The South Dakota Board of Regents hasn't given up on a plan to have wireless Internet service available campus-wide at all six public universities, but it will likely be up to each school to make it happen.

Regents Executive Director Tad Perry announced the recommendation in an e-mail sent this week to university employees and Regents.

He encouraged the panel to defer the project and related legislation on the mobile computing environment project because of the economy and the lack of a clear way of paying for it.

In the e-mail, Perry said he's not abandoning the goal.

"The Regents continue to believe that a virtually wireless campus is critical not only for the recruitment of students but also for employment opportunities of our graduates. We will continue to seek ways and resources to support those universities that recognize the need and seek to move in that direction," he wrote.

Colleges and universities would have paid for the initiative with a combination of state money, an increase in student fees and a one-time expense raised through a payday shift in the university system.

The 2008 Legislature refused to fund the project in the general appropriations bill that passed in February. Student groups opposed the fee increase and the state Council For Higher Education and lawmakers opposed the payday shift.

"I think (Perry) faced enormous pressure, he heard from a lot of groups and he backed off - rightfully so," said Sen. Jerry Apa, R-Lead, who was co-chairman of the budget committee last session.

"I think there has to be a way to pay for it that's better. But it has to be well thought-out, laid out better. Let's show some steps."

The Black Hills State University campus in Spearfish has wireless access in many places, said Kelly Kirk, who graduated last spring. Students on other campuses said conditions vary from site to site.

"I think you have to look at how it fits within each individual campus," said Chris Daugaard, president of the South Dakota State University Students' Association and a political science and economics major from Dell Rapids.

"The issue is how diverse we are and how flexible we need to be as we move forward."

Perry said that's the impetus now: to have each campus develop its own plan on its own schedule.

"I think it's a great time to step back, reassess our goal and how to do that with constrained resources," said SDSU president David Chicoine.

"I think (Perry's) statement was right on target. We need to gather what we already know and move forward - put a sharper pencil to it and see what our individual needs are."