UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 15, Page 1
December 15, 1994
UD honored as 'model' in campus computing

     The University has received a top national award for its
leadership in campus computing and was called a "model" for other
institutions of higher learning across the country.
     The CAUSE Award for Excellence in Campus Networking, which
recognizes exemplary campus-wide network planning, management and
accessibility, as well as effective use of the campus-wide network to
enhance teaching, learning, research, administration and community
service, was presented Dec. 12 to University President David P.
Roselle by Jane N. Ryland, CAUSE president.
     CAUSE is the national association for managing and using
information resources in higher education. Its members include more
than 1,200 higher education institutions and corporate partners around
the world.
     Honorable-mention institutions in this year's competition are
Stanford University, Penn State University, the University of Alberta
in Canada, Stevens Institute of Technology and Loyola College in
Maryland.
     The University of Delaware was named tops in the nation because
it implemented a network strategy that has successfully embedded
information resources into the campus culture. The selection committee
said the UD plan clearly supports the mission of the University and
that it has used the plan to help successfully reengineer University
processes and procedures.
     In presenting the award at a ceremony on the Newark campus,
Ryland said, "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....
     "I think the committee noted, in particular, that the networking
at the University of Delaware met that criterion particularly well,"
Ryland said. She also praised Roselle, saying that "it starts from the
top."
     "The committee, in making the award, noted that technology has
really changed the way the University of Delaware does business,"
Ryland said. "It's helped reengineer a number of processes; it's
helped improve research, teaching and learning and public service; and
it's really made a difference on campus. Some of the things that were
noted were that voice, video and data are integrated in the network,
that the technology goes into the residence halls, that multimedia is
able to come directly into the classrooms, that every facet of the
campus community is affected, that visitors to the campus can go to
kiosks and find their way around...."
     Another important role of the award is to identify "best
practices" for other institutions, Ryland said. "It's something that's
important to all our colleges and universities today to look for those
incidences of best practices that will serve as models that can be
followed. And you should be proud, all of you, about the model that
the University of Delaware is establishing."
     In accepting the award, Roselle said, "I'm pleased to accept this
on behalf of all the people who do the work at the University of
Delaware. It's a wonderful award, and I think well deserved by our
staff.... They've worked hard and they've worked very smart. We're real
proud of them and what they've done for our institution."
     Michael Zastrocky, vice president of CAUSE and chairperson of the
award selection committee, said, "I think the University of Delaware
should be proud when it looks at the list of honorable mention
institutions."
     He called the award not only a representation of great things at
the University of Delaware but of "great things that institutions of
higher learning are doing around the world, and I think that's a real
honor for the University of Delaware."
     Daniel Bagwell, senior director of education sales and programs
of Novell Inc., the sponsor of the CAUSE Award, said the award
presentation reflected on "the accomplishments of the universities
across the country and, in particular, the University of Delaware.
This is really their day, and they should be very proud, and we're
proud to have sponsored the award and have our name in a little place
there on the trophy beside it."
     "It is especially gratifying to me that we have achieved this
national recognition," Susan J. Foster, vice president for information
technologies, said. "In 1989, we laid plans to not only make our
network reach everywhere on our campuses, but to make use of that
network to the benefit of students, faculty and staff. Though it is
good to know that we have achieved this, it is doubly gratifying that
our achievement is nationally recognized."
     At the conclusion of the award presentation, Carl Jacobson,
director of Management Information Services at the University,
presented an overview of the award-winning UD network.