Hampton University named one of America's top colleges for wireless capability

Hampton, VA - Hampton University is one of America’s top 50 colleges for wireless Internet capability, according to a new survey released Oct. 11 by Intel Corp. and the Center for Digital Education.

HU, which recently unveiled wireless Internet access throughout campus, was ranked number 39 and is one of only two Virginia schools on the “Most Unwired” list

“We have a president in Dr. William R. Harvey who has made a strategic investment in information technology, technology which prepares our community of scholars to be competitive in a global society” said. Dr. Debra Saunders-White, vice president for technology at HU. “Wireless technology is just one of those tools.”

Over the past several years, wireless-enabled laptops have become a necessity for many college students, allowing them the ability to access information no matter their location. Over the 2005 summer break, HU installed more than 300 wireless “access points” across campus to provide Internet access to students in the fall semester.

More than 95 percent of HU students bring some type of computer with them to campus, according to White and she expects the new wireless network to lead more students to abandon desktop computers in favor of laptops.

In 2003, The Princeton Review named HU the 9th "Most Connected" campus for students' access to technology. In addition, HU is working with the White House initiative to assist other HBCU’s in developing their information technology capacities. HU is also working with Virginia Sen. George Allen and Congressman Randy Forbes in developing opportunities to provide an equitable landscape for our community’s cyber infrastructures.

The “Most Unwired” survey was based on the percentage of each campus that is covered by wireless technology, the number of undergraduate students and the computer-to-student ratio for each school. The study examined schools with more than 1,000 students.

Data was gathered from university interviews, public documents and additional industry sources; the “America's Most Connected Campuses” ranking conducted by Princeton Review and published in Forbes; and an online survey that schools completed between May 1 and Sept. 1, 2005, which was executed by the Center for Digital Education and Intel Corporation.