“The changes I experienced moving from the Historic South to a college in Northern New England were not the only changes I experienced in the first-year Pathway seminar.”
Xanthe Hilton,
History Society & Culture
Technology Resources
Data Network Infrastructure
In order to provide the best possible performance for the campus community the computer network at Colby-Sawyer College is under
continual evaluation and improvement. Network hardware is updated according to an integrated plan addressing issues of security, bandwidth and flexibility. Overall planning encompasses such diverse issues as server hardware, server operating system, network protocols and the actual campus fiber/cable plant infrastructure.
Currently our data network is based on a switched, Gigabit or 1000-Base-FL backbone with a switched 100 Megabit port for, “Every Pillow”. Our campus servers are primarily Windows 2000 Server and Advanced Server, however, other operating environments are used in certain cases when appropriate. The bandwidth capacity of four dedicated T1 lines are combined to connect us to our Internet provider. Recently upgraded firewall and new bandwidth management capabilities further improve our network security and performance.
Administrative Software
Information Resources supports the Colby-Sawyer College administrative software package. This includes troubleshooting system problems, assisting with ongoing system design and modification needs and monitoring day to day system functions. Currently we are reviewing options that will allow the college to offer current information to faculty, staff and students via the web, keeping
Colby-Sawyer College up to date with it's computer systems.
Intranet
Colby-Sawyer maintains some information on private internal web servers. These resources include library subscriptions that are limited by license and some course work information.
Email
All faculty, staff, and students have Colby-Sawyer email accounts. Many communications are sent only by email and only to the
Colby-Sawyer email accounts rather than external accounts that people may have, so it is essential that students, faculty and staff check
their Colby-Sawyer email regularly.
Hardware
The College has standardized on a Windows platform and has deployed Windows based computers in every department except the Graphic Design Studio, where Macintosh G4 computers are used. Campus hardware is leased, which allows for regularly scheduled upgrades. There are 109 computers in labs, "smart classrooms", mini-labs, and 14 Internet terminals in the Library/Learning Center. All computers have network and Internet access.
Software
Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional are the campus standard operating systems and Microsoft Office 2000 and XP Professional are the standard productivity suites for word-processing (Word), spreadsheets (Excel), database (Access), and presentations (PowerPoint). The CIS105 course offers an introduction to Microsoft Office. The Office XP Professional suite is available to students to install on their own computers. It is free of charge through a special licensing agreement with Microsoft. The college also offers ESET-NOD32 Antivirus software free of charge for students to use on their own computers. Individual professors may have course-specific programs that they use. These programs are taught in specific classes and are supported by the professors.
