Ensuring a connected community
Every day, thousands of students, faculty and staff log on to ASU’s Wi-Fi network. Keeping the university connected online to support the learning, teaching and work is no small feat.
And for students who call ASU’s campus home, much of this activity takes place inside ASU’s dorms. This summer, our Network Engineering team worked to upgrade the Wi-Fi inside eight on-campus dorms. This includes updating infrastructure to provide the fastest Wi-Fi available (Wi-Fi 6) and increasing the number of wireless access points (WAP) in dorms to improve internet connection for mobile devices.
And because we understand that some hiccups can occur when individuals set up their devices, the ASU Tech Hub – formally Tech Studio – provides in-person technical assistance on all four Phoenix campuses. The Tech Hub offers tech support by experts who provide hardware and software troubleshooting, including assistance for ASU Wi-Fi and Duo’s multi factor authentication. And since August 17, over 250 students have received assistance.
Learn more about the new offering of the ASU Tech Studios.
Providing assistance to enhance the Sun Devil experience
While the ASU Tech Studio provides on-the-ground support, think of the Experience Center as the university’s central help desk. Agents provide 24/7 support for services like financial aid, IT, parking and transport, and more.
As expected, the back-to-school time is the busiest for the Experience Center. From August 17 through August 23, these agents handled over 54,000 contacts – including calls, chatbot requests, emails, MyASU and other methods. etc. – from the Sun Devil community. This impact is far-reaching across the entire community.
Just as the Experience Center provides service support, the Learning Experience (LX) group works directly with faculty to rethink pedagogical and student-centered approaches that integrate technologies for teaching and learning.
The LX team has conducted over 50 workshops and consultations for faculty so far in August, supporting faculty use of tools like ASU’s learning management system Canvas, Badgr and more. These consultations empower faculty to better prepare for and enhance their course with technology.
Charting the future of tech-enhanced experiences
In addition to supporting technology now, our teams also look toward the future for the next generation of technology. Teams at Learning Futures employ student workers to lead the design and development of new learning experiences to reimagine the future of this tech-enhanced educational future.
Currently, the team is forming an online community of learners who want to learn about Unity Game Engine. Using the online platform Discord, they’ve opened opportunities for anyone interested in joining this community of learning to build the future of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and 3D games. Join the Learning Futures Community Discord server to get started.
Once you're in, you can join smaller teams — or guilds — that help you get better at gaming art, design and development using Unity. Over 100 people are already there, working with Unity experts at LF on their own projects.
In continuing to chart the future of technology, Enterprise Technology has assembled an all-star team of artificial intelligence (AI) experts to lead ASU into the future of AI-enhanced learning. The AI Acceleration team is charged with creating AI tools that positively impact student outcomes, explore groundbreaking research avenues and streamline business operations.
Learn more about season 1 of Carpool Convos.
Advancing a modern workforce of the future
Crucial to our team’s success is the cultivation of a modern workforce. This academic year, Enterprise Technology is preparing for the goals of tomorrow while meeting the immediate needs of our communities today through two programs: T4 Leadership Academy and the Technical Upskilling Program.
In its second cohort, the year-long Technical Upskilling Program provides a variety of IT experiences for individuals looking to upskill and explore a career in technology.
Organized into cohorts, the team members will rotate across four specialized departments – including the Experience Center, Deskside Support, Classroom Support and Program Management units. By the end, these cohorts will receive well-rounded work experience as they collaborate with a variety of our teams. This year, 41 applicants have been admitted into the program.
Ultimately, both programs are designed to narrow skill gaps in the IT industry to build an equitable workforce.
And to foster a cutting-edge workforce of the future, we prioritize giving students real-world roles to prepare them for the life after ASU. At Dreamscape Learn, pod operators take part in shaping the future of immersive education as integral members of the Learning Experience (LX) team.
Apart from Dreamscape Learn, our LX Design team employs 49 student workers spread across the four campus Tech Hubs — including Creative Consultants in the Digital Maker Studio.
Together, we enhance the experiences and services for our community
These are just some of the services Enterprise Technology provides – in collaboration with partners across ASU’s departments, units and Enterprises – to enhance the Sun Devil experience.
And as we look forward to a new academic year, we remain committed to ensuring and advancing the support and security of digitally-enhanced ways to live, work and learn at ASU and beyond.