Like most American institutions of higher learning, Voorhees College is boldly embracing the future. The small liberal arts, historically Black institution in Denmark, S.C., has adopted information technology to overcome the isolation that its rural, out-of-the-way location has imposed on the Episcopal Church-affiliated school.

With generous support from the family that founded the institution in 1901, Voorhees has spent roughly $4 million over the past five years building an information technology infrastructure that includes four laboratories which host 150 computers. As a result of the investment, faculty members and the 700 students enrolled at the college now have access to electronic mail accounts, a state-of-the-art campus computer network, and the Internet. In addition, the school's administrative operations have undergone automation with registration, planning and budget functions converted to electronic formats.

Students at Voorhees are required to take a basic computing course. They receive and complete class assignments via the campus network, use the Internet for research, and communicate with their professors by electronic mail.

"We decided at Voorhees that we did not want to limit ourselves. We have recognized that the Information Age is upon us," said Dr. Leonard E. Dawson, president of Voorhees College.

The changes taking place at Voorhees College are common ones occurring across the landscape of American higher education. For the past decade or two, U.S. colleges and universities have been building extensive computer networks, developing campus-based computer laboratories and adding computer-based instruction to courses. Access to computers, multimedia technology, and global networks, such as the Internet, are considered the basic tools for participation in the Information Age. But all this has required considerable experimentation, innovation, and large-scale investment.

For the survey entitled Campus Computing 1996, respondents reported that roughly one in four courses on their campuses used electronic mail, an increase from one in five in 1995. The survey also revealed that 67 percent of all undergraduates have access to the Internet, up from 60 percent in 1995. Although Internet and World Wide Web access for faculty was reported at 76.5 percent, that figure reflects virtually no change from 1995.