Columbia plans to update their campus with parts, Macs, and Windows 10. Let’s all welcome them to the 21st century now.

Due to the Jewish holiday, much of CCSC was not in attendance last night, so it was a rather quick meeting that welcomed the 2020 elected CCSC representatives. President Nicole Allicock started off the meeting by calling for updates.

• Class of 2018: They have obtained one-day Equinox passes for the class of 2018 beginning on Monday until Sunday October 8th. They are also currently drafting a proposal for a shuttle to take Columbia students from school to the airport and vice-versa.
• Class of 2019: They are planning an Oktoberfest celebration for this month.
• Finance: There will be modifications on the application for student grants.
• Policy: They are creating a sustainability committee that will work on issues like recycling workshops and a compost initiative for Ferris. Additionally they’ll have a meeting with the Dean of Academic Policy and Planning to bring more academic and internship opportunities for international students on campus.
• Communications: There is still work being done to bring the web page up to date. It should be up and running by the end of October.
• Finally, Allicock announced that Sweetgreen has received the contract for accepting Flex. Though they have not signed it yet, it remains an exciting possibility.

After the quick updates, Allicock introduced the Advisor Vice-President of Columbia University Information Technologies (CUIT), Jose Santiago, who addressed the board on the innovations going on around campus.

• E.T. 251 Engineering Lab has upgraded hardware and image software.
• 558 Schermerhorn Lab has new Apple computers.
• 252 Engineering Terrace has PC hardware updates as well as ADA Enhancements.
• Classrooms all around campus are being updated to provide microphone access, wireless projection, and improved sound systems (as of today 10% are completed).
• Paw Print Stations will include ADA Enhancements, as well as Windows 10 (as of today, 25% of the project has been completed).
• A new team, Consumer Advocacy Team, is aiding the Help Service Desk in order to improve customer service and response time to students.

To close the meeting, Vice President and CIO of CUIT Gaspare LoDuca, talked to the board about his plans for providing better technology services to students, starting with the new user-friendly design of SSOL, and the transition to Canvas (which is expected to be completed by the end of this school year). Additionally, LoDuca plans to add 33,000 new wireless ports at Columbia, 54 of which will be outdoors. And, finally, in order to provide more and better access to data for students and faculty, CUIT will install a series of high performance information clusters. With these invigorating plans for new technologies and services, the council adjourned.

Image via The New York Times