MSU IT is taking significant strides towards modernizing the campus network infrastructure with the ambitious Fee Hall Refresh Project. This initiative is the first phase of a broader network refresh and modernization effort, aimed at enhancing the digital environment to promote student, faculty, and staff success.
Fee Hall, used as classroom and office space for the Colleges of Human, Osteopathic, and Veterinary Medicine, was chosen as a priority for the network upgrade due to its large size and the high volume of network-related Service Desk tickets it receives. Upgrading Fee Hall’s network infrastructure is essential to support the significant academic and administrative functions that take place within, ensuring a seamless digital experience for all users.
“The goal is to replace outdated network infrastructure, starting with priority targets like Fee Hall,” said MSU IT’s Scott Bryan. “This will ensure that students, faculty, and staff benefit from a robust and efficient digital environment, creating a more conducive atmosphere for teaching, learning, and research.”
The project aligns seamlessly with MSU’s 2030 plan, emphasizing stewardship and sustainability. By modernizing the network infrastructure, MSU enhances user experience and promotes sustainability through energy-efficient technology, reducing the university’s carbon footprint. The initiative also showcases MSU’s commitment to responsible resource management by investing in long-term solutions that will benefit the entire MSU community.
Spanning from July 2024 through January 2025, the project required approximately 550–600 total hours of effort across engineers, contractors, tech teams, students, and support staff. Work was conducted during 25 scheduled maintenance windows, with careful coordination to minimize disruption.
One of the key challenges faced during the project was scheduling network upgrades to minimize the impact on faculty, staff, and students. This was particularly difficult for classrooms and offices that operate on different academic calendars and schedules.
“The biggest hurdle was scheduling,” Bryan explained. “Each network upgrade required between half a day and up to two days of service outage. We had to work with each affected group to find suitable times for the work.”
As part of a major network upgrade in Fee Hall, the team assessed 30 communication areas and successfully implemented improvements in 23 of them. Throughout the process, they removed a significant amount of outdated infrastructure, including 120 legacy network switches and 2 large-scale devices responsible for managing building-wide connectivity. In their place, the team installed with 77 modern, high efficiency network switches and 2 high-capacity devices to handle the building’s overall network traffic. These upgrades not only streamline the system but also enhance speed, reliability, and scalability ensuring the network is well-equipped to meet current demands and future growth.
Each communication space now has a dedicated connection back to the top of the building, increasing bandwidth to every floor and improving the support model. Fee Hall now benefits from two dedicated 10Gb uplinks to the Law and Radiology buildings—an upgrade from previously shared uplinks with other facilities.
The project was a collaborative effort involving multiple teams, including Infrastructure – Network Engineering, IT Portfolio Services Project Management, Health Sciences IT – Project Management, Workstation Management, and Educational Technology, as well as the Colleges of Human Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, Nursing, and Veterinary Medicine.
In addition to many contractor partners, students were also significantly involved, working alongside engineers to design the network upgrade, configure switches, and deploy them in the field. This collaboration ensured the success of the project and provided valuable hands-on experience for the students, some of whom were hired full-time as a result.
The Fee Hall Refresh Project highlights the importance of teamwork and communication, ensuring the network infrastructure supports a wireless-first philosophy. Weekly planning meetings, constant coordination, and on-site visits were crucial in overcoming challenges and ensuring the project’s timely completion. This successful endeavor sets the stage for continued technological advancement and innovation, benefiting the entire MSU community for years to come.
