As Ithaca College’s Apogee contract comes to an end, Information Technology Services is making plans to install wireless Internet access in all of the residence halls by next fall.
Ed Fuller, associate vice president of ITS, said if the department’s budget for the 2009-10 academic year is approved by the college Board of Trustees in February, the college will negotiate a new contract with Apogee to improve the campus network.
Bonnie Prunty, director of the Office of Residential Life and Judicial Affairs, said she thinks students will be pleased to know their residence halls will have wireless and said it will make the college more marketable.
“There are definitely incoming students and parents who, at this point, kind of assume that wireless is in place in the residence halls,” she said. “So it will be helpful for us to offer a similar standard of service that a number of institutions already offer.”
The college is still in the process of creating the department’s budget for the next fiscal year, but Fuller said he is confident it will be approved.
“It’s something we’ve needed to do for a while,” he said. “It certainly improves our status relative to our peer institutions in terms of the kinds of services it provides its students.”
Carl Sgrecci, vice president of finance and administration for the college, also said, because the college is in the middle of the budgeting process, nothing was definitive.
However, he said the college’s plan is to include the Internet fees in each student room rate, similar to how students pay for laundry services.
In addition to installing wireless Internet in all of the residence halls, ITS hopes to provide wireless access to all of the academic and administrative buildings, Fuller said. After installation Fuller said the campus could be considered fully wireless.
Freshman Molly Brown, who lives in Bogart Hall, said wireless Internet will be much more convenient than her current connection.
“I’m thrilled that we’ll now be able to move freely around the building while still connected to the Internet,” Brown said.
Prunty said the college recognizes the convenience and need for wireless in residence halls and has responded to students’ concerns.
 “We definitely have heard the feedback from students loud and clear that this is something they’ve been looking for, and it’s really exciting when we can do something to meet student feedback,” she said.