Getting connected

By Syndey Jackson
Information Technology Services

Bright yellow "Getting Connected" posters will begin appearing soon on campus as the Telecommunications Infrastructure Initiative - or TII - work begins.

The first delivery of conduit - approximately 11 miles of outside 4-inch conduit has arrived in the contractor yard at Shaw and Woodrow avenues. There is also 3,900 feet of 4-inch EMT inside metal conduit.

Night construction work inside the Family and Food Science Building will be in full swing in November. This is the pilot building for the TII Project. The TII Project Management Team has taken time to resolve many construction and access issues in this building that are prevalent in the older buildings on campus. The resolution of these issues should mean the same issues will not have to be dealt with repeatedly in other buildings.

The new Science II building has been added to the scope of the TII Project and is also being worked on in November.

Outside construction work should begin around the Thanksgiving break. The first evidence of this will be the sight of heavy equipment on campus and the digging of 10-by-15-by-12-foot holes along the path of the new Ethernet backbone. Into the holes will be dropped cement vaults or "manholes," which provide access to the fiber and cables that will eventually be laid in trenches connecting the manholes. A lot of thought has been given to the mitigation of traffic issues in planning the order in which the manholes and trenches are dug. Regardless, there will be some disruption to campus life. The university is making every effort to keep the students and staff informed about the progress of the project.

TII Project signs will be placed outside buildings a week before work is to begin inside. The signs display the project motto: "Getting Connected!" Notices also will be placed on classroom and office doors and will include contact information for the project. It is a quandary that all of the neon yellow TII Project signs that were placed on the exterior doors of Family Food Science in early October disappeared within a week! Perhaps these will be found on the walls in student apartments. Do you think?

Before the end of the year, work should begin in the following buildings: Peters Business, Lab School , Music East and West, Speech Arts, Conley Art, Joyal Administration, Agricultural Classroom, Agriculture Science, Planetarium and Science. Associate deans of the schools and colleges have been assigned to work with the TII Project Management Team in order to ensure appropriate telecommunication services, within the scope of the TII Project, are placed in the classrooms and offices of these buildings.

For more information and weekly updates on the TII project go to: www.csufresno.edu/tii.