Almost two decades ago, Harrisburg University embarked on a journey. Their purpose: to create a higher education facility in the Capital Region that would propel both their students and their community into the 21st century. With the generosity of local businesses, organizations, and citizens, and with the ongoing support of public and private institutions, Harrisburg University received the funding that they needed to complete their journey. The Pennsylvania Department of Education awarded certification to Harrisburg University, which opened its doors to its pioneer class in August 2005.

As part of HU's enduring commitment to providing students with the skills and knowledge to succeed in an increasingly technological world, they contracted SAGE Technology Solutions. SAGE equipped classrooms with the latest advances, equipping HU faculty with the best teaching tools available. With good reason, the opening of the University came with a great deal of publicity and community excitement.

SAGE Delivers:

The Harrisburg University project needed instruction enhancement without gross impediment. Many systems integrators fail to consider the end user, designing solutions too cumbersome to operate. SAGE took great efforts to train HU faculty and staff properly, employing technologies from leading industry manufacturers to automate and simplify classroom tasks.

To allow for total protable classroom control, SAGE incorporated TeamBoard T-Interactive Whiteboards and Crestron wireless touchscreen controllers. The TeamBoard screens let each instructor call up documents from their own laptops, annotate them, and save notes for student distribution and review. As they move around the classroom, interacting with students, teachers can still use their touch panels to manage these devices.

Cutting Edge Audio/Visual Technology:

The new Automated Classroom A/V system allows all audio and video in the newly renovated classrooms and the Information Commons to be controlled from the wireless touch panel. All necessary controls, such as volume and source selection, are performed through this easy-to-use touch screen that instructors can carry with them. The TeamBoard screen gives each instructor the ability to call up documents from their laptop, annotate them, and save the annotations for distribution to their students for review.

Solutions Provided by SAGE:

Equipment Highlights:

Crestron MP2E wireless touchscreen controller TeamBoard Interactive Whiteboards EV/Telex wireless lavalier microphones DVD & VCR Audio/Visual display capabilities High-lumen Sanyo projectors in the Information Commons Proxim wireless access points for individual room control

Overcoming Challenges:

Very shortly before the August 2005 Convocation, the University awarded SAGE the installation contract. SAGE utilized every available resource to install, test, and train the systems before the faculty arrival for the first day of school. SAGE Systems Sales Engineer Steve Berg and Systems Specialist Andrea Neale performed alongside technicians and customer service representatives. Despite the scale of the undertaking, SAGE remained on-task, finishing in time to demonstrate the systems to WGAL News 8's Barbara Barr.

SAGE Technology Solutions partnered with the University as the exclusive sponsor of the First Annual Honorary Alumni Association Celebration, held on Wednesday, January 25, 2006. The event, hosted by Mayor Stephen Reed, the First Honorary Alumnus and Honorary Chair, was attended by over one hundred Harrisburg professionals that donated to the University and became Honorary Alumni themselves. The event raised over $100,000 for need-based student scholarships. The University focuses on underrepresented populations: it consists of 70% minority and 50% female students. Virtually all students at the University qualify for some form of financial aid. SAGE is proud to have had the privilege of sponsoring such an event.

Lifelong Relationships:

SAGE is proud to be the technology partner to such a great institution. As the University moves forward in its inaugural year and in the future, SAGE will continue to work with the IT and Development Offices to showcase the University and the advanced tools that they chose to supply to their faculty. Through fundraising event sponsorships and on-going technical support, SAGE will be there, every step of the way.