ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan has launched a $3.5 million upgrade of computers, networks, and computer classrooms. The initiative will replace almost 2,000 old computers with new ones, including 700 computers in student campus computing facilities. The initiative will also increase the speed and capacity of the network connections for all 1,400 computers in those student campus computing sites, from shared 10 megabyte connections to dedicated connections up to 100 megabytes. The computer classrooms, which professors use for over 6,000 class sessions a year, are also getting new machines, along with new and improved projection equipment.

The initiative for the improvements in the student computing facilities was launched by the Provost Nancy Cantor and the Chief Information Officer José-Marie Griffiths. Over $2 million will be spent to enhance computing resources available to all University students.

“We have been very concerned about improving student access to computing,” Cantor said. “Students and faculty need excellent Internet connections and computers to participate in their academic communities, both on campus and beyond. We want to make sure that all of our students have the resources they need to be successful in their chosen area of study, and technology is now an important component of those resources.”

“Our campus computing sites, open to all students, include over 1,500 computers in 37 physical locations around campus,” said Griffiths. “Many of our sites are available seven days a week, 24 hours a day, and some of the computers in those sites are used every minute of every day.

“Traffic on our network has increased exponentially. More than 80 percent of this year’s incoming freshmen had Internet access at home before coming to the University.

U-M students know how to use technology. We have to make sure our students can continue to enhance those skills. Today an excellent academic education includes skills in using technology tools in one’s chosen discipline. This computing and networking upgrade will enhance the resources available to our academic community, to ensure that our students continue to graduate with that extra edge of Michigan excellence.”

Because of the large purchase done all at one time, Griffiths was able to negotiate with the computer vendors for prices 10 percent to 27 percent lower than the University’s normal “educational discount” prices. This made it possible for various other parts of the University—schools, colleges and administrative units—to buy over 1,000 new computers for faculty and staff. Altogether the University saved over $700,000 on the purchase of the new equipment, by consolidating the purchases into one order with each vendor. The new computers are coming from Apple, Dell and IBM.

The University recently announced a new “federated” approach to the coordination of information technology. There are over 1,500 staff who provide technology services to the University, and they are located throughout the institution, in the central administration and in various schools and colleges. The deans and executive officers of the University have endorsed a new “federation” of these information technology service providers, reporting to the chief information officer. These information technology organizations will continue to be located and provide services to their present constituencies, but will also pool resources to participate in the federation for the organization and delivery of services best provided centrally. This coordinated purchase of equipment is an example of the types of endeavors the new federation will assume.