Come next year, officials expect that every UNC student will be toting a CCI portable computer.
The only question facing the program now is where CCI goes from there.
In August 2000, UNC kicked off its cutting-edge campaign, two years in the making, designed to enhance technological access on campus by requiring that all incoming students own laptop computers.
Now when upperclassmen stroll through the Pit and see younger students writing e-mails or reading assignments on their laptops, it's not such an unusual sight.
With CCI in its third year now, students have become accustomed to the technological climate.
But officials contend that as CCI gains steam at the University -- and technology becomes a more prominent campus resource -- now is the time to test the program's boundaries.
UNC seems up to the challenge, but there are still obstacles in the project's path.
Uncertainty about who will lead the campaign and decide what direction it will take prevails. CCI's two guiding figures, the late Chancellor Michael Hooker -- the mastermind behind CCI -- and Marian Moore, former vice chancellor for information technology, are no longer at UNC.
But faith in the program remains.
"The University now has the opportunity to build on top of (CCI)," said Moore, now vice president for information technology at Boston College. "Now is the exciting time."
And she would know. Moore stood at the helm of CCI from the planning stages until this summer, when she left her UNC post for a similar one in Boston -- just one year before seeing CCI hit its defining mark.
In the beginning, Moore was at the forefront of an ambitious vision to overhaul the University's technological landscape.
Before CCI, Moore said, many students depended on the campus's computer labs for access to technology. Students indeed were purchasing laptops, but with no uniform model on campus, it made technical assistance difficult.
More importantly, the inconsistencies sometimes created dramatic technological discrepancies among students, she added.
But evaluating how to resolve those concerns took time -- it was two years before CCI actually came to fruition.
In 1998, Hooker introduced his brainchild to the campus community, announcing the University's campaign to offer the most up-to-date technology to students through laptops and renovated classrooms.
Under the program, students are required to own a laptop upon entering the University, and during CCI's development, UNC set up an agreement with IBM -- renewed this summer -- to offer students computers at a reduced price.
UNC also set up a preapproved loan for freshmen who couldn't afford the equipment, and Hooker established a $3 million fund for need-based computer grants.
But Hooker's life was tragically cut short in 1999. Just before seeing CCI officially under way, the chancellor died of cancer -- but his vision was carried forward.
Since its 2000 kickoff, the program has seen a number of changes and new developments. In January 2001, the campaign took arguably one of its most significant leaps -- wireless Internet access.
Across campus and throughout town, students with a wireless Internet card can now log onto the Web without having to worry about cables and other cumbersome accessories.
When the technology was introduced, students had to pay extra for the upgrade, but new students now receive the card with their new laptops.
The technological advancements are appearing in the classroom, as well.
Next spring, UNC's first media book will be introduced to an English class, Moore said. This technology takes textbook assignments to the next level -- instead of buying a book for the class, students will purchase computer software that contains readings, videos and other interactive learning tools.
To Moore, this is a prime example of CCI fulfilling its mission -- enhancing the intellectual atmosphere at UNC by expanding the campus's technological boundaries.
"My personal feeling is this really leverages the power that the CCI has had at Carolina," she said. "It's pretty exciting stuff."
The next step, UNC officials say, is making sure that technology is used on a daily basis.
"I think we need to be sure we have the infrastructure to have faculty integrate into the classroom," said Provost Robert Shelton, who came to UNC one semester after CCI's inception.
"That's where I think it'll take off and grow."
The impact the program has had on campus already is quantifiable, he said. Each year, for example, more and more faculty use Internet resources, such as the Blackboard Web site, he said.
"I think it was really well-designed from the beginning," Shelton said. "It's pretty hard to improve on that."
Perhaps that is what makes CCI's future both broad and ambiguous -- those leading the initiative know that improvements can be made, but they don't know whether the fundamental design of the program needs adjusting.
The responsibility of overseeing that fundamental design has fallen in the hands of Steve Jarrell, UNC's interim vice chancellor for information technology, who was a member of CCI's planning team years ago.
Without Moore, Jarrell said, managing CCI will be a hefty task. "I thought she was absolutely the right person at the right time for the job," he said. "It's hard to overstate how important Marian was."
And as he shoulders the weight of CCI, Jarrell said he doesn't want to change direction or dramatically alter the program's course but simply "do more good things."
"We're on the right track."
The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.
