ORANGEBURG, S.C. — A major South Carolina university has been awarded more than half a million dollars to upgrade various aspects of its technology infrastructure and use technology to better track students' needs.
The Partnership for Education Advancement (Ed Advancement) has awarded South Carolina State University a $583,920 grant to bolster technology and access for students, faculty and staff. Roughly $80,000 will go toward Gates Dx Project Business Intelligence implementation, using digital dashboards to help the university track student progression, enrollment and graduation rates to find areas where officials can provide more support.
Other parts of the grant funding will go toward upgrades that are somewhat behind the scenes. The university said $167,281 will be allocated to upgrades to the student information system and Banner, with a focus on supporting cloud computing "upskilling" for information technology staff. Roughly $79,720 will be put toward hardening the Banner system from potential breaches and securing information from access in the event of a breach.
Another $160,000 will go toward replacing network switches across the campus and maintaining the campus network infrastructure.
South Carolina State's vice president for enrollment management, Dr. Manicia Finch, said the university is "moving toward a total transformation of the campus technology infrastructure" to "holistically improve the student experience."
Finch said Ed Advancement has also provided the university with funding for various technology platforms related to housing registration and communication.
President Alexander Conyers said the push to bolster the university's technology comes as it sees an influx of students.
"With applications coming at a record pace and admissions brimming at capacity, we are focused now on finding better ways [to] support students through to completion of their degrees,” Conyers said.
