Computer Services
The Office of Computer Services maintains all facilities and services associated with computer technology at Wilmington College. Faculty, staff, and students are provided with a comprehensive selection of technology for use in the classroom, office, and residence halls.
The Computers
Virtually all computers at Wilmington College are Pentium- or PowerMac-based systems.
College-owned systems in offices and labs are replaced every three years to keep pace with the demands of contemporary software. Systems are designed to meet a baseline of functional requirements compatible with institutionally supported software and processing.
This means that everyone from the President to a faculty member to a student to a staff member have the same applications and computer resources available to them. A great deal of effort has gone into fighting the incompatibility of different versions and titles of software.
We think it has paid off in facilitating information flow throughout the institution, while reducing a typically recurring annoyance in computer technology. Virtually every college system has access to the Microsoft Office suite, a common set of network applications, and more than 100 titles in academic and personal productivity software.
The Network
Wilmington College’s data network is based on a fiber-optic infrastructure running through nearly thirty buildings on three campuses. The core elements of the backbone are currently load-balanced OC-12 (300+ mb/s) Gigabyte circuits.
All academic and administrative buildings and residence halls are wired for access to information resources available at the College and on the Internet. Such resources include file/print sharing from virtually every desktop computer in offices and computer labs, access to online CD-ROM-based academic and research resources, email and Internet facilities, WebCT (the college's web-based courseware environment), WebIT (our web interface to administrative data for faculty and students), and WC@Home (the college's web portal to better communications within the community).
Connections to desktop computer systems in offices and classrooms are predominantly full-duplex Fast Ethernet. The residence halls are all full-duplex Fast Ethernet to each student port, one per pillow. The campus in Cincinnati (located in Blue Ash) is connected to the main campus in Wilmington with T1 circuits permitting the integration of both data and voice signals between sites, with video to be integrated into these circuits for classroom video conferencing in the coming year.
A VPN gateway was set up in the spring of 2000 extending access from off-campus facilities over secure channels, permitting access to the WC@Home page by any valid computer user at the college. This includes any faculty, staff, administrators, registered students, and adjunct instructors. They only have to have their own Internet Service Provider in order to use a VPN connection. For complete information, contact Computer Services.
The Central System
Wilmington runs a combination of UNIX and Windows NT systems on the Wilmington and Cincinnati campuses. A Hewlett-Packard D370 runs the college administrative database and an 847s system handles ancillary administrative processing efforts such as the routing of email, the college online directory, and USEnet news services.
NT servers provide users with applications and file sharing capabilities and distributed printing to nearly 40 laser printers throughout the institution. All employees and students have convenient access to home directories on local campus servers for secure storage of personal files.
Systems and services are designed such that members of the college community may go to any college system on any campus and have access to the same resources they would in their office, computer lab, or residence hall, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Computer Services maintains a number of information resources to enhance information processing in the classroom and office, including USEnet news service for more than 5,800 newsgroups, online directories for members of the current college community and alumni, and listservs and web-based course information for each class at each campus.
The Internet web server, WC@Home portal, WebCT courseware, and WebIT administrative services are maintained by Computer Services with technical services provided to enhance those facilities. Public Relations maintains the content and design of the Internet web site. WC@Home, the college's intranet web facility, is completely dynamic in nature, permitting individual departments, organizations, faculty, and students to actively contribute to college communications in real time. The best part is, users don't have to know anything about HTML or web design to get information on WC@Home. Here’s a sample of what that site looks like.
Administrative Processing
Central administrative processing is handled on a database developed by CARS Information Systems for academic and business-related information processing. While staff access the system to corporately maintain information associated with the academic progress of students and business accounting for the institution, WebIT provides faculty and students with a web interface to the system for purposes of review of academic information, financial aid and billing information, degree auditing, and online registration. The system is accessible from any computer connected to the college network via the WC@Home web site.
THE RESOURCES
A Computer Account
Access to college computer resources revolves around a college computer account. Registered students and employees have accounts automatically created for them, ready to use upon their arrival at Wilmington. With the account comes access to college resources and all the resources of the Internet. Each account comes with a home directory for convenient storage of personal files.
Student accounts are credited with 300 pages of free printing each semester from college laser printers. While credit for additional pages may be purchased, most students are able to accommodate their printing needs within the allocation. We also like to think that saving paper is a small part of being socially responsible for our environment.
Our most recent development in educational technology is the implementation of WebCT, providing classes on every Wilmington campus with a web-based environment for constructing course materials and class interaction through online lessons, discussion forums, and quizzes. Registered students are preloaded into the system for their class before the first class meets! Students are also automatically added to class listservs for all their classes. All this means that timely information and class interaction can be extended beyond the classroom, further enhancing the educational process.
Did we mention student homepages? Registered students can request to have a homepage defined for them. The basic homepage is, well, basic. But students are free to reconstruct these pages to share a little about who they are and their place in the college community. These also allow students ample resources to present in a web-based facility any coursework that might be required of them. Faculty also have their own home pages that you might want to check out.
Computer Labs
Robinson Communication Center houses the majority of main campus computer labs. More than 70 Windows2000 computers are arranged in four classroom facilities which double as hands-on instructional facilities for more than twenty classes and workshops a week, as well as walk-in computer facilities for members of the college community. There are more than 150 applications available in the college computer labs, including those from Microsoft, Adobe, Borland, and SPSS.
Watson Library houses two additional facilities for computer usage on the main campus. There are currently six multi-media systems for use with VCR/Video connections and static video cameras. While constructed initially for the Education Department, these systems are available for use by the college community when not occupied by Education students and faculty. Twelve additional computers are available with the added benefit of having professional library staff close at hand for assistance.
The Blue Ash campus contains a computer classroom permitting registered students to use the majority of software available at the main campus facilities. Registered students at the Cincinnati campus may use the facilities freely during hours of operation when classes are not scheduled.
Classrooms
Virtually all classrooms at Wilmington College are wired for access to the college network. Once on the network, resources provided by Computer Services or the Internet may be accessed in the same manner as from offices or computer labs.
Science laboratories in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology have nearly 20 computer systems designed to interface with experimental platforms or provide access to college computer resources via the network.
The Music laboratory has 12 computer systems designed to interface with piano keyboards for studies in piano pedagogy and composition or provide access to college computer resources via the network.
Offices
All faculty and staff offices at Wilmington College are wired for access to the college network. Employees of the institution have convenient access to a desktop computer system permitting the processing of information within the administrative database, college communications through email and related services, and institutionally supported applications. Faculty and staff also have the opportunity to install additional software on their office systems as need warrants.
Residence Halls
Students living in Austin, Pickett, Marble, Denver, Bailey, Friends, the Village, or College Commons who have a computer that meets the specifications outlined below are able to purchase a network interface card, if needed, and installation services to allow them connect their computer to the college network. The work is done by our third-party vendor, Pomeroy Computer Resources, here on campus.
Students who want to use a PC-compatible computer must also have a legally licensed, non-trial antivirus program installed on their personal computers, or they can use the college's antivirus program, Sophos, free-of-charge. Antivirus programs recognized by the college's network include Authenium, Avast, AVG, AVGuard, Bitdefender, EZ Antivirus, Kaspersky, McAfee, McAfeeNA, McAfree45, MS OneCare, Panda, Sophos, SpySweeper AV, Symantec, Symantec Corp., Trendmicro, and Trendmicro Corp.
Once connected, generally they will be able to access their home directory, class files, WC@Home, WebIT, WebCT, and Internet resources, as they would in any of the college’s computer facilities. Macintosh users can retrieve email and do web browsing from the residence halls; however, they are not able to access home directories or lab applications at this time. Microsoft Office applications and other software are not available to residence hall machines.
Required Minimum Machine Specifications and Cost (1)
PC Desktop Computer
- 1 GHz or faster Pentium IV or compatible (2)
- 512 MB memory (3)
- 1 GB free hard drive space
- 1 free PCI slot (4)
- Windows 2000 SP4, XP SP1, or Vista
- Charge — $60 (w/onboard network card) or $70 (w/college-installed network card)
PC Laptop Computer
- 1 GHz or faster Pentium IV or compatible (2)
- 512 MB memory
- 1 GB free hard drive space
- 1 free PCMCIA slot (4)
- Windows 2000 SP4, XP SP1, or Vista
- Floppy disk drive or CD-ROM available
- Charge — $60 (w/onboard network card) or $95 (w/college-installed network card
Macintosh Computer
- Built-in Ethernet only
- OS 8.x or higher
- Charge — $60
(1) Minimum machine specifications and cost are subject to change from semester to semester.
(2) We have experienced network difficulties with machines using the AMD K6 and AMD K6/2 processors.
(3) We recommend that Vista machines have 1 GB or more of memory, as 512 MB is the minimum needed for it to run.
(4) This is for the network card or it can have a network card already installed (onboard).
Support and Services
Computer Services is continually building a professional and student staff focused on servicing the needs of the college community. Currently support includes providing nearly 100 free workshops a semester to all members of the college community on computer applications and topics of interest to the greater community. Staff members are also available for consulting in the acquisition of computer technology and tutoring in specific processes.
Student employees of Computer Services make up a large part of the support of main campus Computer Lab operations. Students are available for ready assistance during hours of operation for the main Campus Lab. Our "assistants" are trained to provide users of the lab facilities help in the operations of the major applications available. Students seeking employment opportunities should contact Computer Services at ext. 459, 8 a.m. — 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
College system repairs are coordinated through Computer Services for all systems and network components on all campuses. Repairs are typically made within a few days.
Professional support for faculty, staff, and students is available from 8 a.m. — 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Student workers are available during the hours of operation of the main campus labs. Please call our Help Desk at ext. 459 or 551 if you need any assistance.
Main Campus Computer Lab
Robinson Communication Center
Supervisor: Lauren Wayson, Coordinator of Operations
Main Campus Computer Lab Hours *
Sundays — 2:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
Mondays through Thursdays — 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.
Fridays — 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
These hours vary during holidays, breaks, finals, and summer sessions.
Cincinnati Branch Computer Lab Hours *
Mondays and Thursdays — 9:45 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Tuesdays and Wednesdays
— 9:45 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Fridays
— 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Saturdays — 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
* Hours vary during holidays, breaks, finals, and summer sessions. Please call the appropriate campus to verify.
Contact Info
Office of Computer Services: (937) 382-6661, ext. 459/551
Robinson Communication Center
Director of Computer Services
Donna Painter
Coordinator of Administrative Processing
Tammy Shadley
Associate Director/Network Administrator
Mike Boyle
Coordinator for User Services
Catherine Hanshaw
Programmer Analyst
Dave Calondis
Coordinator of Operations
Lauren Wayson