When you think high tech, think USC.

That’s what PC Magazine is telling its 4.8 million readers in its 2007 “Top 20 Wired Colleges” issue, due to hit newsstands on Dec. 26. According to the magazine, USC is the eighth-most connected, plugged-in and high-tech campus in the nation.

The “Top 20 Wired Colleges” is a ranking designed to highlight colleges with the most comprehensive computing and technology offerings – in terms of size, scope and quality. Based on the Princeton Review’s survey of the administrators of those colleges featured in its 2007 college guide, the rankings focused on three main areas: academics, student resources and infrastructure.

PC Magazine singled out USC for its leadership in classroom technology, high-resolution videoconferencing in libraries and open-access wireless network services.

“We are very pleased with the recognition,” said Thomas Katsouelas, vice provost for information services.

“With the support of the academic senate and the provost’s office, USC recently undertook several technology initiatives – particularly in the areas of wireless networking, classroom technology and videoconferencing – to leapfrog the university into a leadership position. This ranking in PC Magazine indicates that our initiatives have been successful,” Katsouleas said.

Among the provost’s IT initiatives was a new open-access wireless network, introduced by Information Technology Services on Sept. 1, that allows individuals on the USC University Park and Health Sciences campuses, including visitors, to access the wireless network by simply selecting the network on their laptops and hitting the enter key.

Wireless technology is currently available in approximately three quarters of the common spaces across the UPC and HSC campuses. The remaining common areas will have wireless connectivity by the end of this academic year.

These changes have been a boon to USC students.

“I rarely go anywhere on campus without my computer these days because I can access everything I need electronically,” said Ashley Romero, a senior who serves as director of academic affairs for the USC Undergraduate Student Government.

“USC’s wireless network allows me to review notes and lecture materials while I eat lunch in a park on campus. I used to anxiously anticipate the e-mails that would be waiting at home on my computer, but now I can stop anywhere on campus to check my e-mail wirelessly,” Romero said.

Students also have benefited from the recent completion of upgrades in the technology that is available in USC’s 218 general-assignment classrooms, all of which are now equipped with Internet connectivity and a hardware minimum of a projector and screen support.

Other recent IT initiatives include easy-to-use videoconferencing tools in meeting rooms in all libraries and USC satellite campus locations as well as the completion of a new facility near the UPC campus for USC’s world-class Center for High-Performance Computing and Communications.

The new facility will provide a faster network – the first step in a phased upgrade of the entire campus network – offering continuously enhanced bandwidth and security.

“With these new additions, USC is positioning itself not only as a leader in the use of IT in higher education but also as a model of the 21st-century university,” Katsouleas said.