Albion College has been recognized as a leader in providing technology resources and support to students, faculty and staff. The Information Technology staff provides superior technical skills and customer service to the campus community.
Powering Albion College's high-speed network is a fiber optic dual-Gigabit Ethernet backbone that extends to every residence hall room, public lab, faculty office and classroom. In addition, the College has a wireless network with significant campus coverage. These networks are connected to the Internet via a fractional T3 line. Windows-based computers are the campus standard, although other types of workstations are used for specific applications. All students, faculty and staff members are automatically provided network accounts that allow them access to e-mail, file and World Wide Web page storage. Graduating students are provided with a lifetime e-mail account. As part of campus agreements, students receive updated Microsoft Office Suite and anti-virus software. Technical assistance can be obtained from technology assistants or the Help Desk.
Public computer facilities are available in Olin Hall, Putnam Hall, Robinson Hall and Stockwell-Mudd Libraries and an advanced technology computer lab in the Ferguson Student, Technology, and Administrative Services Building that is equipped with digital imaging, digital video and wireless capabilities. Specialized computing facilities dedicated to particular departments, residence hall computer labs and technology-enhanced classrooms, are located throughout the campus. Portable media systems supporting classroom instruction are also available in a number of campus locations.
The Instructional Technology department provides support for faculty, staff and students in their use of technology to enhance teaching, learning and research. The department supports a media development lab for those requiring assistance with digital imaging and digital video editing projects, and loaner equipment such as laptop computers, projectors and digital cameras. Online training is available throughout the year to introduce the computer and network systems, Microsoft Office applications, e-mail, graphics, Web use, and to provide advanced information on specific topics.
Central administrative computing systems include a Windows server running the Oracle database system. The College's administrative software, Sungard Corporation's Banner, also resides on this computer. Most of the College's business applications are run in the Banner system, including registration and student records, finance, financial aid, human resources and institutional advancement. In addition, several Windows servers provide Web interfaces to the Banner and e-mail systems for students, faculty and staff.
The Division of Information Technology is committed to providing appropriate technology resources and support to meet faculty, staff and student needs. Detailed information on the division's services is available at www.albion.edu/it.