As student journalists, we are ever grateful for the recently constructed building that houses the resources we need to prepare for the real world. Griffin Hall is a state-of-the-art building, with a Digitorium, media labs, a broadcast news desk and radio capabilities, that provides students with technology not available anywhere else on campus.
Unfortunately, after a year of opening, the building is still experiencing technical difficulties and more than there should be.

Recently, Northern Kentucky University hosted a watch party for the first presidential debate in the Digitorium. The building was not able to hold internet connection throughout the whole debate and left the audience questioning some of the added features of the debate. While a great interactive idea, the watch party was close to a bust because of the building’s technical difficulties.
Many professors run into problems in the classrooms as well. Projectors don’t correspond with the touch-screen control panels and computers don’t connect with the projectors. Because of this, some classes are forced to push back assignments and presentations and rearrange syllabuses because of faulty equipment.

The cause so far seems to be cheap products. Cheap wires are not working properly to connect computers to monitors and monitors to projectors, further hindering professors from following through with course plans.

Many students on The Northerner staff are taking classes in Griffin Hall as part of the College of Informatics and it isn’t any less frustrating to us when technology doesn’t function properly in the building.

Some printers aren’t connected and the wireless internet is shoddy, making it difficult for students to use computer labs or their own mobile devices to communicate or work on assignments in between classes.
Griffin Hall needs some improvements. If NKU is going to market the building as a state-of-the-art facility, then it should live up to its name with working technology.
One year should have been sufficient to straighten out the kinks, but it seems as though that just wasn’t enough time.
Faculty should be more proactive in solving problems quickly and effectively, even if that means spending a little more money. It would be more beneficial to students’ learning experiences at NKU if they did.