CSUMB Among Nation's Top Wireless Campuses

A survey conducted by Intel Corporation in conjunction with the Center for Digital Education ranks California State University, Monterey Bay among the top wireless campuses in the nation or, as the survey calls it, the "Most Unwired Campuses." The survey, which was published in Monday's edition of U.S. News & World Report, ranks the university 13th among the top 50. It's one of only four schools in California to make the list.

Intel Corporation sponsored the survey to identify the U.S. colleges and universities that have the greatest wireless Internet access.~Bert Sperling, noted researcher and creator of the "Best Places" studies, conducted the survey.

CSUMB's academic and administrative buildings, residence halls, dining facilities and green spaces have wireless access.

Survey findings are 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.

CSUMB made this year's rankings of Most Unwired Campuses not only because it has implemented wireless access throughout its campus, but also because it is in the forefront of exploring innovative ways to use this new technology through the Wireless Education and Technology Center based on campus.

For example, students from the Division of Science and Environmental Policy use Tablet PCs and digital cameras to revolutionize field geology; science students conduct seafloor mapping in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary using iPAQs and laptops; and archeology students use wireless technology in their field work at the Carmel and San Juan Bautista missions. Other students, working with the education program at Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve installed a solar-powered wireless transmitter at a research blind to provide nomadic explorations of the bird and aquatic life to local school children. These are just a few examples of how wireless technology has been integrated into the teaching and learning environment at CSUMB.

For more information, contact CSUMB's chief technology officer Dr. Gilbert Gonzales at 582-4700 or Arlene Krebs, director of the Wireless Education and Technology Center, at 582-5025.

Media contact: Joan Weiner, News and Public Information Officer, (831) 582-3653