The University of North Dakota partners with Boldyn Networks for first phase of on-campus residence halls’ connectivity upgrade

November 19, 2024 | Grand Forks, ND

More than 2,500 University of North Dakota (UND) students now have a robust internet experience and access to 24-hour customer support as the result of a partnership with Boldyn Networks (Boldyn). UND partnered with Apogee, which is now part of Boldyn Networks, a provider of managed technology services for higher education, to modernize the Residential Network (ResNet) for all 10 residence halls on its campus in Grand Forks.

By partnering with Boldyn Networks, UND can offload time-consuming operational tasks for IT and housing staff while maintaining control over its IT strategy and student success on campus. This collaboration provides students living in residence halls with fast, reliable internet access, supporting their academic success and their engagement with the campus community. The initiative is part of a broader, multi-phase effort by the school to streamline the student experience and improve operational efficiency, with academic and administrative buildings’ networks to be upgraded next.

“From academic and entertainment needs to socialization with friends, anything students do with connected devices at home, they need to be able to do just as easily in our residence halls,” said Madhavi Marasinghe, Chief Information Officer at UND. “Between laptops, phones, gaming devices, watches and even IoT devices, each student on an average connects 4.66 devices to the network. Seamless connectivity is crucial for today’s student experience.”  

Providing students in residence halls with wireless connectivity

The UND IT and Housing teams had a vision to modernize the network infrastructure to ensure students had the same kind of connectivity they were used to at home or better, that they wouldn't have to think about the network and could focus instead on academics and other aspects of campus life. UND wanted students to have an easy process for connecting devices that didn't need support from IT staff, and they wanted it to work seamlessly across resident buildings. With more than 2,000 students moving into residence halls during its Welcome Weekend in late August, the UND IT staff fielded fewer than a dozen support calls. 

Phil Goldblum, Deputy Chief Information Officer at UND said, “The ability to connect to the network in a few simple steps made this year’s move-in easy for both students and the University’s residence and IT teams, freeing up staff to engage with students on other topics and to focus on other IT needs around the school.”

The Boldyn system allows for “Personal Area Networks” (PANs) for each student, which allows them to connect multiple devices to their own network with one password, increasing their privacy by walling off visibility into what they are doing in their own PAN. In addition, the ResNet system allows IT staff to download regular data on network usage that helps optimize the network for student enjoyment and efficiency. 

“My job is to make sure students never have a reason to live off-campus,” according to Troy Noeldner, UND’s Director of Housing Residence. “The Boldyn team installed the network in the six weeks leading up to move-in day and trained the administrative and student staff when it came to connecting to the network.”

The transition to the residence halls’ network, with ResNet, was the first stage in a campus-wide modernization and future-proofing partnership between UND and Boldyn. The next phases will include wireless infrastructure to the academic and administrative buildings, including airport facilities belonging to UND’s John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences and the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences.

“UND is providing the wireless network today’s students demand and positioning the campus for the future connectivity needs that prioritize the student academic and social experience,” said Ellen Chesnut, Director of Business Development at Boldyn Networks, US. “This partnership between Boldyn and the IT and housing departments at UND will meet the wireless connectivity students are used to and allow them to focus on other aspects of their life on campus. We look forward to partnering on the next stages of modernization to ensure incredible connectivity everywhere on UND’s campus.”