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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 6/8/01
CONTACT: Dave Disch
Director of College Relations
Greenville College
(618) 664-6503
Greenville College to Receive $1 Million from State of Illinois
for Information Technology
Greenville College recently learned that it will receive $1 million
from the state of Illinois for the continuing development of information
technology (IT) infrastructure on campus. On May 31 the Illinois
General Assembly approved Gov. George Ryan’s fiscal year 2002
budget of $53 billion. The $1 million appropriation to Greenville
College is part of that package.
State Senator Frank Watson (R-Greenville) played a key role in obtaining
the technology appropriation for Greenville College. Details of
how the money must be spent have not yet been received by the college
officially, other than the general designation that the $1 million
is for technology infrastructure.
In April the college submitted a proposal for an “Illinois
First” grant of $1 million for improvements of its current
educational technology systems. Pam Taylor, director of foundation
relations for the college, has spoken with officials in several
departments in Springfield this week. Based on those conversations,
she believes the Illinois First proposal was the basis for the $1
million appropriation recently approved by the General Assembly
and will likely serve as the framework for how the money should
be used.
The proposal requested money for extension of the college’s
wireless computer network to community sites off campus, fiber optic
wiring to connect new campus facilities to the wireless network,
the creation of new “smart classrooms,” and other various
technology upgrades.
In the past year Greenville College has become the community host
for the Illinois Century Network, a statewide initiative to provide
free high-speed Internet access to local government agencies, civic
organizations, and community services such as hospitals and schools.
The only cost for these organizations is the computer equipment
and infrastructure needed on their end. There is no Internet Service
Provider (ISP) fee.
Greenville College is partnering with the city of Greenville and
Bond County to bring city and county offices free high-speed Internet
access through the college’s wireless network. The transmission
will be beamed from the college with an electronic “bridge”
similar to a microwave signal, to various points in the community.
For starters, the signal will go to the county courthouse, annex
building, sheriff’s department, and city municipal building.
The $1 million appropriation will come out of the state’s $412.4
million Higher Education Capital Improvements budget. In addition
to Greenville College, other independent institutions that received
allocations for infrastructure improvements include Blackburn College,
Dominican University, Lincoln College, Loyola University, and Millikin
University.
Sen. Watson says he expects Gov. Ryan to sign the bill in the next
week or so. The new fiscal year begins on July 1.
The $1 million appropriation to Greenville College is the result
of a year and a half of work on the part of the college, with Sen.
Watson’s assistance. A key meeting occurred on the Greenville
campus May 11, 2001 as Sen. Watson brought four dignitaries from
Springfield to tour the college’s computer facilities and see
a demonstration of the wireless network.
That group included Mary Barber Reynolds, Chief Technology Officer,
Governor’s Office; Neil Gunkel, IT Advisor / Bureau of the
Budget, Governor’s Office; Lugene Finley, Chief Technology
Officer, State Board of Education; and Frank Whitney, Division Administrator,
State Board of Education.
Greenville’s was the first campus-wide wireless network in
the nation when it was installed in the summer of 1999. It has been
featured many times by regional and national news media, including
a front-page story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1999 and an
Associated Press wire story that went out all over the world last
fall. The AP story ran on MSNBC.com and in dozens of major newspapers,
including the Chicago Sun-Times, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Miami
Herald, Arizona Republic, Vancouver Sun, Palm Beach Post, and others.
“Greenville College has been recognized nationally for the
progress they have made in the area of information technology for
their students,” says Sen. Watson. “This grant is going
to help them further their efforts to serve the IT needs of their
students and the community of Greenville and Bond County.”
“This is a wise use of taxpayer dollars that will benefit not
only Greenville College students but the entire community,”
Sen. Watson stated. “I am pleased with what we were able to
accomplish with the fiscal year 2002 budget. We have a balanced
budget that holds the line on taxes, a budget that reflects a slowing
economy but also manages to address vital programs and services.”
Greenville College is a four-year accredited Christian liberal arts
school with an enrollment of about 1,200 students in traditional
undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree completion programs. Founded
in 1892 and affiliated with the Free Methodist Church, the college
is located in Greenville, Illinois, 45 miles east of St. Louis.
Last updated: August
17, 2001
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