Press Release

SC STATE WINS 3.14 MILLION NASA AWARD

South Carolina State University (SCSU) has been selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to administer a 5-year, 3.14 million grant as the regional site of a state-of-the-art computer network system. SCSU will provide network services to minority institutions in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The University was chosen in a competitive process as one of seven such regional centers in the United States.

The grant award provides for development of an advanced computer infrastructure at the Orangeburg campus as well as training for faculty, staff and students. Such a system will allow members of the regional center full access to the Internet and its vast resources, including World Wide Web (WWW) clients and servers. This type of WWW access will make the process of locating information on the millions of computers world-wide fast, powerful and relatively easy compared to other means of searching the Internet. resources, including World Wide Web (WWW) clients and servers. This type of WWW access will make the process of locating information on the millions of computers world-wide fast, powerful and relatively easy compared to other means of searching the Internet.

SCSU will also collaborate with several Historically Black Colleges/Universities (HBCUs), Minority Institutions (MIs) and predominantly minority-attended elementary and secondary schools in managing the center. This collaborative effort will include the mutual exchange of technical ideas, network training and partnerships in teaching and research. In South Carolina the collaborating institutions will initially include Allen University, Benedict College, Claflin College, Morris College and Voorhees College as well as Bowman High School, Howard Middle School, Felton Laboratory School and Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School. Additional members of the regional center will include Morris Brown College, an HBCU in Atlanta, and Florida International University, an MI in Miami. Ultimately the center will expand to include a wide variety of other local and regional schools, industrial and business partnerships and municipal and county government agencies.