This news item was published prior to Apogee’s acquisition and subsequent rebrand to Boldyn Networks in November 2024. Learn more about the acquisition here.

Austin, TX, Huntsville, AL – December 2, 2020 – As it sprints toward its milestone 150th anniversary, Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (AAMU), is planning for the future with investment in cutting-edge Wi-Fi across the entire campus to facilitate student learning, research capabilities, collaboration, and security. The university today announced its selection of Apogee, the only managed services provider focused solely on higher education, to provide exceptional wireless experience for more than 6,900 AAMU students and faculty across all academic buildings and areas, including the 972-acre Winifred Thomas Agricultural Research Station in Hazel Green, Alabama.

Founded in 1875 by a former slave, AAMU is a historical black college and university (HBCU) and a traditional 1890 land-grant institution. A dynamic and progressive institution committed to academic excellence, AAMU prepares students not only to excel in their careers but also to succeed in life.

“One of our 2021 strategic goals was to drastically improve our Wi-Fi offering to meet the needs of the University in a world that is more connected than ever before,” said Dr. Andrew Hugine, President of AAMU. “Our mobility dependence has increased exponentially over the past decade. With the average number of wireless devices jumping from 1.5 to five or more per user, keeping up with this demand in-house has become impractical given our staff and budgets.”

By partnering with Apogee for managed services, AAMU will be able to improve connectivity, reliability, performance, IT service and support, and financial predictability, while freeing administrators from the hassles of equipment and network refreshes and giving them the gift of time and energy to focus on important strategic campus initiatives.

AAMU’s Managed Campus Network

Students, faculty, and researchers will return to campus in Spring 2021 to a significantly improved digital experience with the new, state-of-the-art, high-speed, and reliable Wi-Fi network in all four colleges and at the research station.

AAMU’s new Wi-Fi network, which will connect seamlessly with the existing residential network, will provide blended learning opportunities for students to connect to live lectures remotely and view recorded lecture material online. It will foster increased collaboration between peers and teachers for better student outcomes and higher student satisfaction ratings. And it will let AAMU students feel connected whether in a classroom, studying remotely, or elsewhere on campus. They will also have instant access to Apogee’s 24/7/365 support via phone, chat, text, and email. In addition, it will provide real-time location analytics to understand facility utilization and ensure campus safety.

“In response to Covid-19 and growing parental concerns over school-related emergencies, we needed to have the system be able to accurately locate users and devices across the campus as part of our life safety planning and contact tracing strategies,” said Dr. Damian Clarke, Chief Information Officer.

The new managed campus network provides a predictable funding model, comprehensive support, SLA-driven performance metrics, and regular equipment refreshes and to ensure the network is always up-to-date and modernized.

AAMU’s search for a technology partner led them to choose Apogee because of the company’s experience and track record delivering high-speed, cutting-edge Wi-Fi to so many universities across the nation. “Apogee’s proposal met or exceeded AAMU’s expectations across technical requirements, service and response times, and fiscally,” said Dr. Clarke. “We look forward to a mutually-beneficial partnership.”

“One of the foundations of our business is helping colleges and universities harness technology to drive their strategic initiatives,” said Matt Loecke, Executive Vice-President of Sales at Apogee. “We are honored to welcome this prestigious school amongst our established HBCU partnerships, and believe that like their peers, AAMU will come to rely on Apogee’s commitment to technological and operational excellence to lay the foundation for their students’ academic success and quality of life.”

About Alabama A&M University

Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (AAMU) is a historic, student-friendly, and community-focused institution of higher learning. Reflecting on its heritage as a historical black college and university (HBCU) and a traditional 1890 land-grant institution, AAMU functions as a teaching, research, and public service institution. Founded in 1875 by a former slave, Dr. William Hooper Councill, AAMU is a dynamic and progressive institution with a strong commitment to academic excellence. The serene, intimate campus is situated on “The Hill,” only a short distance from downtown Huntsville, the site of the school’s founding. Find out more at AAMU.edu.