MONTICELLO - Two University of Arkansas at Monticello satellite campuses received a combined $635,000 on Thursday to update Internet download speeds.
Gov. Mike Beebe presented the money from the state’s General Improvement Fund to the school’s colleges of technology in McGehee and Crossett at an event held at the Monticello campus.
Beebe told a group of about 150 that “there is no better way to spend tax dollars than on education and jobs. If we get education right, then other issues are easier to solve.”
UAM Chancellor Jack Lassiter said the upgrades “will not only benefit our campuses but also the local communities we serve. The connectivity that will be available can be used to promote economic growth in southeast Arkansas.”
The Crossett and McGehee campuses are now operating on low-capacity broadband,which hinders instruction and the ability to provide online courses, Lassiter said.
“The current bandwidth is being completely absorbed by faculty and staff at the technology campuses in their normal work process,” he said. “We had no additional growth available through the current system.”
Bob Ware, vice chancellor at the University of Arkansas at Monticello College of Technology in McGehee, said the upgrades boil down to one thing: a better learning opportunity for students.
“This is a proud moment and a great day for our campuses,” Ware said. “This is a day I have dreamed about for a long, long time. We have been dealing with slow Internet access for many years, and our students have not had the access that they deserve.”
The McGehee campus is a two-year school that provides occupational and technical programs, including an associate of applied science in general technology degree, as well as continuing education programs and high school diplomas.
The Crossett campus offers programs such as electrical apprenticeships and practical nursing, and training for emergency medical technicians and networking.
Ware said the upgrades will include four new towers that will triple current download speeds. The towers will tie into the fiber network at the Monticello campus.
“We are running at 20 megabytes per second now, and these upgrades will give us between 60 and 70 megabytes per second,” he said.
In addition to boosting campus Internet speeds, residents within a 20-mile radius of the schools will also see improved access, Ware said.
“This is something great that a lot of people will benefit from,” he said, adding that the first meeting to plan the project will be held Nov. 13. After that, bids will be let and construction will begin.
The project is expected to be completed by fall 2014.
The new towers will result in cost savings for both the Crossett and McGehee campuses, UAM officials said. Both campuses were looking at contracting with outside sources to increase bandwidth at a significant monthly cost increase.
“The annual savings for the Crossett campus alone will be approximately $40,000,” Lassiter said.
According to Ookla, a technology company that measures Internet speeds across the United States, south Arkansas has one of the slowest download speeds in the nation at 7.3 megabytes per second or lower, though there are exceptions at sites such as hospitals and universities.
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 10/25/2013