College using technology to engage more students

For this month's column, we asked Jose Bernier, vice chancellor of Information Innovation, to share some of our recent technical strides toward making the University of Hawaii Maui College the most wired Neighbor Island campus in the University of Hawaii system.

It's no surprise that students are using research more than ever. However what might be surprising is how that research is improving their overall educational experience during saving the college tens of thousands of dollars each year.

One of the interesting contradictions these days is that being a wired campus means being . . . wireless. So during most students and faculty enjoyed their summer break, the Information Research Department was hard at work upgrading our wireless infrastructure and installing more than 66 wireless access points covering 33 buildings. We as well upgraded our more than 25-year-old phone system to a more efficient and cost-saving Voice over Internet Protocol phone system. This combined effort between Information Innovation Services from the UH system, Hawaiian Telcom and our IT team here at Maui College allowed us to successfully install more than 375 new VoIP phones saving the college $40,000 per year.