News 09-10-2002
Sponsor: 170 Systems Rejuvenates UPenn's AP Process: Live Webcast
Learn how UPenn changed their Oracle and Accounts Payable environments and
realized substantial cost savings. UPenn processes about 400,000 invoices each
year. 170 Systems eliminated ten manual steps in the process saving approximately
33,000 hours of work annually. To join us on 9/17, 11 AM EST, register at: http://101offer.com/goto/?SYL91002
Report: Back-to-School Computer Sales Soft
Students appear to be carrying old PCs to school this year, according to the
Reuters News Agency, which interviewed computer and microchip makers. Intel
Corp. said sales were trending toward the low end of normal seasonal trends.
According to Reuters, Michael Capellas, president of Hewlett-Packard Co. told
security analysts last week that, "back to school was a little softer than we
expected. Normally we see about a 50 percent rise in demand, but this year it
was only about 35 percent." Nevertheless, Dell said consumer sales were strong,
and Gateway Inc. forecast a "decent" back-to-school bump. National Semiconductor
Corp. chairman Brian Halla told analysts, "the back-to-school impact seemed
minimal at best. We are therefore hesitant to pin our hopes on a robust Christmas
market."
Sponsor: Gerard Hanley of Cal. State to Address Syllabus fall2002
How d'es an institution develop strategies and encourage cooperation across
the academic community to meet the technology needs of students, faculty, staff
and administrators? You'll learn about successful efforts from Gerard Hanley,
Syllabus fall2002 keynote speaker and Senior Director of Academic Technology
Support in the Office of the Chancellor at California State University. Affiliated
with MERLOT since 1997, Hanley has worked to develop learning communities that
foster professional development and cooperation among faculty, staff, students
and administrators. Syllabus fall2002, an education technology conference and
vendor fair, will be held November 3-5 at the Boston Marriott Newton Hotel in
Newton, Mass.
For more information and to register, go to http://www.syllabus.com/fall2002
University Wireless Developer Contest Starts
Nextel, Sun Microsystems, and Motorola said they would offer more than $45,000
in scholarships and grants to students who develop the best Java 2 Platform,
Micro Edition (J2ME) applications tailored to making university life easier.
The first "University Wireless Developer Contest" runs through Nov. 1, 2002.
Contestants will be judged on the relevance of the application for the university
market, sophistication of the application and the business model. For example,
Java applications could include student and faculty directories and the ability
to download class test scores on wireless handsets. Contestants must be either
full-time undergraduate/graduate students or faculty at an accredited U.S. university.
For more information, visit: http://developer.nextel.com/.
Texas Christian Wires Campus For Broadband
Texas Christian University has finished a campus-wide network providing broadband
Internet, streaming media, e-commerce and voice-over-IP applications to the
237 acre campus. The school worked with Extreme Network Inc., starting the installation
with a phased migration to a Gigabit Ethernet platform that included Extreme's
core, modular, and Level 3 switches. TCU's objectives in building the network
centered on "instant access to resources and information, a supported platform
for future growth and a network that didn't require a extensive IT staff to
keep it up and running," said Bill Senter, the school's technical services manager.
Bard College Has High-End Badging System
Bard College has deployed a high-tech badging system that enables the college
to create and track photo ID badges. The system, using WinBadge software from
ImageWare Inc., can produce badges with logos, background images, barcodes and
watermarks. The system has built-in security measures including: password protected
log-in screens, digital hard lock keys, time-out features and the ability to
restrict access to user-defined screens. Other features include the ability
to interface with access control or human resource systems and produce images
documents and standard or custom personnel reports. Michael Tompkins, Bard's
director of information systems, said the WinBadge system "maximized the use
of our existing hardware and could easily integrate with our SCT, Banner and
Oracle information systems, making it the logical choice in creating a more
advance, automated badging process."
UF Offers Online Program In Enrollment Management
The University of Florida will offer this fall online courses in enrollment
management designed for higher education enrollment managers. The courses are
being developed with N'el-Levitz, a higher-ed consulting firm and a unit of
student loan firm Sallie Mae Inc. The courses will be offered through the university's
department of educational leadership policy. The program includes a 16- credit-hour
certificate in enrollment management and this fall will feature courses in American
higher education and "Financial Aid in Enrollment Management." The course costs
$495 per credit hour.
For more information, visit http://www.continuinged.ufl.edu/c'e
Microsoft Opens Online College Financing Center
Microsoft Corp. said the CNBC on MSN Money online personal finance service
introduced a college financing center to help consumers prepare for, save for
and fund a college education. The company said it launched the service response
to the changing rules and policies surrounding college savings plans. It will
include content ranging from articles on 529 plans and higher education tax
breaks to tuition calculators and links to college scholarship information.
"Financing a college education is a major investment, and with recent legislative
changes, it has become an even more complicated process," said Karen Redetzki,
product manager for the Financial Products Group at Microsoft, who hopes the
service will be a one-stop reference for families.
