Quinnipiac University’s Information Technology Services is launching a website to update the community on technology-related incidents and scheduled maintenance.
University officials announced their intentions to create the platform after a series of internet outages affected the Mount Carmel Campus. John Scott, executive director of technology infrastructure, notified students, faculty and staff via email on Sept. 1 about the repeated interruptions to the university’s campus internet.
On Aug. 30 and Aug. 31 at around 2:40 p.m., there were short internet outages, which Scott explained resulted from efforts to resolve problems with certain entertainment devices, including Xbox and PlayStation consoles and Amazon Echo smart devices. Each year, new versions of these devices come out, which Scott added may require technology services to adjust the internet connection. One outage was around five minutes and the other was closer to 10, Scott said.
“An unexpected consequence was that there was what’s called a failover of our wireless environment,” Scott said. “So, it has redundancy with multiple, essentially server controllers in the back end and when that failover occurs, there is a brief outage.”
Scott said he is not sure the exact number of students impacted, but he did mention that client services were receiving a lot of calls at the time of the outages.
“As we dug into the details of what occurred, we realized the scope was much larger and it was likely that many on campus were impacted,” the email stated.
Scott estimated that the technology services staff will complete the platform and add it to MyQ before the end of the semester. The new platform will allow faculty, staff and students to receive notifications via text or email about any technology-related incidents, including widespread internet connectivity issues or ongoing maintenance.
“We’re pretty excited because we think the community in general will really benefit,” Scott said. “And the folks that really want to be alerted (in) real time anytime there’s any kind of incident — they can sign up.”
Isabelle Oloughlin, a first-year physical therapy major, said her internet connection has been pretty consistent but she has had some problems. One day, she added, she was entirely unable to log onto Blackboard.
“I feel like usually when (my internet) is not working, other people’s is not working as well,” Oloughlin said. “It’s not just a me problem.”
Some students said the internet connection issues have been particularly prevalent in the Center for Communications and Engineering.
Lucas Morello, a senior mechanical engineering major, said the internet problems he has experienced this semester have been far worse than in previous semesters. Morello recalled one specific instance earlier this semester in which the wireless connection repeatedly interrupted his mechatronics class.
“Our professor was showing the code on the screen and I think it dropped like three times during that class,” Morello said.
Students such as Meghan Herrighty, a first-year physical therapy major, said she would likely use the information technology services website.
“I think that it’s helpful because then at least we’re in the know if there is an issue,” Herrighty said.
Victoria Nicholls, a junior graphic design major, explained how the website could be useful in situations where students are confused about what is happening with the internet status.
“It won’t fix the problems, but I guess it will make people more aware,” Nicholls said.
