The ETC Vision Statement
(Adopted by the Electronic Technology Committee, 4/3/95, updated
12/9/96, and 4/15/98)
The "Goals for Electronic Technology at Washburn University" and "Minimum Resources Required to Meet ETC Goals at Washburn University" provide the framework around which the campus computing vision is built. We have strived for a realistic vision, one which can meet the needs of the institution in a cost-effective way. The client/server model is the basis for this realistic vision, enabling us to grow the client population to a large number without requiring a cast of thousands to support that population. To paraphrase the age-old real estate line, the three most important things affecting academic computing are "access, access, and access." Thus, clients must offer those basic features necessary for the man/machine interface; i.e. a large, high-resolution monitor, a keyboard with a good touch, and a pointing device such as a mouse or track ball.
The rest of the work is then left to servers which provide services to all clients on the network. The servers must have the storage and processing power to handle the demands placed on them. They must have operating systems which are secure, manageable, scalable, and which support the software needed by the users and by the network operation. The network connecting the clients and the servers must have sufficient bandwidth to support communications between those devices. We expect and plan for increased bandwidth needs as audio traffic and digital video traffic joins the regular data traffic on the network.
We will need to increase not only the bandwidth but the number of access points, for as students, faculty and staff become increasing more technologically literate, their demands will grow rapidly. Our approach has for several years been directed by the now-popular phrase, "the network is the computer."
Thus, our vision is of access for all of our users, at the access point
of their choosing (office, classroom, laboratory, home, or anywhere in
the world), to audio, video and data stored anywhere in the world. Our
belief is that this access, when combined with the skills of our faculty,
will lead to students who are better prepared for this information age.
And we believe that this can and must be done in a fiscally responsible
way so that Washburn University can also afford the other things it needs
to be effective, such as lab instruments, tables, chairs, classrooms, books,
people, and perhaps even the occasional pay raise.
