"They seemed to wish to achieve what Dartmouth has achieved," he says.

Preparing to Move Ahead

The University already has a head start in terms of physical preparation for installing a network. When OIT workers rewired the University's telephone system in 1990, they also installed wires in every phone jack capable of linking personal computers to network cables.

Thus the infrastructure for a networking program is already in place.

"The network is physically already completed," Hall says.

In addition, four undergraduate houses--Currier, Leverett, Lowell and North are currently participating in a pilot network program. For a monthly fee, residents can access a network system with a Macintosh computer.

Once the decision to go forward is made, the University can complete the installation of a basic system in as little as a year, Nolan says.

Since taking office last July, Rudenstine has emphasized the need for increased inter-faculty collaboration.

He says he believes that such collaboration would work well in areas ranging from academic planning to the sharing of institutional resources. And networking, some say, is a project that will require the cooperation of the entire University.

"We certainly believe that networking is an appropriate area to do joint planning. If each faculty and department had a different phone system, it would not be conducive to sharing ideas for research," Armstrong says.

"There's room for a lot more cooperation between different parts of the University," Armstrong adds.

Collaboration has already begun on a pro gram called Vine, designed to provide basicfacts about the University--for instance, coursedescriptions and academic requirements--as well asdaily announcements form all the schools of theUniversity.

Yet many believe that it will be difficult towean the University from its long tradition ofdecentralized government.

When the time comes to decide to what extentthe schools should work together and investjointly in networking programs, Nolan says heexpects "lively debate."

The schools will have to undergo "long, hardsoul-searching to discuss inter-faculty goals,"says Fitchett.

"Doing anything shared between schools iscontrary to the philosophy [of decentralization],"says Nolan.