Wireless Internet will no longer be limited to the Barone Campus Center, the library or a secluded group of equipped classrooms.

In September 2007, Computer Networking and Services anticipates full wireless availability on campus.

According to James Estrada, Vice President for Information Services, the townhouses already have complete wireless access. Plans for wireless capabilities in Dolan Hall East and West are in the works.

“This autumn we completed the access point installations in the townhouses,” he said. “We expect that Dolan Hall, East and West, will have wireless access by the end of the semester.”

Estrada also hopes that the village apartments will have wireless access by the end of January 2007. The Quad, however, will not be wired until the summer.

“We will continue to work on selected dorms, those we can work in without disrupting the students, until the end of the spring semester,” he said.

Campus-wide wireless Internet has been discussed since 1999, according to Estrada, but it was not until 2002 that it was seriously considered.

“Obviously we stay abreast of various technology, but we acquired some in a pilot mode in 1999,” he said. “We put it in a few places in 2002 we became more serious about developing a master plan.”

Steve Dailey, assistant director of Computing ‘ Network Services (C’NS), feels a fully wireless campus would be appealing to incoming students.

“It’s certainly an attractive selling point,” he said.

But Dailey also expressed reservations about the initiative.

“The more convenience you have, the less security,” he added.

According to Estrada, the process has taken a while because the original cost was prohibitive.

“The initial cost of access points was too high for a campus wide project,” he said. “A preliminary estimate for such a project in 2002, including the engineering study to determine where best to locate access points, would have been over $3 million.”

Now, Estrada believes the cost will be roughly $600,000. This number, however, is “primarily for the College of Arts and Sciences.”

According to Estrada, the School of Engineering took up the wireless effort without C’NS assistance, while the School of Nursing recently received a grant that includes wireless access. The Dolan School of Business, however, has been working with C’NS to further its wireless support.

Estrada also saw the lack of laptops on campus at the time this project was seriously considered as a major factor in the delay.

“As late as 2002, the installed based of laptop computers was than 5 percent for faculty and less than 15 percent for students,” he said. “I think this is one of the main reasons why the Fairfield community wasn’t lobbying for this technology.”

But “complete” wireless access does not mean every classroom. While certain rooms in Canisius Hall and the Dolan School of Business have wireless capabilities, the project will not move forward in the classrooms “without support of the faculty or safeguards that regulate access by faculty,” Estrada said.

In addition, Dailey feels that wireless access in the classroom could be a distraction for students.

“A lot of classes like the EN11 classes use it in the classroom, and it’s a great benefit,” he said. “[But] it depends on how it’s monitored by the professor.”

Faculty support for the project has also been varied, according to Estrada.

“The literature we’ve seen indicates that while most faculty welcome wireless access on campus, there are mixed feelings about the value of unregulated student access to the Internet during class,” he said.

Dailey also acknowledged that complete wireless access is not a requirement for the Fairfield campus.

“I think it’s an enormous commodity and convenience. Do I think it’s a necessity? No,” said Dailey.

For the most part, students were thrilled with the news of increased wireless support in the coming year.

“It makes life a lot easier,” Amanda Goldstein ‘10 said, adding that complete wireless access is great but not a necessity. “I don’t think [the University] needs it, but I think it will be a great asset.”

“It’s more of a convenience,” said Katrin Roessler ‘08.

She feels the decision was made in reaction to wireless availabilities in other public places, such as hotels.

“I think it’s just to keep up with rising standards,” she said.

But some students, including Arthur Olvesen ‘09, are not as pleased.

“It’s kind of a waste of money,” he said, adding that the money spent on the wireless network, more specifically in the dorms, would have been better spent improving the current network.