LU going wireless

Members of the Lakehead University community have voted overwhelmingly in favour of bringing wireless technology onto their campus.

Of the 8,505 people who voted, 94 per cent said they want Wi-Fi at the school. Also, participants in informal consultations with university stakeholder groups also strongly supported the idea.

Wi-Fi hasn’t been previously installed at the university because former LU president Fred Gilbert decided to practice due diligence by not having the wireless access for fear of adverse health effects from electromagnetic fields.

When the recently installed LU president Brian Stevenson arrived at the school, the topic of bringing Wi-Fi to the campus was frequently brought to his attention. The university decided to conduct the online survey and consultations to find out what the students, faculty, staff and other university community members wanted.

Vice-president of administration and finance Michael Pawlowski said the only concern he heard from some students and faculty was not about the installation of Wi-Fi in general, but about having it in classrooms. They worried that it might be a distraction.

"We’re going to do a little bit more consultation with faculty," he said. "On the other hand other faculty members said it would be great to have access in classrooms because it would increase the amount of content they could use in the education of the students."

Third year mechanical engineering student Kyle Lacosse said the addition of Wi-Fi to the campus would definitely serve as an advantage for students so they’ll be able to access the Internet wirelessly in areas other than the Outpost.

"It will be better now that you can find stuff on the Internet anywhere on campus," he said, adding it’s about time the university brought in the service.

"To my knowledge, we’re one of the last universities to get Wi-Fi so we’re a little behind the times," Lacosse said.

A proposal to install Wi-Fi has been approved by Lakehead’s policy and planning group; the proposal suggests a phased installation in public spaces like the Agora, library and campus cafeterias.

Exactly when wireless access will be available is still up in the air. Pawlowski said they still have a bit more work to do and they have to order the equipment. He suspects they won’t see anything ready to go until January.