ECU ranked no. 25 among “most wired” college campuses

For the second consecutive year, East Carolina University is the only public university in North Carolina included in a listing of the “most wired” on-line campuses in the United States for 1998.

The list, compiled by Yahoo! Internet Life magazine and printed in the May issue, ranks ECU at No. 25, up from No. 93 a year ago. The survey was based on 22 factors organized under four main categories-general services, academics, social life and computer statistics.

The magazine said: “Campus touch-screen kiosks allow students at East Carolina University to access grades, Web sites and syllabi. Connected students can also register for classes, drop/add courses, check transcripts, and read the student newspaper without ever leaving their dorm room.

“In addition,” Yahoo! Internet Life said, “East Carolina University is one of the few schools to offer distance-learning, a program that includes internet-only classes.”

Duke University at No. 57 and Wake Forest University at No. 77, both private universities, were the only other North Carolina campuses on the list. Dartmouth College in New Hampshire was rated No. 1 nationally. Chancellor Richard Eakin said,

“It’s nice to have an objective third party recognize our accomplishments.” Eakin cited three key elements in the university’s technological achievements: the installation of a $14 million fiber-optic campus backbone; an information-technology fee paid by students, which allows the university to spend about $700,000 a year for equipment to benefit students; and a university commitment to provide new computers for faculty members every three years and to hire eight instructional designers to assist faculty in incorporating technology in their courses.