The Nevada System of Higher Education announced on May 27 that it has partnered with Washoe County to expand eduroam, a secure Wi-Fi access service, to 80 public locations across the county. The expansion makes Washoe County Nevada’s largest municipal provider of eduroam and brings the statewide network of hotspots to nearly 350 locations.
Board of Regents Chair Byron Brooks said, “This partnership with Washoe County reflects the kind of practical collaboration that helps students and educators stay connected wherever learning takes them. Expanding eduroam to 80 public locations strengthens access to educational resources and supports Nevada’s K-20 students, faculty, and researchers beyond the walls of a classroom or campus.”
The new sites include libraries, parks, community centers, senior centers, and other county facilities. With this launch, Washoe County adds more locations than any non-K-12 partner in the state. The initiative builds on recent partnerships between NSHE and organizations such as the Washoe County School District and City of Reno as well as previous expansions in Clark County and Las Vegas.
NSHE Chancellor Matt McNair said, “Students and educators do not learn and work in only one place. By expanding eduroam at public locations across Washoe County, we are giving Nevada’s education community more places to connect securely, whether they are at a library, a park, a community center, or traveling between institutions across the state.”
Behzad Zamanian, Chief Information Officer for Washoe County, said his team prioritized installing eduroam where technology infrastructure already existed: “Our team focused on places where the technology infrastructure was already in place and prioritized public-facing locations such as libraries, parks, community centers and senior centers wherever possible. This gives students, educators and researchers more places to securely connect while using County facilities and community spaces.”
NSHE supports eduroam through its System Computing Services at no cost for eligible partners via state funding. This aligns with Board priorities around access and student success. Once set up on a user’s device, eduroam enables secure automatic connection at participating sites statewide or among over 38,000 global hotspots.
Through its various institutions—including two doctoral-granting universities (University of Nevada Reno; University of Nevada Las Vegas), one state university; four community colleges; one research institute—and oversight by a Board of Regents consisting of 13 elected members, the official website reports that NSHE delivers higher education throughout Nevada while promoting equity and regional advancement.
