News 12-26-2001
Sponsored by: MSDN Academic Alliance
For $799 your department can install ALL of Microsoft's current developer tools,
servers and operating systems on ALL of your lab computers and on ALL of your
students home computers! Sound too good to be true? It not! Visit: <http://www.msdnaa.net>
to learn more!
UW-Stout Takes Baldrige Quality Award
The University of Wisconsin-Stout received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award, winning the presidential award in the newly established education category.
This is the third year UW-Stout applied for the award and the second year the
university received a site visit. To apply for the award, organizations must
detail their achievements in seven key areas, including leadership, strategic
planning, student and stakeholder focus, information and analysis, faculty and
staff focus, process management, and performance results. The university cited
launching Datatel, an integrated system that provides campus users widespread
access to data, in applying for the award.
For more information, visit: <http://www.quality.nist.gov>.
XanEdu Will Distribute Harvard B-School Content
Harvard Business School Publishing, publisher of the "Harvard Business
Review" as well as management newsletters and mutlimedia products, said
it will make HBR articles and case studies available through the digital CoursePack
System from online publisher XanEdu Inc. In an agreement, Harvard Business School
case studies, and current and archived articles will be available to faculty
and students through XanEdu's online CoursePack offerings, and offline via XanEdu's
print pack solution, beginning in January 2002. XanEdu will also offer a printed
version of the cases or articles and include a digital key for online viewing.
XanEdu is also digitizing issues of the "Wall Street Journal," "The
New York Times," and "The Washington Post."
For more information, visit <http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu>.
Canada's Largest University Builds Wireless Net
The University of Toronto, with more than 52,000 students, has picked a wireless
access platform from Enterasys Networks Inc. to provide high performance mobile
services at the school, Canada's largest. Campus officials said the company's
RoamAbout system offered the best combination of technology -- including 128-bit
data encryption -- and local support. "As our campus grows, computer labs
become more overcrowded. Likewise, with an increasing number of students bringing
laptops to school, the use of the labs is also somewhat bothersome and inconvenient.
With wireless technology, we can offer connectivity in a much more simplified,
convenient and cost-effective manner ..." said Norman Housley, manager
NDIS for the University of Toronto. The school is making wireless PC cards available
through campus bookstores and computer shops.
For more information, visit: <http://www.wireless.utoronto.ca>.
Bank Offers College-Accredited Training Courses
Commerce Bancorp, Inc., which calls itself "America's Most Convenient
Bank," said training courses provided through its Commerce University have
received expanded credit recommendations from the American Council on Education
(ACE). The bank, whose employees can receive college credit through the program,
has received credit recommendations for two customer service training programs.
Employees may apply the credit recommendations to college degree programs in
which they are participating. Commerce University offers nearly 1,700 courses
to employees each year via seven schools related to its areas of operation,
including its School of Retail Banking, School of Lending, and School of Insurance.
For more information, visit: <http://commerceonline.com>.
John Sculley to Help Market WebCampus System
Former Apple Computer and Pepsi chief executive John Scully has joined forces
with WinMill Software to help market Web Campus, its online learning management
system. Scully's marketing development firm Signature21 will help WinMill strengthen
its brand awareness, market reach and client base, the partners said. "Not
long ago, online training was considered to be a novel concept ..." said
Scully, adding that the "future of online learning has arrived much faster
than anyone expected." Web Campus allows instructors to monitor a student
or employee's progress and pinpoint areas where they are having difficulties.
It enables students to exchange ideas and ask questions in a forum setting,
participate in real-time chats, and includes an automated grading and feed-back
component.
Storage Firm Funds State Academic Partnerships
The Colorado Institute of Technology said storage tech giant Hitachi Data Systems
donated $400,000 to the school, part of a five-year commitment it made to advance
collaboration between the state's technology and higher education sectors. "Despite
the economic downturn, there is a shortage of employees with the specific technical
skills and education that businesses require today," said John Hansen,
CIT president. "Progressive companies like (Hitachi) are investing in a
better-prepared Colorado workforce." CIT, which is financed entirely by
private contributions, began as an initiative of Colorado Gov. Bill Owens to
advance Colorado as a location for the technology industry. In partnership with
higher education and technology companies, the CIT works to create educational
programs that result in qualified graduates who are in line with industry needs.
For more information, visit: <http://www.coloradoit.org>.
