Langston University, a land grant historically Black institution of higher learning founded in 1897, serves about 2,750 students at three campus locations in Langston, Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Okla.
The goal of Langston as a higher learning institution is to provide a world-class education to African-Americans in the arts, sciences, humanities, business, agriculture, education, nursing and health professions. Langston University offers post-secondary education leading to associate, baccalaureate, masters and doctoral degree programs. As a University with an urban mission in a rural setting, Langston faces the unique challenge of educating individuals who will serve their communities in urban centers as well as rural communities. To fulfill the mission, Langston University actively recruits racially diverse faculty and students who support and complement the purpose and functions of the University. Langston University is often recognized for its ability to provide long-term solutions to problems facing underserved populations in Oklahoma, the nation and the world.
The Problem:
Quite simply, Langston University had outgrown its existing, outmoded network infrastructure. Thanks to a concerted recruitment effort and the addition of such educational programs as Oklahoma’s first-ever Entrepreneurial Studies curriculum in 2007, Langston’s student population grew dramatically over a two-year period, resulting in the addition of two new campus locations in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. The school also expanded its distance learning program, allowing adult students to take courses online using a dedicated VPN.
Because of this rapid expansion, the University’s IT staff faced the challenge of rolling out unified IT connectivity services that enhance the cutting-edge curriculum, while enabling students and staff members to securely connect to University services — without exceeding IT budget and personnel constraints.
The infrastructure upgrade project had to meet the following requirements:
- Connect and secure more than 3,000 devices, spread across three separate locations, consisting of multiple buildings including classrooms, administration offices and student residences.
- Provide interoperability with existing Cisco network gear.
- Provide support for existing, business-critical applications for students, faculty and staff.
- Allow for granular, end-to-end visibility across all locations.
- Provide a simple-to-use network management solution which can be maintained and supported by a small IT staff.
- Allow role-based access to specific network data (separating faculty from students), keeping sensitive data protected from inside and outside threats.
- Serve as a robust, scalable foundation for future unified communications implementations including VoIP and/or video.
- And the major requirement: deliver all of the above at a reasonable price point.
