BC TELECOM will work with the university to design and build a new broadband, fibre-optic infrastructure, linking sites throughout UBC's 400-hectare campus.
The Campus Connectivity project will provide classrooms, laboratories, offices and student residences with high-speed access (up to 10 megabytes per second) to electronic mail and the World Wide Web.
"This alliance is great news for everyone involved, especially our students," said UBC President David Strangway. "Working with BC TELECOM, our university will be a technological leader, able to provide enhanced education to students in the Lower Mainland and throughout the province."
"In addition, this will allow us to explore and provide educational leadership through research on the social impact and policy implications of new information technologies."
The initiative will enable faculty members to prepare course materials for student use on the Web, from posting lecture notes to creating interactive, multimedia experiments. Students will also be able to use the Web to apply for admission, search library catalogues and even access their final grades.
Space in overcrowded libraries, meanwhile, will be freed up by services that allow faculty members to order electronic versions of scholarly journals.
In the future, students throughout the province will also be able to take courses concurrently with students on campus. Using the Internet, they will be able to complete course work and take part in discussions through on-line tutorials and conferencing.
Both partners will also provide distance learning to university students outside Greater Vancouver, as well as develop and market multimedia applications for other educational institutions and companies. For example, the agreement calls for the creation of a training centre which will instruct teachers on the effective use of new information technologies in elementary, secondary, post-secondary and private-sector education.
Under the agreement, BC TELECOM will become the university's principal telecommunications provider. This is the first step in formalizing a long-term relationship between the two organizations.
The agreement follows guidelines set out by the Conference Board of Canada for partnerships between education institutions and the private sector. These guidelines were earlier adopted by UBC's Board of Governors.
"This agreement demonstrates how telecommunications technology can bridge distances, improve education and foster socio-economic growth. This alliance shows the true spirit of the B.C. Electronic Highway Accord," said BC TELECOM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brian Canfield.
"We view our groundbreaking relationship with UBC as a model for other universities and colleges. It brings a wide variety of current activities and new initiatives into a partnership that will strengthen and grow as new opportunities and technologies evolve," Canfield added.
The British Columbia Electronic Highway Accord is an alliance among the provincial government, the telecommunications industry, learning institutions and others to provide universal and affordable access to the electronic highway and to develop British Columbia's information technology industry.