Fort Scott Community College upgrades Internet technology

Fort Scott Community College is keeping up with the latest in today's technological advances.

During their Monday board meeting, members of the FSCC Board of Trustees approved $18,600 in equipment purchases through a technology grant designed to enhance the use, safety and efficiency of computer equipment by staff and students at the two-year college. The rest of the total approved cost came from money set aside at FSCC for the purchase of technology equipment, an FSCC statement said.

The list of equipment includes a security device for staff and student data that is transmitted over the Internet, network monitoring and reliability software, wireless networking services in the FSCC Academic building, and a wireless management server that will be a hub for the college's Internet connection.

A $1,200 security appliance, called the Juniper SA700, will allow FSCC staff and faculty members to access sensitive resources at the college -- such as staff file storage areas -- while working at home, through an encrypted session.

"It allows employees working from home to get a secure connection back to the college," FSCC Director of Information Systems Services Casey Russell said.

Staff members who currently work from home on the administrative system are sending sensitive student data in simple text over the Internet, and the danger is that any person with proper access can log onto a computer and view that information, Russell said. The new security device will allow FSCC Information Technology staff to set up encrypted tunnels for staff and faculty to use that will secure any sensitive transmitted information, he said.

The security device will greatly enhance the security of student data on the administrative system. The primary purpose of this project is to improve student data security, the FSCC statement said.

About $2,500 in network monitoring and reliability software, called What's Up Professional, will allow IT staff to react more quickly when the network connection at the college goes down, or if some other network malfunction or problem occurs, Russell said.

"There is nothing right now," he said. "Staff have to text message us or call us when there is a problem."

Currently, IT staff have to be notified by another college staff member through telephone or other means of communication when a problem happens, but the new software will instantly notify IT staff automatically by sending them a message via cellular phone. The primary purpose of the software is to enhance network reliability.

IT staff currently use programs that monitor bandwidth use, server availability and the availability of services over the network, which typically require an inordinate amount of time to maintain, manage and update. The new monitoring software will consolidate all of the college's current monitoring resources into one single commercial package that comes complete with full technical support.

The technology grant will also pay $12,000 for wireless networking capability in the FSCC Academic building. FSCC currently has minimal wireless networking use that is only available to college staff, but not students, in the academic building, Russell said. A new wireless system will provide students with wireless Internet access and each student will be able to access the wireless network virtually anywhere on campus through a laptop computer, he said.

Allowing students to have free access to wireless Internet also frees those students from waiting on laboratory space at the college to complete homework. Through the wireless network, students will be able to sit in open areas of the academic building and study, research for an English paper, or use Campus Connect -- the college's online enrollment program -- to enroll in classes and pay required fees.

FSCC staff wish to enhance student learning by improving student access to online resources, the college statement said.

Each year, several students have inquired about accessing the Internet at FSCC, and the new wireless solution will allow those students to have that access, but still limit the impact that those resources have on other student on-campus activities, the FSCC statement said.

The last technology purchase is a $2,900 wireless management server that is required in order for Internet users at FSCC to tap into the new wireless network, and also for the wireless network that will be set up in the academic building.

The server purchase ties into the entire wireless connectivity project that FSCC is installing through the technology grant, but it is listed separately from the equipment listed on the grant since it will be a separate purchase through a different vendor, the FSCC statement said.