5. Regional Campuses back
The Regional Campuses have made a significant move during
the past few years from a minicomputer-based to a largely networked
PC-based academic computing environment. While every campus has had
a VAX/7XX minicomputer for instruction and/or connectivity with the
Kent Campus, most campuses today are removing them or discussing a
target date for removal. Networking of microcomputers at all Regional
Campuses has been accomplished exclusively with Novell Netware 3X
software on 386 or 486 servers, using ethernet protocol run on coaxial
cable or 10-baseT on twisted-pair. Where multiple buildings are involved,
fiber optic cable is installed. The microcomputer of choice has
overwhelmingly been the IBM compatible. Macintosh or Apple
computers are limited to some science and art areas. Access by dedicated
telephone line to the Kent Campus IBM mainframe has received minimal
use for instructional purposes. However, it is increasingly being used by
students and faculty for electronic mail and Internet communication.
The general plan at many Regional Campuses is to purchase new
microcomputers for student labs and provide faculty with the older
computers for office use. Student labs are typically available from 8:00
a.m. or 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. or 10:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday,
with Friday hours until 5:00 p.m. Five out of the seven Regional
Campuses have Saturday hours but no campus has Sunday lab hours.
More and more dependence is being placed on microcomputer software.
The software of choice at the Regional Campuses includes WordPerfect,
Lotus 1-2-3, dBase III+ and IV, Borland programming products,
AutoCAD, PageMaker, and Harvard Graphics. Six out of the seven
Regional Campuses participate in a Borland site license that includes all
Borland products.
Most Regional Campuses look to the Kent Campus for many
services including connectivity to library catalogs, data bases, and Internet
resources. It is important that Regional Campuses provide the advantages
of both a small campus environment and the resources of a major
university.
Ashtabula. Almost all of the faculty at Ashtabula have computers
in their offices. They still use a VAX 11/750, but it plays an increasingly
smaller role. They have four computer labs with day and evening access
and Saturday access until 4:00 p.m. Not all of the labs are networked.
East Liverpool. Only a few of the faculty have computers in their
offices, but there is a faculty computer lab. Faculty still use the VAX
11/750. East Liverpool has four student labs in addition to the faculty lab,
and all labs are networked. Students can gain access daily and some
Saturday hours are provided.
Geauga. The ten faculty on this campus all have computers in their
offices. They no longer use the VAX 11/750. All faculty computers and
all computers in the student lab are networked. Access is daily with some
Saturday hours.
Salem. Very few faculty have computers in their offices at this
campus and there is presently no networking of student computers. Up to
three computer laboratories are planned or under development and will
become operational by August 1994. They still make some use of their
VAX 11/750. Access to labs is daily but there are no Saturday hours.
Stark. Over half of the fifty-five faculty at the Stark Campus have
computers in their offices. The VAX 11/780 is still used for teaching
programming languages and communications. There are five student labs
and all are networked. Many faculty office computers will soon be
networked. This campus has daily lab access but no Saturday hours.
Trumbull. Essentially all faculty at Trumbull have networked
office computers. The six computer labs are all networked. There are
daily lab hours with some Saturday hours provided. There are over 200
microcomputers at this campus. Trumbull has maintained the largest
VAX 11/780 minicomputer system but it too is scheduled to be removed
from service.
Tuscarawas. Approximately half of the faculty at the
Tuscarawas Campus have computers in their offices. The VAX 11/730
has been permanently removed from service. There is one general
computer lab on campus accessible daily and some Saturday hours are
provided.