News Update for Tuesday, January 11, 2005

• 01/10/05

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News for Tuesday, January 11, 2005

* USC Distance Learning Expands in Pact with Oil Industry
* Study Shows U.S. University Endowment Returns Grew Fivefold
* University of Iowa Seeking New Chief Information Officer
* Products: McGraw Hill Offers RF-Based Class Response System
* Electronic ‘Facebook’ G'es from Directory to Networking Tool

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USC Distance Learning Expands in Pact with Oil Industry

Universities and large commercial interests continue to find
common ground – and sources of revenue – via distant learning
partnerships.

In one of the latest examples of the trend, the University of
Southern California Distance Education Network (DEN) is offering
its "smart oilfield technologies" program to ChevronTexaco Corp.
engineers around the world. Through an existing partnership,
ChevronTexaco engineers based in the U.S. already have access
to a USC program. This semester DEN will begin enrolling engineers
working outside the United States.

USC Viterbi School of Engineering Dean C.L. Nikias said that
the agreement with ChevronTexaco was in keeping with the vision
of USC's latest strategic plan, which includes a call to "create
a significant global presence that will increase international
visibility, reach, and impact of our research, scholarship, art,
education, and service."

ChevronTexaco engineers will have the opportunity to enroll
in two DEN programs: a general M.S. in Petroleum Engineering,
or a new, unique degree: the M.S. in Petroleum Engineering
(Smart Oilfields Technologies). The two M.S. programs are
among 26 DEN offers to about 900 engineers from corporations
across the U.S.

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Study Says U.S. University Endowments' Returns Rose Fivefold

Universities reported a nearly fivefold increase in their
investment portfolio returns last year, marking their best
performance since the stock market decline, the Reuters News
Agency reported last week.

Seven hundred and seven educational endowments and foundations
polled by Commonfund Institute said average annual total returns
stood at 14.7 percent for the 12 months ended on June 30, 2004.
That was up from 3.1 percent in the previous year and losses
in the two years before that, according to a study by the Institute.

The study found institutions expect returns for fiscal 2005
to be near 7.9 percent. One of the best performing endowments
was Harvard University, which earned 21.1 percent, boosting its
endowment to $22.6 billion.

Products: McGraw Hill Offers RF-Based Class Response System

McGraw-Hill Higher Education has teamed up with the e-Instruction
Corp. to offer a system that let’s students respond wirelessly
to in-lecture questions posed by lecturers. The companies say
the system will promote accurate use and measurement of in-class
participation. The infrared technology-based system requires
only one receiver unit and one PC equipped with a USB port to
accommodate as many as 1,000 students in a single classroom.
Students respond to questions via a small response pad.

Paul Caron, a professor at the University of Cincinnati, said
the radio-controlled response pads were “revolutionizing the
way I teach.” He said, “students have complained for years about
the lack of timely feedback. This technology allows me to give
daily feedback and the students simply love it...”

University of Iowa Seeking New Chief Information Officer

The University of Iowa last week began a search for a new chief
information officer/associate vice president and is now taking
applications and nominations to fill the position. A 12-member
search committee will conduct the national search and screen
the candidates with interviews beginning later this winter or
spring. Applications and nominations will be reviewed beginning
Feb. 1, and will be accepted until a new associate vice president
and CIO is appointed. The committee hopes to have a new person in
the position by July 1. Iowa’s CIO oversees a staff of 250 with
an annual budget of $28 million.

Read more: http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=11916

Electronic ‘Facebook’ Evolves from Directory to Networking Tool

The Facebook, an online social-networking service launched last
February by a group Harvard University students, has become more
of a campus networking tool than a social novelty, according to
a report in the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle newspaper.

Once a service issued to incoming freshmen as a way of helping
them get acquainted faster, this electronic version now enables
students to design online profiles of themselves with photos and
information about their majors, the courses they're taking, the
dorm they live in, and their interests.

The Facebook supports itself through advertising, now claim more
than 1.3 million members at nearly 300 schools. To visit its site,
go to http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=11917.