This proposal describes MRnet, the Minnesota Regional Network, which presently links twenty-one public and private educational institutions and twenty private research foundations, government agencies, and commercial businesses to each other and to the NSFNET, a high speed (1.5 - 45 million bits per second) National Backbone network. MRnet plans to expand its capacity for connecting education and research institutions and to expand its educational and user into new regions of the state. This should encourage smaller institutions to take advantage of information resources available on MRnet itself or through the NSFNET. The items proposed for NSF support include: -Expansion of technical and user services staff; -Creation of a new network hub in Rochester, MN; -Terminal servers for connecting very small member institutions at a reasonable cost; -Personnel for outreach, marketing, and support of new members.
