Located in Madison, NJ, Drew University is home to more than 2,000 undergraduate & graduate students. The university consists of three different schools, including Drew Theological School (DTS). Historically, DTS has appealed to older students, some of whom are in their 60s, & many of whom hold part or full-time jobs. To this end, DTS held many of its classes remotely. (As was reported by Shawn Spaventa, the school’s Director of Instructional Technology.)

After having used Webex for a few years with mixed results, Spaventa was looking for a new platform. He heard good things about Zoom & signed-up Drew with Zoom’s “Meetings & Chat” in 2015.

Moving forward, the Dean of DTS, Javier Viera – along with Associate Dean, Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre, wanted to do more – especially with Drew’s teleconferencing technology. They envisioned location-independent, synchronous learning via small classes, that would appeal to the school’s older students with long commutes & full-time jobs.

Having already seen the benefits of Zoom’s “Meetings & Chat,” Spaventa decided to up the ante with Zoom Rooms. To that end, Drew brought-in Captus Systems. Together, Drew & Captus Systems reviewed hardware requirements for setting-up the rooms, & Drew University launched its updated Zoom Rooms in 2018.