Industry Briefs
:: NEWS
TABLET TRENDS. Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering has announced an industry alliance with
Fujitsu Computer Systems and Microsoft to support the school’s
new tablet computing initiative, which requires all incoming engineering freshmen to purchase tablet PCs. The alliance will
offer students hardware and software purchasing power and support, as well as training and assistance. And at Winona
State University (MN), a deal with Gateway was recently extended to include $6.5 million in M285
convertible notebook PCs and associated training, technical support, and services—all part of the WSU Laptop Program.
Aramark’s CampusDish is serving up
nutrition information in the dining hall.
SOFTWARE TRAINING RESOURCE. Atomic Learning, a provider of web-based
software training and tutorials, has launched a new website for the higher ed community: highed.atomiclearning.com.
The site provides training for more than 100 applications, including specialized software programs, delivered via brief
videos that answer frequently asked questions.
FACILITATING COURSE MANAGEMENT. A new software
provider—ClassTop—officially opened its doors in June, in response to research identifying low
instructor adoption rates for learning management systems (LMS) in higher ed. “The university instructors, CIOs, and
instructional designers we interviewed said that their LMS is prohibitively time-consuming to use,” says Jared Allgood,
ClassTop’s CEO. “ClassTop bridges the gap between a university’s implementation and an instructor’s adoption of an
LMS by allowing instructors to work in a comfortable client-side environment, and then synchronize their content with
the LMS.”
DISHING UP NUTRITION INFO. Professional services vendor Aramark has
announced CampusDish, a new web portal that provides nutrition and dining information to college students via the web,
dining-hall kiosks, and podcasting. Through the portal, students can download audio and video podcasts about dining
menus, nutrition information, special events, promotions, and healthy eating options, and view meal plans, order catering
and gift baskets, and apply for employment opportunities.
:: M&A, ETC.
STRATEGIC INTEGRATION. The
newly integrated NEC Corporation of America has been established from the
combined resources and assets of NEC USA, NEC America, and NEC Solutions. The company
will offer a broad portfolio of IT, network, and visual display solutions.
CAREER SERVICES TECHNOLOGY. Enterprise vendor Jenzabar has
announced a strategic partnership with CSO Research, a provider of automated
career services solutions. CSO Research’s Interfase system, which manages resumes, cover
letters, job listings, interview schedules, career fairs, counseling notes, and other career services,
will now be available through Jenzabar’s web portal, allowing institutions to leverage career services
for recruitment and retention.
:: PEOPLE
TWO EXECS TO MERU. Wireless infrastructure
vendor Meru Networks has announced two new executives:
Michael Tennefoss joins the company as VP of marketing; Dan Steimle as CFO. Prior to Meru,
Tennefoss served as VP of marketing at Echelon, a provider of control
automation networks. Steimle comes to Meru from telecommunications equipment supplier
Turin Networks (www.turinnetworks.com), where he was VP and CFO.