UNC I.T. Helps to Bring Internet to Rural Schools

University of Northern Colorado IT department only supports internet services at UNC, right?


WRONG!

Last year, UNC partnered with CBOCES (the Centennial Board of Cooperative Educational Services) to bring internet to rural school communities such as Kersey, Ault and Gilcrest. CBOCES is an organization which provides cost effective, shared educational services and programs for 15 member school districts located in the Northern Colorado counties of Larimer, Weld, Morgan and Boulder. Their mission is to provide value-added resources that enrich educational opportunities for all students though collaboration.

One of the reasons that UNC’s IT department and Enrollment Management area partnered with CBOCES for this project was to get publicity into schools, promoting UNC and getting their name out to students so it is at the top of their mind as a choice for higher education. The internet service that UNC provides for these schools is called EAGLE-Net and it provides K-12 schools access to Internet 2 which is an education and research network. EAGLE-Net is short for the Educational Access Gateway Learning Environment Network and is a Colorado cost-sharing, non-profit consortium. EAGLE-Net provides educational benefits and services to connected Colorado school districts. UNC’s IT department is enabling the access for a technology-rich and quality education to students in Kersey, Ault and Gilcrest. These students would not be able to connect to Internet 2 without the collaboration and help of UNC and CBOCES.