Residents in Southern Courtyard and Southern Pines may expect to receive a wireless network option in the near future, but the university has to take multiple steps first before taking action.

Each fall, a student technology committee is formed to discuss proposals submitted by the Georgia Southern University community, Lakesha Hill, Network Services Specialist, said.

The committee consists of six students appointed by the Student Government Association and five faculty members from across campus, Hill said.

“We mostly talked about renewing things that are already occurring but I do know we talked a lot about expansion in residence halls. We focused heavily on Kennedy,” SGA senator Ty Jacobs said.

The committee also voted to expand the bandwidth of ResNet, which will soon be in effect because the state funding was recently approved, SGA senator Jacob Jay said.

“Proposals are submitted by anyone in the Georgia Southern community, whatever your proposal may be pertaining to technology,” Hill said.

Proposal submission happens between September and October, and in addition to that, there is a forum in September with the student technology committee during which committee members explain the process in detail, Hill said.

“(The proposals) are prioritized by everyone on the committee and they may take those proposals to the President’s cabinet, and they review the recommendations and approve the proposals,” Hill said.

Many students assume that ResNet is in charge of all wired and wireless networks across campus, but the real purpose of ResNet is to troubleshoot common problems students report.

“We are more at position to troubleshoot connectivity issues versus saying when the wired or wireless will be expanded. We basically come in and troubleshoot the wireless network or the wired network,” Hill said. “ResNet is only responsible for the wired and wireless network students use in the residence halls.”

A change in residence networks would most likely come from the Networking and Telecommunications department, and they would lead the way in the change, Hill said.

Ann Hill, Administrative Director for Networking and Telecommunications, could not be reached for comment by press time.