Colleges log on to new campuswide network
   Some of LSU’s colleges are leading the way in making the transition to a campuswide network.
The Manship School of Mass Communication, the College of Engineering and the Hebert Law Center are making the adjustment to the new Microsoft active directory system.
With the old NT system, students only could access their materials through their college’s computer lab and could not access it anywhere else on campus.
With the addition of the new system, students will not only be able to access their materials in other computer labs on campus, but off campus as well.
“We are in the stage where data can only be accessed on campus,” said Renee Pierce, computer analyst for the Manship School. “When this new system is activated, it will allow students to access their files off campus via PAWS.”
Students can not only expect to see an upgrade in the storage capabilities, but also in the speed and the manageability of the system as a whole.
“Students at LSU want more,” said Ronald Hay, chief information officer of Computing Services. “[Students] are very sophisticated and want to be able to deal with the University completely electronically. This system will be a challenge to initiate, but it will be well worth it.”
Because the old system is volume sensitive, many of the students’ needs were being hindered by downloading and printing.
“It will take some time to get everyone transferred, but once it is done, it will be a more easily managed system,” Pierce said.
Many teachers are beginning to make the transition to the new system and stress the benefits to their students.
“I am in a mass comm 2015 class and the professor said that we would be able to access our profile everywhere on campus,” said Triche Nail, a public relations senior. “I like it because it means that things that I save in my profile won’t be trashed at the end of the day. When the lab closes in the Mass Comm school, I don’t have to e-mail it to myself to be able to open it in the library.”
Tim Basilica