RUNet 2000 to get $2.5 million more in federal funding
Archived article from Dec 10, 1999
By Harvey Trabb
Thanks to the efforts of New Jersey's congressional delegation, the new federal budget for fiscal year 2000 includes an appropriation of $2.5 million to Rutgers for RUNet 2000, the university's project to put a comprehensive, advanced infrastructure in place for data, video and voice communications.
"This is the second consecutive year that we obtained this level of funding from the federal government toward the approximately $100 million RUNet 2000 effort," said President Francis L. Lawrence. "That is a tribute to the leadership of our elected representatives in Washington, who, by securing this funding, have enabled us to make great progress in the early stages of implementing RUNet 2000."
Although used for overall support of the project, the federal funding made it possible to accelerate efforts to install RUNet 2000 connections within Rutgers and from the university to schools in Newark and Camden. That makes Rutgers faculty better positioned to work with New Jersey's K-12 schools, explained Michael McKay, executive director for computing and educational technology.
The efforts by New Jersey legislators to secure the funding were spearheaded by U.S. Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Torricelli and U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone and Rodney Frelinghuysen. Their contributions included providing testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and sending a letter to the subcommittee signed by all 13 of New Jersey's House members in support of funding for the project.
The $2.5 million is included in the Technology Innovation Challenge Grants program, which is designed to assist in funding projects that will benefit the educational system through technology.
"I was pleased to help secure this funding for Rutgers and the exciting RUNet 2000 project," Lautenberg said. "This bold endeavor will enhance the educational experience for students and faculty alike, and allow individuals outside of the Rutgers community easier access to the many resources the university has to offer. I commend Dr. Lawrence and Rutgers for taking on this ambitious task."
"With RUNet 2000, we are opening the doors of academia for our children as never imagined before," Torricelli said. "With this new technology, high school students can take college courses through the Internet. I was proud to play a key role in securing this vital funding for Rutgers."
Pallone said that the RUNet 2000 project "will provide students and teachers at all levels with unprecedented access to the resources of one of America's great universities.
"Rutgers is one of the leading research universities in the nation," he said, "and RUNet 2000 represents a creative approach to share both its research expertise and its instructional talents with many more people, far beyond the borders of the traditional campus setting. Fully deployed, RUNet 2000 will make the university's resources available to all who can benefit from them."
Frelinghuysen, the only New Jersey member of the House Appropriations Committee, said that with RUNet 2000, "Rutgers is really paving the information superhighway with a cutting-edge technology infrastructure for the 21st century. The benefits of better technology to share information between computer networks offers endless oppor-tunities in many fields, especially in support of improving educational opportunities through easier access to continuing-education sites for increasingly popular distance-learning programs."
How the funds are being used
"The support RUNet 2000 has received from the federal government enabled us to move the project ahead more quickly than we had planned," said Michael McKay, executive director for computing and educational technology. He explained that even before RUNet 2000 construction began on campus, several key education facilities in special needs areas of the state had been identified to be among the first off-campus sites to be connected to the Rutgers network.
In Camden, the accelerated RUNet 2000 installation effort permitted Rutgers to link the LEAP Academy charter school in time for its opening for the fall semester. The school is committed to serving the year-round education and social service needs of children and families in the urban area.
In Newark, RUNet 2000 network connections are being extended to key locations associated with goals set by the city and the University Heights Science Park partnership for a new Science Park High School. The first key locations slated for connectivity -- the Newark Public Library, the Newark Museum and the old Science High School -- are also integral to the development of Digital Newark, an initiative designed to facilitate collaborative and mutually beneficial research relationships between high school students and teachers and university researchers.
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