UD beats all
comers in contest
for best computing

The University of Delaware's campus computer network has been named a model for the nation. This week the university was awarded first place in a competition among 18 schools in the United States and Canada by CAUSE, the 1,200-member national association for managing and using information resources. The university has spent years wiring virtually all of its operations. There are literally thousands of computer access points throughout the university. Every dormitory room and classroom is wired. All administrative and faculty offices are wired. And students can interact with the campus from their off-campus homes. That's a major achievement, but a lot of colleges and universities are wired.

CAUSE president Jane N. Ryland told a press conference why the University of Delaware was singled out: "To me, the important thing about this award is not that the university has put a lot of fiber in the ground or provided a lot of connections and technology on campus.

"In creating this award, it was important to us to recognize a campus--of whatever type--whose networking infrastructure and technology really furthered the mission of the university--the research, learning, teaching and public-service mission of the university."

Exactly. So often when new hardware is available, people put it in and then leave it to languish. It's a testament to Dr. David Roselle, the university's president, and others who offered leadership on this vitally important issue.

A measure of why the university is justifiably proud of this award can be found in the list of runners-up. Honorable mention went to Stanford University, the University of Alberta, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Loyola College in Maryland. All are fine schools.

We join CAUSE in congratulating the University of Delaware for this achievement.

The Wilmington, Del., News Journal Papers
Dec. 16, 1994
Reprinted with permission