WFU ranks third in Yahoo! list of ‘Most Wired Colleges’

Appearing in the magazine’s May issue, the guide also ranked Wake Forest first in a special list of “Top 5 Liberal Arts Schools” taking extensive advantage of information technology.

Yahoo! Internet Life reports it “inquired into every aspect of a school’s wired life” from student Web usage to computer network speed. The rankings were based on four main criteria: hardware, academics, free services, and miscellaneous services.

In recent years, Wake Forest has received national attention for launching a comprehensive technology initiative that provided laptop computers to students and wired all buildings-classrooms and residence hall rooms included-for fast Internet access.

Wake Forest operates its own technology support system, which includes a campus office where students may call day and night with questions about their computers and software. The university also staffs residence halls with student technology advisors who help fellow students with computer questions.

“We appreciate being recognized for making technology so accessible to our students inside and outside the classroom,” said Sandra Boyette, vice president for University Advancement. “Since we began providing IBM ThinkPads to students in 1996, we have started allowing prospective students to apply online, developed online registration, and made course schedules available online.”

Wake Forest’s Z. Smith Reynolds Library also has played a key role in the technology initiative. From residence halls, classrooms and offices, students and faculty can use their laptop computers to search online for more than one million volumes in the library collection. The library also makes available online more than 500 electronic databases and journals, as well as an image database.

After graduating, students may take part in Wake Forest’s newly established online community, which permits graduates to keep their e-mail addresses for life.

Others joining Wake Forest in the “100 Most Wired Colleges” list include Case Western Reserve University (No. 1), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (No. 2), New Jersey Institute of Technology (No. 4) and Rensselaer Polytechnic (No. 5). Other North Carolina institutions on the list are Duke University (No. 63) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (No. 82).

The entire list of “Top 5 Liberal Arts Schools” includes Wake Forest, Gettysburg College, Colgate, Dartmouth, and Bates College.