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UOnet, the University of Oregon's campuswide computer network, recently took top honors in a national competition that recognizes best practices in campus networking in higher education. The 1996 Award for Excellence in Campus Networking was formally presented to University Computing director Joanne Hugi and assistant directors Dale Smith and Dave Ulrich on December 5 at the CAUSE 96 conference in San Francisco. CAUSE is the organization that promotes computing and network information resources in higher education.
CAUSE cited UOnet for both its impressive technical specifications and its practical applications. Fulfilling our network engineering staff's early vision of bringing network access to the entire University community, UOnet currently provides some 20,000 students, faculty, and staff with convenient access to state-of-the-art networking facilities, services, and resources. The UO network was also commended for advancing a new level of interinstitutional collaboration, through projects such as the Network for Engineering and Research in Oregon (NERO) and the Lane Education Network (LEN), as well as its outreach efforts to involve government agencies and officials in network communication.
CAUSE award applicants are separated into two categories -- those with institutional budgets over $100 million, and those under. The UO won in the higher-budget category. Since the mid-1970s, the UO has invested some $3.3 million of departmental funds and a U.S. Department of Education grant in the development of its network, considerably less than the $21 million spent by last year's winner, Cornell University. Referring to the intensive effort involved in building UOnet's infrastructure, Hugi says, "Even with a small staff, we've been extremely creative in using our limited resources, and bold enough to excel. We believed we could build a world-class network, and we have."
The university's entry, endorsed by President Dave Frohnmayer and Provost John Moseley, was produced by Ulrich and publications editor Joyce Winslow. Other University Computing contributors were Hugi, Joe St Sauver (Academic User Services), Dale Smith (Network Services), Dave Meyer (Advanced Network Technology Center), and Lynn Buffing (Assistant to the Director). Contributors to the entry from other University departments were Deborah Carver and Andrew Bonamici (Knight Library), James Bailey (Academic Advising and Student Services), and Dave Barta (Telecommunications Services).
A summary of the UO's achievement is presented online at
http://cause-www.colorado.edu/pd/awards/network/1996/oregon-sum.html
The complete text of the UO's entry may be viewed via Adobe Acrobat at
http://cause-www.colorado.edu/pd/awards/network/1996/oregon.pdf
CAUSE winners and applications in every category are available at
http://cause-www.colorado.edu/pd/awards/network/1996/applicants.html