Starting in the fall of 2018, the Achieve IT: Network Foundations project will modernize the University of Arkansas network to increase reliability, speed and mobility to meet the growing needs of students, faculty and staff.

During the project, all components of the wired and wireless network will be upgraded to ensure the high-quality experience the community expects campuswide. With an increasingly tech-savvy student body, wireless internet access is no longer a benefit but a baseline expectation. 

A variety of mobile devices, from laptops to Apple TVs and PlayStations, arrive on campus each semester. This represents a growing challenge for the mixture of older legacy equipment installed throughout campus at various points in the network's development.

"We envisioned the network to support an increasingly mobile and connected smart campus. Only 40% of our 50,000 wired network ports are used. This project will pivot our investment from a traditional wired network to a wireless first network." Elon Turner, director of infrastructure systems, said. "Wi-Fi is increasingly preferred by our community so we're making that experience the focus."

Updates will be added to the Achieve IT: Network Foundations project page as the work plan is finalized and vendors selected. Building managers and departments will be communicated with well in advance of any work that could disrupt learning, research or work.