Action Item 6:6 Continue to provide students, faculty, and staff with a robust and flexible network. Internet connections must be able to readily handle large volumes of traffic and be nearly flawless in availability and reliability. Continuous investments must be made to ensure the network and infrastructure evolve to meet the changing needs and expectations of the UK community. Dependencies on cloud resources by administrators and networked resources within the classroom by students and faculty alike will only increase in the coming years. Strategic growth beyond mere lifecycle replacements should be anticipated and funded by the institution. Action Item 6:7 Wireless must be secure, ubiquitous, and able to readily meet the expanding usage of the University community and visitors. The University has seen an overwhelming increase in the number of mobile devices utilized across campus. The UK community anticipates that these numbers will only continue to rise as individuals become increasingly reliant upon several mobile devices simultaneously. In addition, wireless usage is increasing within the classroom as instruction evolves to incorporate these resources as learning and assessment tools. Action Item 6:8 The University should continue to pursue funding opportunities to enhance and evolve the networking infrastructure. While internal, long-term funding strategies are necessary to continue to provide excellent network resources, so are supplemental investments by funding agencies like the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). ITS should partner with others to maximize opportunities for success and create economies of scale. 29 | EmpoweringTransformation RECOMMENDATION 6: INFRASTRUCTURE The University should construct and sustain a comprehensive, innovative, protected, and fruitful IT infrastructure (including but not limited to networks, software, facilities, and hardware) capable of supporting extensive and effective use by students, faculty, and staff.