Northwest Missouri State University - Tower Yearbook (Maryville, MO)

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Stress sets in as Todd Spitz- miller discovers the VAX sys- tem is shiut down for repairs. Some faculty members allowed work to be turned in late when the system was out of opera- tion. Photo by Mark Strecker The first shipment of computer terminals in spring signals the beginning of the Electronic Campus. Computers were in- stalled during the summer be- fore students returned to cam- pus. Photo by Kevin Sharpe When 9 p.m. arrives, students like Al Stewart log on to check mail messages. Some faculty members felt the mail option should have been deleted from the VAX system to allow more academic time. Photo by Mark Strecker Electronic Campus 1 9

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The big switch faculty offices from Digital. Also, students financially supported a portion of the project with a slight increase in room rates. I noticed the increase, but I used the computer for my classes and liked the mail system, too, Page Moore said. I thought it helped, be- cause businesses were turn- ing to computers more and more. The computer offered a variety of advantages to stu- dents. An important one was simply the everyday ex- posure to the computer, which made students more comfortable with the technology. In the Information Age, it was vital that stud ents be more than familiar with com- puters, Ashcroft said at opening ceremonies. They had to be comfortable and competent with them. And there was no better way to gain competency than by us- ing computers daily. To even better serve the University, the system was structured around the Digital Equipment Corpora- tion ' s VAX, which allowed the network to expand by adding additional VAX systems. The computer was help- ful with papers, Lara Syp- kens said. It made it faster and gave me more time to do other projects. I had never used a computer before, and I began to feel more comfort- able using one. With a new, exciting Elec- tronic Campus to learn about, students became part of Northwest ' s plan to im- prove higher education. It was a plan to further the University in the technologi- cal world and to better the education program, but it ad- vanced students personally, as well. They learned new ways to study, better ways to write papers and faster ways to retrieve information. It brought them into the tech- nological world, showing them not only how to use a computer, but how to use it t o their advantage. D Suzan Matherne Selling the Electronic Campus How did a university sell a $3.1 million project? At Northwest, the job of selling the Electronic Cam- pus required the work of two offices and over $8,000. Promoting the Electronic Campus began before the first cables were laid. Both the Admissions and Public Relations Offices took part in the campaign. Dave Gieseke, assistant director of public relations, said University students helped with promotions. Ad- vertisements featuring stu- dents with computers were placed in high school news- papers. While promotions were planned by the Public Rela- tions Office, the Admissions Office made sure prospec- tive students received infor- mation on the project. Visiting students were given information pertaining to the Electronic Campus, and admissions recruiters took the message on the road. High school students ' responses to the Electronic Campus were mixed. At first, students were baffled about the capabilities of the Electronic Campus, Dale Montague, executive director of enrollment man- agement, said. They knew the importance of com- puters, but not specifically what the computers could do for them. However, as Northwest ' s computer advantage be- came more widely known, it put the University in a unique position. The Electronic Campus made students realize North- west was up there among the leaders and that it had some- thing really special to offer, Montague said. It was not immediately known what effect the Elec- tronic Campus had on the in- crease in student recruit- ment, but Montague said students generally listed the computers as only third or fourth in their reasons for at- tending Northwest. In an ever-tightening mar- ket for higher education, the Electronic Campus gave Northwest a unique feature to promote among prospec- tive students. The Electronic Campus put Northwest in the spot- light, and through University promotions, the administra- tion hoped to keep it there. D Kevin Sharpe 1 8 Electronic Campus

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Technical difficulties Expanding system suffers growing pains n apers could be typed in the con- venience of one ' s room. Library books could be looked up within a matter of minutes, and locating friends was no longer a frustrating task. Technology at its finest From 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. hiad been integrated into the when the mail mode was ac- learning environment at Northwest with the installa- tion of computers in every residence hall room and faculty office. For the first time, students and faculty members had access to a computer system at their fingertips. Students ' expectations for the system were high, and those expectations were often met with disappoint- ment when the system fell short of perfection. However, with any ad- vancement came problems. Gntil the initial difficulties were overcome, students faced setbacks when using the new system. It was a hassle, Chris Gose said. It was too crowd- ed in the library to print any- thing off. For this reason, some stu- dents avoided using the computers. 1 had to type my paper in, file it, and go to the library to print it out, Ken Campbell said. The typewriter was still right there. The advantages to having a computer in every resi- dence hall room were some- times also disadvantages be- cause of the large number of people who had access to the system. The majority of use on the VAX system was dedicated to the mail mode. cessible, there was a waiting queue. The waiting queue was sometimes close to 200, and that meant waiting for a cou- ple of hours, Campbell said. When the University tried to eliminate this problem, however, some students felt their corrective measures were too drastic. Though I agreed with shutting the mail service off during the day, 1 thought we should have been allowed to at least read our mail mes- sages whenever we wanted, Robin Brockman said. Another measure taken to avoid students mono- polizing the system was the automatic log-off for users logged on the system more than an hour, or for those who had been inactive for five minutes. The measure, though effective, seemed to irritate users. It was upsetting when lit- tle messages flashed on the screen while 1 was writing be- cause it left a blank space in the middle of what 1 was typ- ing, Campbell said. Though the measures al- lowed for some control, they didn ' t guarantee immediate access for users. Dr. Jon Rickman, director of Com- puting Services, expressed doubt toward a day when ac- cess to the mail mode would be easily attained. The amount of money that had already been spent toward the project was im- mense, and administrators seemed to favor investing in the academic capabilities of the system rather than in the mail service. Another area that seemed to raise opposition from stu- dents was the directory. It list- ed each student ' s name, ad- dress and phone number, all of which were available at the stroke of a few keys. 1 didn ' t like the student directory because someone 1 didn ' t even know could have found out where I lived, Di- ana Jensen said. It took away from my privacy. Students and faculty were also unsatisfied with the fact that the computer could shut down or log them off at any minute, regardless of what they were working on. It made me angry when 1 was right in the middle of an assignment and the system shut down for repairs, Kar- ralena Roberson said. The frequent problems were no surprise to those people directly involved with implementing the system. We expected considera- ble problems in September and October because the system was new, Rickman said. Administrators continued to make improvements in the system as it was adapted to meet the needs of students and faculty. Even though the system didn ' t meet their ex- pectations at times, adminis- tration continued to focus on and improve those areas that caused problems, n Debbie Allen 20 Electronic Campus