wfn.org | United Methodist schools make lists of most-wired colleges

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

April 24, 2000 News media contact: Linda Green·(615)742-5470·Nashville,
Tenn.     10-71B{220}

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) -- Instead of the standard winning football team,
Internet access has become a lightning rod that students are using to
determine the colleges and universities they will attend.

College-bound students are as interested in the Net resources of an academic
institution as in its curriculum or social life, according to a feature
story in the May edition of Yahoo! Internet Life, a publication founded by
the company that created Yahoo!, the Internet search engine. It also said
prospective students are as likely to virtually tour a college as visit in
person.

Twenty-five United Methodist-related institutions are listed in Yahoo!'s
"Top Wired Colleges and Universities of 2000" issue. The magazine separated
the top 100 colleges from the top 100 universities. It also ranked the top
100 two-year institutions and the 100 top "less selective" baccalaureate
colleges. 

Of the 25 United Methodist institutions named, 17 made the top colleges
list; two made the universities list; and six made the baccalaureate list.
None of the denomination's two-year colleges made the top 100 list for their
category.
 
When the magazine published its first wired colleges survey three years ago,
colleges and universities were beginning to wire residence halls. Today, the
magazine said, colleges are wiring everything from dining halls to garages.
Because an institution's network services evolve from year to year, Yahoo!
annually updates its survey to provide the most current snapshot of wired
schools. The magazine does not rely on previous collected data or previous
rankings. It gathers data every year to be current.

Nearly 1,300 colleges and universities from all 50 states responded to a
survey of 3,600 schools and contributed data about their computer network
systems, Internet research projects and student Web services. They also
submitted information on plans to incorporate technology in all areas of
campus life. The survey addressed four categories: access and
infrastructure; administrative services; general resources; and student
support.

Among universities, the most wired is Carnegie Mellon University, a
technology research institution in Pittsburgh. Ranked first on the
college/baccalaureate list is Williams College in Williamstown, Mass.

The top United Methodist-related institutions are Albion (Mich.) College,
the seventh-ranked wired college in America, and Mount Union College in
Alliance, Ohio, the third-ranked baccalaureate college.

In addition to Albion, other United Methodist-related colleges making the
top 100 colleges list, with their rankings, are: Illinois Wesleyan
University, Bloomington, Ill. (8); Randolph-Macon Woman's College,
Lynchburg, Va. (17); Huntingdon College, Montgomery, Ala. (31); Willamette
University, Salem, Ore. (32); Birmingham-Southern College, Birmingham, Ala.
(43); University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Wash. (54); DePauw University,
Greencastle, Ind. (72); Hendrix College, Conway, Ark. (73); Dickinson
College, Carlisle, Pa. (75); Wofford College, Spartanburg, S.C. (76); Drew
University, Madison, N.J. (77); Virginia Wesleyan College, Norfolk, Va.
(80); Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas (81); Allegheny College,
Meadville, Pa. (84); Ohio Wesleyan College, Delaware, Ohio (90); and
Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln, Neb. (100).

Included in the list of the top 100 wired universities in America is United
Methodist-related Syracuse University at 59 and the University of Denver at
65.

Joining Mount Union on the baccalaureate top 100 list are several other
church-related schools: Centenary College, Hackettstown, N.J. (22); Ferrum
(Va.) College (34); Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio (53); LaGrange (Ga.)
College (57); and McKendree College, Lebanon, Ill. (96).

The magazine provided a survey snapshot of the 100 most wired colleges and
universities:

·	98 percent allow prospective students to apply electronically;
·	84 percent allow students to reserve library books electronically;
·	68 percent offer Web-based registration;
·	64 percent offer Web-based drop/add service;
·	59 percent provide eight-plus hours of tech support, seven days a
week;
·	56 percent offer high-speed access in all classrooms;
·	41 percent offer some wireless access on campus;
·	38 percent offer students more than 25MB of server disk space;
·	35 percent provide public computer equipment or labs in all
dormitories; and
·	11 percent require students to own computers.

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United Methodist News Service
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