In 2019, Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio expanded their reach by opening up a 100,000-square-foot satellite campus offering 18 academic programs in Centerville, Ohio.
While this endeavor increased accessibility to affordable post-secondary education in southwestern Ohio, the college was concerned about the connectivity needs of the students who would consider attending the new location. Fortunately, the college was able to partner with the Miami Valley Communication Council (MVCC) and the Miami Valley Educational Computer Association (MVECA) to establish the GATEway Fiber Network. This initiative interconnects previously installed stretches of fiber with a new fiber installation to provide connectivity to Sinclair’s Centerville location.
This new fiber network connects this location to OARnet’s statewide network for internet and IntraOhio services. The collaboration between the MVCC, MVCEA and OARnet provides a direct link between the satellite campus and main campus in Dayton.
“The OARnet network has been extremely reliable, and the cost efficiencies and effectiveness of their services are unparalleled in the marketplace,” said Scott McCollum, chief information officer for Sinclair. “OARnet has been an innovator in being one of the first state networks to lease fiber and offer bandwidth services. OARnet’s approach enables a software defined network service with the capability to provisioning multiple services on single network connection and to easily adjust bandwidth on demand. This approach offer almost unlimited bandwidth possibilities for clients to support the needs of IT applications.”
Due to the reliable connectivity, the Centerville campus has now become the home of Sinclair’s information technology programs that focus on networking and cybersecurity, as well as a National Security Agency cybersecurity program. The connection established between the two campuses will open up opportunities to strengthen collaborations and develop specialized applications with businesses and other higher education institutions throughout the region.
