[548] in Resnet-Forum
Re: charge for service?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (gary flynn)
Wed Mar 8 10:15:21 1995
Date: Wed, 8 Mar 1995 09:57:56 -0500
From: gary flynn <gary@habanero.jmu.edu>
To: j-germuska@nwu.edu, resnet-forum@MIT.EDU
> I am going to think quite hard about whether or not our Residential Network
> Consultants really need to live in the dorms that they serve. Anyone else
> have ideas? It might even be _better_ if the students aren't available to
> have their door knocked on at 2 am! (Does anyone categorize _any_ ResNet
> failures as emergencies meriting 24 hour on-call support? At this point, I
> can't think of any student network application that is truly
> "mission-critical".)
>
> joe germuska * j-germuska@nwu.edu * www * res hall net * instruct tech
> academic computing & network services * northwestern univ
> "Freedom lies in your willingness to be free." -- Winston Damon
>
We had initially planned to put a student Resident Network Advisor
in each dorm but due to the low and unequal distribution of signups, we
changed our plans. Our campus is very compact and it hasn't caused
any problems although we've only networked four dorms and about
60 people. We have six more dorms going online next fall.
Our resident network program (NetPlus) costs $90.00 per year and
these funds are used to pay the RNAs. The RNAs have posted
hours when they're available. They work ten hours/week.
We expect the students to buy an ethernet card. Our bookstore sells
the cards we use on the rest of campus and installs them for free.
If the student purchases a card elsewhere, the bookstore will install
it for $35.00. Many students buy cheap cards and attempt the installation
themselves which has caused problems. We're still working on that
issue :-)
We believe the costs associated with the service and a lack of knowledge
about the capabilities of the service are causing low signups. We are
assessing ways to cure these problems.
Gary Flynn
Telecommunications Network Supervisor
James Madison University
