Campus Briefs
NEWS
RINGING IN THE DATA. “Where’s that campus shuttle bus?” “Will I be able
to get a washing machine this morning?” “What did Dr. Brown say about the sculpture
I’m looking at, here in the campus quad?” The answers to these and other pressing
questions may be just a few PDA-clicks away, anytime, anywhere, at least for a
group of students on the campus of
Wake Forest University (NC). Through
MobileU, a pilot program launched this term, CIO Jay Dominick and colleagues will
test the use of converged Pocket PC/cell phones with about 100 students and staff.
Their investigation spans academic, work, and lifestyle issues as they study the
control features, messaging functions, and information access capabilities of
the mobile devices, loaded with specialized and location-based applications. Dominick
expects to have some initial data from the project in December.
VERY BERRY
MOBILE. In a similar effort, the Center for Human Capital, Innovation, and
Technology at the
University of Maryland is analyzing how students at the
university’s Robert H. Smith School of Business are using their Sprint Nextel
(
www.sprint.com) BlackBerry
phones. All full-time MBA students have been equipped with the devices since the
fall of 2004, and use them for team projects, e-mail, and voice communications—including
the “walkie talkie” function for quick connection with their peers.
LEADING
ENTREPRENEURSHIP. The College of Engineering at
UC-Berkeley (CA) has
launched its Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, an academic and industry
partnership to foster technology transfer, commercialization, and startup ventures.
SHINE ON THE COMPETITION. College and university teams from around the
world competed in the US Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon this fall, each
designing, building, and transporting an entire solar-powered house to be displayed
for 10 days in a “solar village” on the National Mall.
PEOPLE
UCLA CHANCELLOR PLANS TO STEP WHERE? Albert Carnesale,
UCLA chancellor
since 1997, has announced plans to leave his post as chancellor and focus on teaching,
public policy, and international affairs after a sabbatical leave which begins
in June 2006. Carnesale holds professorial appointments in UCLA’s School of Public
Affairs and the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, is a
member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Council on Foreign
Relations, and is a lecturer and author. A news release on UCLA’s Web site, detailing
Carnesale’s extremely active professional career, leads us to believe that “step
down” is a misnomer.
URGENT RESPONSE: LSU's field hospital for Katrina survivors.
With the
opening of the academic year,
Louisiana State University suddenly found
itself playing a critical role in the emergency response to victims of the gulf
region’s most disastrous hurricane. University resources, including IT, were quickly
summoned to help set up what was probably the largest acute care field hospital
ever established on US soil—800 beds— along with communications and other facilities
for various agencies with temporary operations on the campus. LSU’s experience
makes a good point for campus DR planning. “What if you’re the last ones standing?”
posed CIO Brian Voss, in communication with CT reporters shortly after Katrina’s
passing. (See
cover story,
and
Stats for more on DR planning.
Follow our highered-related coverage of Katrina’s aftermath on CT’s Web site,
www.campus-technology.com.)