A survey conducted by Intel Corporation in conjunction with the Center for Digital Education published in Monday's edition of U.S. News & World Report ranks Ball State University as the number one wireless campus in the nation or, as the survey calls it, the "Most Unwired Campus."

Intel Corporation sponsored the survey to identify the U.S. colleges and universities with over 1,000 students that have the greatest wireless Internet access. The survey was conducted by Bert Sperling, noted researcher and creator of the "Best Places" studies.

"Ball State topped this year's rankings of Most Unwired Campuses not only because it has implemented wireless access throughout its campus, but it is also in the forefront of exploring innovative ways to use this new technology," Sperling said. "In this way, Ball State is providing a window into the future when the rest of our society will be able to have Internet access wherever we go."

Ball State's academic and administrative buildings, residence halls common areas and green spaces have wireless access fed by 625 Wi-Fi access points.

Survey findings are based on the percentage of each campus that is covered by wireless technology, the number of undergraduate students and the computer-to-student ratio for each school. The university has implemented a variety of innovative mobile wireless and other technology activities and has a student-to-computer ratio of .61 computers per student.

"Our focus on excellence extends to providing the cutting-edge technology and facilities our students need to excel," said O'Neal Smitherman, Ball State's vice president for information technology. "With state-of-the-art, campus-wide wireless coverage that has a speed of 54 megabits per second, our fully integrated digital environment provides our students with access and speed that, as the survey confirmed, is truly exceptional."

Ball State students and faculty members can take full advantage of the network and incorporate the technology into all facets of university life.

"By taking advantage of all of the digital opportunities at Ball State, our students are entering the job market as technology leaders," said Ball State President Jo Ann M. Gora. "They have embraced new ways of thinking about accessing resources and information, creating innovative digital projects and communicating with peers and professors."

For example, architecture and planning students have conducted a live, global webcast using their laptops; high-definition new media has been distributed to campus and outlying schools; students have performed field research in Christy Woods while connected to the Internet; education students, who are required to purchase laptops, demonstrate their skills via Web-based electronic portfolios; and by extending the network to the university's sporting facilities, fans are able to access live Web casts of scores, plays and stats.

(Note to editors: For more information, contact Smitherman at (765) 285-1045 or osmitherman@bsu.edu.)