Imagine a university…

…that provides its students, faculty, and staff with twenty-four hour access to information and resources from classrooms, libraries, gyms, lounges, dorms, and virtually any location on or off campus.

Imagine a university…

…that encourages flexible, collaborative learning, enabling students to create their own studies program based on individual needs and feedback from their assessments, interests, learning style, and evaluation methods.

Imagine a university…

…that virtually brings down its classroom walls—and brings in leading thinkers, professors, world leaders, and global resources— through distance learning tools.

Imagine a university…

…that enables students to select courses from renowned universities, libraries, galleries, and museums all over the world, for a truly multi- cultural, multilingual education.

Imagine a university…

…that makes education exciting, relevant, creative, and memorable, by offering an inter- active, media-rich, future-oriented curriculum, using computers, television, electronic libraries, and the Internet.

Imagine a university…

…that not only offers students the tools they’ll be using in their professional lives, but will continue to be a resource for them when they change jobs and require training, promoting true lifelong learning.

Each of these scenarios offers a vision of how higher education can be trans- formed through the use of technology, to ultimately provide a dynamic, individualized education for all students. At our company we offer not only the vision, but a plan that every college and university can use to achieve it.

Higher Education: An Institution In Transition

Today, higher education is facing a variety of new challenges. Global demand for the top students and faculty is increasing, and institutions must create comparative advantages to attract and retain the best and brightest. Budget cuts, fewer endowments, and lack of government support have forced colleges and universities to find new ways to reduce costs while continuing to provide a high-quality education.

In addition, the very student population that higher education serves is changing rapidly. Colleges and universities must now deal with a rise in the number of multicultural and global students, returning students, and students seeking continuing education opportuni- ties. Even after graduation, more students are seeking lifelong education for their profes- sional and personal development, in flexible formats that fit their lifestyles.

Moreover, many colleges and universities have been slow to respond to the needs of students who expect and demands technology in their daily lives. This new generation of visual and kinetic learners simply aren’t being offered the engaging, learn-at-your-own- pace higher education that technology can provide. Since much of today’s workforce uses Information Technology (IT) in their jobs, and others will need retraining to stay qualified, the demand for technology skills is more compelling than ever.

So how can higher education overcome these challenges, and give students the technology- based learning and expertise they require? Forward-thinking institutions are embracing new learning options and are creating open, connected campuses, to move beyond the Information Age into the Imagination Age.

Building The Campus Of The Future

In many institutions throughout the world, educators are making the transition to 21st century learning by following a step-by-step plan with these three basic guiding principles:

STEP 1

Build a global campus that ensures physical and virtual secure access to educational research resources and personnel.

The evolution of higher education starts with a reliable foundation: a converged IP network that can support future growth. This includes routers and switches in new and existing buildings, to create local-area networks (LANs) and wide-area networks (WANs) and provide Internet access. A secure wireless network improves collaboration and enables access to information and resources by students, faculty, and staff—anywhere, at any time.

This network supports integrated back-office applications and hardware, including:

1. Automated services and processes, such as Human Resources (HR), and enterprise resource planning (ERP) for real-time data sharing
2. A single integrated portable student information system, which includes grading and personal data
3. Facilities-based systems for parking, campus monitoring, maintenance, and more
4. Integrated physical and network security, to protect people, property, and information
5. IP Communications, including IP telephony, unified communications, IP audio and video conferencing, video streaming, and contact center applications, all of which enable more efficient interactions among students, faculty, administration and alumni, and provide the foundation for a collaborative academic environment
6. LAN Management, to simplify configuration, administration, monitoring, and troubleshooting of campus networks
7. ActiveLearning, which include a campus-wide website, department-specific websites, and even class websites
8. Storage area networks, which improve information accessibility and reduce total cost of ownership

Server virtualization solutions, to support high-end applications, simulate real world environments, and facilitate research projects

STEP 2

Move to student-centric teaching and learning.

As the converged campus takes shape and more applications are added, the focus now shifts to providing a customized education for each student. Through "smart," connected classrooms, dormitories, auditoriums, and libraries, students and faculty can access resources from anywhere they live and work. Teaching can then move to a "neo-style," which encourages visual learning through video as well as blended learning through interactive resources. Students can learn in their own timeframes, using rich media, information retrieval and analysis, online personal assessment and remediation, with easy access to faculty and global expertise. Online professional development can be made available to students in the workforce. Learning tools for faculty and students include:

1. A new generation of hand-held devices, including cell phones, PDAs, laptops, and iPods, which will enable students to access all class work, schedules, messages, and more from anywhere
2. Applications, such as Web design, presentation development, multimedia production, digital media asset management, calendaring, student assessment, special education software, and word processing.
3. A campus TV network that takes advantage of the robust IP infrastructure to deliver high-quality video and television programming across campus
4. Collaboration applications, for meetings, training sessions, and presentations, using voice, video, and Web conferencing
5. A curriculum Web site, where students can access assignments, resources, and faculty members
6. Distance learning programs, to extend each institution far beyond the reaches of its physical campus
7. Blended learning offerings, including tools for auditory, reflective, visual, and hands-on learners
8. Simulations and virtual environments, which enable students to interact with life-like, realistic events and situations, using computers and media

STEP 3