Dean of Student Kenneth Elmore said cable television could hit Boston University dormitories as early as next fall, and Comcast, the company that provides cable to much of the city of Boston, is currently working on a proposal to bring cable to campus after a request from administrators, Comcast spokesman Marc Goodman said Tuesday.
While the decision is still not definite, Elmore said a campus cable plan is possible by next semester, saying he “would love it if we could get this taken care of by the end of the summer.”
“We’ve got infrastructure work that has to be done for cable, and while it is not as expensive as anyone thought it would be, there is still extensive work that needs to be done,” he said.
Elmore said it is possible to get more done over the summer than expected, but added that he hopes cable can be fully implemented and completed by the end of next year. Overall, he said bringing cable to campus has “turned out to be a lot more complicated than [he] thought.”
He is “optimistic” the initiative can become a reality once some major questions are answered so the cable committee, formed by Elmore, is able to “[flush] out what a real plan would be to put cable in.”
Six university administrators sit on the committee: Vice President of Enrollment and Student Affairs Anne Shea, Associate Vice President of Enrollment and Student Affairs Laurie Pohl, Vice President for Media and Technology Jim Porter, Director of Telecommunications Jim Shea, Assistant Provost Michael Field, Director of Residence Life David Zamojski and Director of Housing Marc Robillard. The students on the committee include College of Communication freshman Jason Marcus, COM junior David Cohen, COM sophomore Andrew Bergner, College of Arts and Sciences junior Paul Hawryluk and COM sophomore Marisa Wohl.
The students were picked, Elmore said, because they represent a variety of different classes and showed a strong interest in BU and the issue.
At this point, nothing is finalized for Comcast, Goodman said, but the company is looking forward to submitting its plan to BU officials.
“We’re excited about this potential opportunity to work with Boston University on this potential initiative,” he said.
Other schools already offer cable to their students, including Boston College, which provides 59 channels, including seven BC-run channels and a BC student film channel, 24 hours a day to students living on campus.
New York University also offers 24-hour a day cable television. The university uses one channel to showcase NYU events, student films and student-produced shows. Also, the NYU-run radio station is played over advertisements for university events.
Tufts University provides students living in on-campus buildings with a cable jack in each of their rooms, and students are provided 58 channels for a fee of $25. Students also have the option to purchase more advanced cable packages if they are interested.