The state’s largest school and most comprehensive center of higher education south of Atlanta, Georgia Southern University is home to more than 26,000 students from across the U.S. The school is committed to going above and beyond to provide and maintain an environment that encourages learning, discovery, and personal growth.
THE CHALLENGE
In 2017, as part of its initiative to broaden and redesign academic programs to better serve students, Georgia Southern focused on reinvesting savings into academics to improve student success. In keeping with this mission, Ron Stalnaker, Chief Information Officer, and John David Walker, Manager - AV, Classroom, and Digital Signage Design, were charged with updating the school's technology standard and modernizing classrooms across the University's Statesboro, Armstrong, and Liberty campuses.
With three campuses, managing technology can be difficult. John and his team wanted to not only create a simple, consistent user experience across every classroom to help minimize help desk calls and maximize uptime, but also provide that same level of control and simplicity to system managers. “We needed to find a solution that would reduce the cost of deploying and managing the technology in each space as our university continues to grow,” says Walker.
THE SOLUTION
When evaluating new technology, John and his team always observe “The Three S’s”: Service, Simplicity, and Speed. It must enable them to provide quality service to students and faculty; provide a simple, yet intuitive, user experience; and allow for speedy delivery. Crestron DigitalMedia™ and .AV Framework™ technologies met all three criteria.
“Consistency is important to us, and as we continue to revolutionize classrooms across all of our campuses, it is our job to ensure that all of these spaces are consistent and reliable,” says Walker. “By standardizing on Crestron DigitalMedia for AV distribution and .AV Framework for system configuration and deployment, we were able to deliver on these promises with ease.”
RESULTS
While Crestron technology isn’t new to the Georgia Southern campus, the new system standard developed by the AV, Classroom, and Digital Signage Design Team has simplified the installation process and made managing and monitoring each classroom easier and more efficient.
In the last 18 months, Georgia Southern has updated the AV technology in more than 300 classrooms across its campuses. Faculty and staff appreciate the consistent experience in every classroom and meeting space, especially when traveling from campus to campus.
“.AV Framework has helped our technicians efficiently support more spaces, allowing us to create a more connected campus and ensure a seamless user experience,” explains Walker.
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.
Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.
Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.
With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.
By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.
Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.
Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.
Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
