BRADLEY UNIVERSITY
DIGITALLY CONNECTED CAMPUS

Bradley Joins Forces with Global Tech Leaders T-Mobile and Apple to Launch Digitally Connected Campus

What:

  • Bradley University will leverage T-Mobile 5G Advanced Network Solutions (ANS) and Apple Higher Education to create a Digitally Connected Campus.

 

Bradley University Digitally Connected Campus Goals:

  • Improve digital equity for Bradley University students and advance student success
  • Enrich Bradley’s learning environment and create an ecosystem supportive of academic innovation
  • Improve the university’s infrastructure and operations.

 

Bradley University is now partnering with T-Mobile to establish a student-centric, digitally connected campus, which will be powered by T-Mobile’s 5G Advanced Network Solutions (ANS).

 

T-Mobile is providing significant investments in broader network infrastructure and additional services to implement this initiative with Bradley. In Fall 2024, as part of this multi-year collaboration, students, full-time faculty, and certain student-facing staff will receive a 10th Generation iPad, complete with a Bradley-branded keyboard case and an unlimited T-Mobile data plan with hotspot capabilities. T-Mobile’s 5G ANS will allow Bradley to utilize a hybrid mobile network that provides faster speeds, lower latency and dedicated reliability to enrich Bradley’s learning environment and create an ecosystem supportive of academic and operational innovation.

This effort, which has a total value of more than $30 million, will be bolstered by Apple. Bradley will leverage Apple’s deep experience in education to populate every iPad with apps, offer training sessions, and determine best practices to generate truly impactful outcomes across campus.

“We are excited to leverage this technology within and beyond the classroom to improve digital equity on our campus and to aid our talented faculty and staff's ongoing efforts in fostering a highly supportive and innovative learning environment,” said Christopher Jones, Ph.D., Vice President for Strategy and Innovation for Bradley University. “Through the Digitally Connected Campus initiative, Bradley has the potential to become a genuine exemplar in contemporary higher education.”

Nationwide, the digital divide in higher education creates significant disadvantages for the more than half of college students who experience stress from unreliable internet or device problems. This new initiative will help bridge that gap and improve Bradley’s capacity to provide an equitable educational experience.

“We are honored that T-Mobile sees Bradley University as the campus to launch this flagship educational experience,” said Stephen Standifird, Ph.D., President, Bradley University. “We are confident that by providing students an iPad along with an unlimited T-Mobile data plan, Bradley can differentiate itself by advancing a true sense of community and belonging through equitable digital access that is unmatched by any other university in the nation.”

The implementation of the 5G infrastructure will begin soon. The first devices will be distributed to full-time faculty early in the Fall 2023 semester. As the 2023-2024 academic year unfolds, the deployment of devices will extend to “discovery cohorts” of students that will represent approximately 25% of the student body. There will then be a full launch in Fall 2024 to include students, full-time faculty, and certain student-facing staff.

Still have questions? Send them to ConnectedCampus@bradley.edu

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Program Overview

 

Digitally Connected Campus Rollout Committee

  • Sandra Bury, Executive Director, Enterprise Services and Strategic Initiatives, Division of Informational Technology Services (Project Manager)
  • Brian Cheney, Interim Chief Information Officer
  • Libby Derry, Executive Director, Communications & Media Relations
  • Sarah Glover, Special Assistant to the President for Student Retention & Graduation and Senior Associate Dean, Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts
  • Charity Gunn, Executive Director, Office of Campus Culture & Climate
  • Christopher Jones, Vice President for Strategy and Innovation (Institutional Lead)
  • Barbara Kerns, Deputy Chief Information Officer
  • Dan Moon, Dean, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (Academic Lead)
  • Michael Stubbs, Director of Peoria Next Innovation Center and Director of Technology Commercialization (Operational Lead)
  • Nathan Thomas, Vice President for Student Affairs