Complete computing services are available to UNT students through 14 general access computing laboratories with a total of approximately 600 workstations. One lab is an adaptive lab for students with special needs, and one lab is open 24 hours/day. To help carry out its metropolitan mission, the University maintains a limited number of free local and metro dial-up lines and has almost 200 low-cost "premium" dial-up lines available from the local area and the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area. Students pay a computer fee, part of which helps to offset the cost of some of these services.
The University has made a significant commitment to both central mainframe and distributed computing and the supporting communications infrastructure. Approximately 75 percent of the University's 6,000 microcomputers are connected to the campus backbone communications network. The University's fiber optics backbone extends to most buildings on campus; other buildings are connected via broadband or wireless connections. Most buildings contain building-wide networks to connect classrooms and offices. The University also has a CATV broadband network which is used for video distribution and some data communications. The campus network is linked to the THEnet and the Internet via a high speed (T1) line to Dallas, which will be moved to two DIR-provided T1 lines in December, 1996.
A UNIX-based multiprocessor system provides general academic support for more than 10,000 user-Ids, and another provides high-level research computing support to UNT's research community. Several other UNIX systems provide extensive support for the UNT Campus-Wide Information System (using World Wide Web) and specialized scientific and research computing needs. An IBM mainframe computer provides support to both academic and administrative functions. A DEC Alpha computer system supports the Libraries' comprehensive library automation system. UNT Libraries also manages a large CDROM network, including 130 drives with up to 84 gigabytes of storage. A large network of file servers, located and managed by colleges and other departments, provides basic services to faculty/staff workstations and student labs. All of these systems are linked, via the campus-wide network, to each other and to the Internet.
The institution's business functions are supported by a number of administrative information services, including an on-line budget viewing system, a comprehensive student records system, a human resources system, a capital inventory tracking system, and several innovative voice response applications (teleregistration, credit card payment by telephone, financial aid, etc.) to enhance student services. The first phase of a computerized degree audit system is beginning this year.
Some of the university's most valued IT assets are actually shared or collaborative resources. For example, the College of Education operates an "up-link room" for two-way video broadcasting of classroom material to two off-campus secondary schools in Dallas. UNT's participation in distance learning is enhanced through membership in the Trans Texas Video Network, North Texas Federation, and the Dallas Education Center. Resources are also shared with the UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth. Another collaborative effort, this time with the Dallas Museum of Art, benefits not only DMA and UNT, but millions of Internet users around the world.