With the help of the new AT&T Inc. Mobile Computing Program on campus, Seton Hall was named the fifth most connected college in the country by the U.S. News & World Report.
Seton Hall University went through various steps to achieve this honor, according to Dr. Stephen G. Landry, chief information officer for information technology.
"This is based on a survey that U.S. News and World Report sends out annually to all colleges and universities (where) they take into account the Internet bandwidth the campus has, how many computers the campus has available to undergraduate students...the kinds of resources that students have available...(and many other factors)," he said.
According to Landry, there are many contributing factors that helped Seton Hall achieve a high ranking.
"I think it's a lot of things that the campus has done for the past five to 10 years that have contributed (to the ranking such as) constantly upgrading the campus networks, constantly improving the network-based services that are available through the Banner system (as) all that adds up," he said.
The ranking allows IT and many offices and services on campus to be recognized for making Seton Hall "technology friendly," according to Landry.
The University has put in a great amount of effort in this technological movement, said Dr. Tracy H. Gottlieb, vice president of student services.
"We have spent more than a dozen years intensely working to make sure our students are well connected and fluent with technology," she said. "We have always strived to make sure that the tools we equip our new students with have real-world applications and facilitate higher learning."
According to Gottlieb, having Seton Hall nationally acknowledged for its diligence in the IT department reflects positively on the University.
Students interviewed agreed, that Seton Hall's dedication to improve technology has allowed the college to stay current with emerging technologies.
To sophomore Nancy Sam this ranking means the University stays on top of new advancements.
"It's a step forward for Seton Hall being ranked because it means that this school was able to keep with current technological advancement and that's hard to do being as every second something becomes obsolete," she said.
Freshman Janessa Rivera said she feels that studying at a technologically forward University allows her to accomplish many tasks while simultaneously keeping up with the changing times.
"Being part of the Seton Hall connection enables me to communicate with my fellow peers and also makes doing my work so much easier," she said. "(It also) helps us to keep up with the ever-changing world of technology."
Seton Hall is doing numerous things that will enable them to continue being in the top ranks such as the recent introduction of Windows 8 for students as well as the introduction of smartphones, Landry said.
Lorena Hernandez can be reached at lorena.hernandez@student.shu.edu.
