wireless coverage on campus, it will immediately begin examining the feasibility of providing full wireless coverage to all academic buildings, libraries and dorms.
Lisa Hogarty (lhogarty@columbia.edu) clearly has a lot to learn about how learning happens. This is a very unfortunate state of affairs for the Vice President for Student Services for a top University.
I remember that while at MIT (a university that “understands ubiquitous wireless”:2) much of my learning happened outside of the classroom: staying up late in common areas of my dorm hall, researching at the libraries, hanging out in indoor and outdoor common areas, reading while eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and bumping into other students or professors in the hall, just to name a few. Every single square foot of a college is a “learning space”, 24×7.
I certainly support the students and the Columbia Spectator on this issue. Columbia should set an example and provide real ubiquitous Wi-Fi, not drag its feet and make excuses.
And Columbia, if you need NYCwireless to help you out, just ask.
[1]http://www.columbiaspectator.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/12/01/438e6a8719eb9
[2]http://www.wirelesscommunity.info/2005/12/02/tracking-wireless-network-users-in-real-time/
Filed under: New York City, News, Policy
