The evolution of the electronic campus: from a communication system to an educational delivery system

Abstract

In 1987, Northwest Missouri State University implemented the first comprehensive networked campus in the nation at a public university in an effort to prepare its faculty, staff and more than 6,000 students for the emerging information-driven society. Northwest's Electronic Campus Program, which was heralded by the Washington Post[1] and USA Today[2] as innovative and exigent, provided networked computing stations in every residence hall room, faculty office and administrative office. In 1997, Northwest also began issuing a personal notebook computer to all of its faculty members and added electronic classrooms with audio and video projection systems. Since its inception 16 years ago, Northwest's Electronic Campus has evolved from an academic system with high capacity communication structures to a complex educational delivery system that has truly become an integral part of the university's daily living and learning experience. Moreover, that evolution has been filled with all the joys and headaches associated with the growing pains of nurturing and watching an infant develop into a rambunctious teenager. Northwest's Information Systems has had the responsibility of parenting this digital entity to help it cope with new and increasingly greater information and technology demands. These demands include, but are not limited to, the support for online degrees and courses in cooperation with the Center for Information Technology in Education. In this paper, the authors will discuss that development-its past, present and future-along with the costs of rearing such an entity, and how Information Systems is helping Northwest's Electronic Campus master the many technological challenges of the twenty-first century.