By Brandon Fey, Assistant News Editor
Gettysburg College has recently announced a major two-year project to upgrade Wi-Fi on campus. On Thursday, Vice President of Information Technology (IT) and Professor of Computer Science Rodney Tosten sent an email addressed to the campus community about the initiative.
His message announced that the college will begin phase one of this $2.4 million capital project over the summer of 2024. In this initial stage, IT aims to replace outdated network equipment in highly trafficked areas on campus, including over 25 residence buildings, the Dining Hall, Musselman Library, the College Union Building and surrounding outdoor areas. IT hopes to have this phase completed by the end of Fall 2024.
He then announced that phase two will expand the project to the remaining campus buildings, including more residence halls as well as other academic and administrative buildings. This phase is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2025 and is expected to be complete by the end of the fall of that year.
According to Tosten, this project will involve the installation of over 1,135 new wireless access points and supporting hardware to over 85 campus buildings and outdoor locations. He claims that it will improve the speed and security of the campus network as well as increase the college’s amount of fiber locations and provide greater bandwidth for faculty and student research.
“We believe that this project will have a positive impact on our students’ experience, as they will be able to access online resources, collaborate with peers and instructors, and participate in virtual activities more smoothly and reliably,” Tosten commented.
Tosten concluded his email by expressing gratitude to the Board of Trustees, President’s Council, IT and everyone else who contributed to the approval of the project while reemphasizing that it will support a holistic improvement of the Gettysburg College student experience. Information Technology appreciates the cooperation of the community during this project and will share updates on the IT website.
Tosten stated, “We thank our students for their patience and feedback during the planning and implementation of this project, and we hope that everyone will enjoy the improved wireless service once the project is completed.”
