Network Transformation Drives Excellence at Kentucky State University

In the capital city of Frankfort, Kentucky State University (KSU) serves 2,300 students across a 1,100-acre campus. With a rich tradition in agriculture, KSU’s campus boasts a vast, 301-acre agricultural research farm, a 106-acre research and demonstration facility as well as a 306-acre environmental education center. And with 100 full-time instructional faculty members, KSU offers students one of the lowest student-to-faculty ratios among public institutions of higher education.

KSU’s commitment to student connection and fostering curiosity is a core part of its institutional values. But in recent years, the school’s aging network had become a major barrier to progress.

Overcoming Outdated Infrastructure to Become Future-Ready

The aging fiber network was in dire need of a modernization—one that would deliver robust connectivity and provide university leadership with peace of mind. The existing network was over 20 years old, daisy-chained between buildings, and lacked the redundancies to avoid a catastrophic network failure. And with student BYOD growth adding untold demand for bandwidth, leaders knew that the days of stretching their aging network were numbered.

“The devices students connect to Wi-Fi has grown from 1 or 2, to 10,” said Dr. Wendy Dixie, Vice President of Information Technology at KSU. “Everything connects, from phones to Echo Dots, iPads, and even more.”

Calling in C1 and Extreme to Guide the Project

Along with her university staff, Dr. Dixie was familiar with C1, a trusted partner of KSU for over four years before the modernization project. With a foundation of trust already in place, KSU turned to C1 to help address the next phase of its technological evolution.

“We understood that to be resilient, to be available 99.99% of the time, we must build an environment and infrastructure that supports that,” said Dixie.

C1 quickly stepped in with a recommended solution, devising a plan to upgrade the campus’s existing fiber optic internet, with purposeful improvements that would maximize the university’s investment. The plan included:

• A Complete Fiber Upgrade: C1 would transition KSU’s campus from multi-mode fiber to Extreme’s single-mode fiber, enabling virtually unlimited speeds.
• Creation of Campus Hub Locations: C1 would establish five interconnected hub locations, boosting speeds to 40Gbps and ensuring network redundancy.
• A Comprehensive Network Refresh: Together, C1 and Extreme would begin deploying 100 network switches, 800 wireless access points, and upgrading 13 campus buildings with Cat6 cabling. Over 85,000 feet of new fiber would be installed to replace the legacy system.

For Dr. Dixie and her staff, these changes would represent a major acceleration in the university’s quest to deliver a top-tier educational experience.

After the Implementation: Positive Results and Reception

Since the collaboration between C1 and Extreme Networks, KSU has been experiencing the benefits of a seamless, high-performance, and reliable network—and it was even delivered two months ahead of schedule.

The technological changes in the university’s network have led to quantifiable results and improvements that staff and students can both rely on.

The transformation has yielded some truly remarkable outcomes for KSU, like:

• Dramatically increased network reliability and speed – as much as a 3900% increase in fiber-supported speeds (from 10 Gbps to 40 Gbps or more).
• A steep drop in internet speed/access complaints to the IT team at KSU.
• An almost complete reduction in outages—with IT teams quickly able to identify and isolate the cause of network issues thanks to complete visibility across the network.

The project has empowered students who once struggled with dropped connections in residence halls, while simultaneously positioning KSU for success against strategic initiatives like launching its online program.  

“Outages have virtually disappeared. If one were to occur, we’d be able to determine where it is and take care of it immediately,” said Dr. Dixie of the dramatic improvements.

Strong Solutions and Partnerships Pave the Path Forward

“To have a relationship and trusted partner who really cares about the outcome and the organization is very important to me,” said Dr. Dixie of the partnerships that shaped the project.

“I have the highest regard for my C1 and Extreme client executives and their teams, and the changes we’ve had over the years,” she said.

To learn more about KSU’s network transformation and the solutions the powered progress for this campus environment, visit here.