A new campus-wide initiative will have Emporia State students wirelessly connected to the Internet virtually anywhere on campus by spring 2014.

The wireless expansion project, spearheaded by Michael D. Erickson, associate vice president and chief information officer of Technology and Computing Services, will allow students to work wherever and whenever they want on campus.

“We focused in the past few years as we’ve gone and expanded the wireless coverage in the student areas,” Erickson said. “So traditionally, the places that we have not put in wireless would be like faculty offices, some meeting rooms and classrooms.”

Around half of the wireless expansion project will be implemented this year, with the rest being implemented in the 2013-14 school year.

“I think that wireless connectivity always is a positive thing,” said Omer Khan, graduate business major.

Other students are also looking forward to the switch.

“I think it will be great because the Internet in my dorm is always spotty,” said Kate Slayton, sophomore psychology major. “So hopefully that will make it better campus-wide.”

Erickson said the project is a “priority” for President Michael Shonrock. The costs of installing and maintaining the equipment required to go wireless will cost almost $500,000.

“We have been looking at increasing the coverage year by year with a small amount of budget, and when (Shonrock) came, he saw that that incremental approach wasn’t going to get us where we want to be,” Erickson said, “It’s a priority to him to provide that service to all of the students. So he helped us to identify the funding of $250,000 over each year for the next two years to really make it wireless across the campus.”

Erickson said that there is currently “excellent” coverage in the Towers and Singular/Trusler Halls; partial to excellent coverage in Morse Complex, Butcher Education Center, Cremer Hall, Sauder Alumni Center and the Memorial Union; partial coverage in HPER, Visser Hall, the Earl Center and the William Allen White Library; limited or no coverage to partial coverage in the Student Recreation Center, Welch Pavilion, the Art Annex, Cram Science Hall, Plumb Hall, King Hall, Beach Music Hall, Roosevelt Hall and the Newman Division of Nursing; and limited or no coverage in Police and Safety, the power plant and Stormont Maintenance.

After Phase 1 of the wireless expansion project, there will be partial to excellent coverage in HPER, Visser Hall, Cram Science Hall, Plumb Hall, King Hall, Beach Music Hall, Roosevelt Hall, White Library, Plumb Hall, the Earl Center and the Newman Division of Nursing.

After Phase 2 there will be excellent coverage everywhere except Police and Safety, Stormont Maintenance, the power plant and the Art Annex.