"Connections" on Campus

In today’s world, connections are everything, but not all connections are the same! Of course, there are thousands of possible definitions for what a “connection” is, and many of these definitions  relate to life on campus at IUB. For instance, connecting with friends, connecting with professors, connecting your power cord to your laptop before it dies, and the one that everyone is doing at this very moment… connecting to the internet! I know, it’s rather cheesy, but in all seriousness, Indiana University is one of the most technologically advanced universities in the world. Being a “techy” person myself, it’s rather mind boggling just trying to visualize the immense infrastructure in place to meet the demands of nearly 40,000 students uploading, downloading and streaming data through various devices and connections across campus. And as with any network, an even more powerful knowledge base operates in the background to keep everything working properly. This seemingly endless knowledge base at Indiana University is known as the University Information Technology Service, or UITS.

Students speaking with technology vendors at "Tech Fest"

With the incredible knowledge that lies within Indiana University’s Information Technology Department (UITS), IU hosts an appropriately titled “Tech Fest” to teach new and returning students about technologies on the IUB campus. Held in the lobby of the Herman B Wells library, representatives from IU’s University Information Technology Services, and numerous vendors that supply IU with its incredible selection of hardware and software, are on hand to discuss new technologies, special offers and give away promotional items. Vendors such as Adobe, Dell, Microsoft, AT&T, Symantec and others all gather at this event to provide students with information regarding their latest and greatest software and hardware technologies, many of which are available to them at little or no cost through UITS’s IUWare Online store (http://iuware.iu.edu/).  This incredible event is one of many technology oriented events on campus, and is a great way for students to learn about the incredible technologies that are available to them.

Accessing the internet  inside the Residence Halls.

Throughout every academic and residential building on campus, and virtually anywhere within the confines of the IU campus, students and faculty have access to the “IUSecure” network via UITS workstations located in many buildings throughout campus, their laptop computers and/or their smart phone. Indiana University’s complex wired and wireless infrastructure allows students and faculty to seamlessly integrate up-to-the-minute bus schedules, menus and hours for campus dining locations, upcoming campus events, sports schedules, computer workstation availability and much more into their daily lives. 

IUmobile, a free mobile app for students and faculty

With IU’s mobile interfaces, no longer must a student guess what’s on the menu at any dining facility, wonder if they missed the last bus from the stadium for the night, or run frantically from computer lab to computer lab to print a report that is due in mere minutes. All of this information, and more, is available to students in their room, in class and on the go. So with that being said… Fellow Hoosiers, we’re quickly running out of excuses as to why we don’t have our paper ready to turn in at the beginning of class, or why we’re late to class… All we could ever want or need to know is right at our fingertips. Thanks for reading, hope to see you around.

To learn more about the technology services available at Indiana University, including software, hardware and mobile technologies, visit the websites below for more information and links to additional resources.

IUmobile: https://m.iu.edu/miu-prd/about/index.shtml

University Information Technology Services: http://uits.iu.edu/

IU Information Technology News: http://uitsnews.iu.edu/

IUWare Online: http://iuware.iu.edu/