![\"ShawneeLink](\"http:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/3-5-Shanwneelink.jpg\")
<\/p>\nby Christi Mathis<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
New equipment \u2014 David Johnson (left) and Bryan Pumphrey, both Southern Illinois University Carbondale students from Chicago, work with computer routers and related equipment that ShawneeLink Corp. recently donated to the School of Information Systems and Applied Technologies within the College of Applied Sciences and Arts. (Photo by Christi Mathis)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
CARBONDALE, Ill. \u2014 The world at your fingertips \u2014 accessible with a few taps on a computer keyboard. But, it doesn\u2019t happen without connectivity. Thanks to an equipment donation from ShawneeLink, some students in Southern Illinois University Carbondale\u2019s College of Applied Sciences and Arts are getting enhanced personal experience in making that connectivity happen.<\/p>\n
The Internet service provider and communications company donated technology equipment valued at more than $37,000 to the School of Information Systems and Applied Technologies for use by network security and wide area network installation and administration classes. In addition, the SIUC Cyber Defense Team, also known as the \u201cSecurity Dawgs,\u201d is utilizing it as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven that ShawneeLink believes today\u2019s IT (information technologies) graduates need not only a strong theoretical foundation, but also practical, hands-on experience they can apply in industry from the first day on the job, we are donating these four ImageStream Gateway routers to SIUC\u2019s Information Systems and Applied Technologies program to enable students to get that experience,\u201d said David M. St. Pierre, Internet operations manager for ShawneeLink.<\/p>\n
ShawneeLink, a regional Internet service provider, donated Linux-based equipment that complements the Microsoft operating system and Cisco hardware already in place at SIUC. Company officials said ShawneeLink simply outgrew the capabilities of these four routers, but they are still very current, available for purchase new and still carry six to 18 months of warranty.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe support of industry is extremely important to my school,\u201d said Will Devenport, director of the School of Information Systems and Applied Technologies. \u201cShawneeLink\u2019s very generous donation gives a great boost to our networking and security curriculum. No other program on campus provides students with the \u2018hands-on\u2019 experience now available with this wide area networking equipment. I truly appreciate the support of this Southern Illinois regional partner. Thank you, ShawneeLink!\u201d<\/p>\n
Essentially, the donated equipment gives students the chance to work in the classroom on a different connectivity system than they previously experienced. \u201cReally what this gift means is that we can stop being vendor-specific,\u201d said Belle S. Woodward, ISAT assistant professor and Cyber Defense Team faculty adviser. She said students can now train using both Gateway and Cisco systems, giving them a well-rounded education that improves their range and employability.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny time you have more equipment to do hands-on work with, it promotes and improves our preparedness,\u201d Woodward said.<\/p>\n
During a recent wide area network installation and administration class, Bryan Pumphrey and David Johnson, both ISAT majors from Chicago, were attempting to \u201cping\u201d the nearby computer Michael Woodside and Afton James were working on, thereby establishing communication between the computers. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to find out if these computers are connected over the gateway,\u201d said Johnson, a senior. A big smile spread on Pumphrey\u2019s face as the junior found the correct IP address and established a network connection. \u201cIt gives us more variety, more experience and connectivity speed,\u201d Woodside said of the equipment donation. Woodside is a senior ISAT major from Pinckneyville. \u201cThe more devices we have to work with, the more diverse experience we have that we can apply someday in the workplace,\u201d added James, also a senior ISAT major from Pinckneyville. \u201cThey\u2019re able to use this equipment to demonstrate its functionality rather than just read about it,\u201d said Tom Imboden, assistant ISAT professor. \u201cThey can implement it and create the functionality in our classroom. It allows our students to have hands-on experience that few institutions have the ability to duplicate. This is very sophisticated.\u201d St. Pierre is an SIUC alumnus, earning a bachelor of science in computer science in December 2006. With a previous career in healthcare, IT represents a mid-life career change for him. He began working at ShawneeLink two months before graduating from SIUC. Headquartered in Equality, ShawneeLink Corp., along with its sister company Shawnee Telephone, are wholly owned subsidiaries of Shawnee Communications. When created in 1996, ShawneeLink Corp. initially offered long-distance telephone service. The following year, the company added dial-up Internet service for its service area and by 2003 ShawneeLink offered high-speed DSL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Christi Mathis New equipment \u2014 David Johnson (left) and Bryan Pumphrey, both Southern Illinois University Carbondale students from Chicago, work with computer routers and related equipment that ShawneeLink Corp. recently donated to the School of Information Systems and Applied Technologies within the College of Applied Sciences and Arts. (Photo by Christi Mathis) CARBONDALE, Ill. … Continue reading ShawneeLink equipment donation aids students<\/span>