News 06-25-2002
Med Schools Streamline Application Process
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) said it would collaborate
with application service provider CollegeNet Inc. to ease the process of applying
to medical school. Most med schools require applicants to complete a common
application through the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS),
as well as multiple school-specific secondary applications. AAMC hosts the web-based
common application for 115 participating U.S. medical schools, while CollegeNET,
a contractor to a number of medical colleges, hosts campus-specific application
forms on each college's behalf. Under the new agreement, schools can authorize
the transfer of data from the AMCAS application into the medical college secondary
application hosted by CollegeNET. Before, applicants had to tediously re-enter
common information for each secondary application form.
Syllabus2002 Session Highlights Pew Grant Program in Course Redesign
What lessons have colleges and universities learned about using technology
to achieve cost savings and quality enhancements in instruction? Find out when
you attend a featured session reviewing 30 redesign projects funded by the Pew
Grant Program in Course Redesign. These projects have the potential to impact
significant numbers of students and generate substantial cost savings. Syllabus2002
advisory board chair Judith Boettcher welcomes Carolyn Jarmon of Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, who will provide an overview of the grant program and
share insights gained from it. The ninth annual Syllabus conference on education
technology will be held in Santa Clara, Calif. July 27-31.
For complete details on more exciting sessions and top-notch speakers, go to
http://www.sylabus.com/summer2002/index13.asp
GWU, Firm, Partner on Accessibility Courses
GWSolutions, a subsidiary of George Washington University, has joined with
a developer of accessible e-business applications to integrate accessibility
courses into GW's Center for Professional Development curriculum beginning this
summer. This move was prompted by a 1998 law requring federal agencies to make
their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities.
Eight courses developed by Crunchy Technologies Inc., designed to prepare IT
managers to create accessible information in compliance with Section 508 of
the Rehabilitation Act, have been added to the GW curriculum. Alan Reich, executive
director of the National Organization on Disabilities, called the deal "a
model for others to follow through comprehensive and integrated technology education."
For more information, visit: http://www.gwu.edu/cpd/crunchy
Science Students Rank B'eing Number One
In a study by a research firm specializing in students' career expectations,
engineering and science college students identified B'eing as their most ideal
employer. In the 2002 Universum Undergraduate Survey, engineering and science
students identified B'eing as their first choice of employer -- an increase
from No.
5 last year -- and information technology students ranked the company
in the top 25. Following B'eing on the list were BMW, Pfizer, DuPont, IBM, Merck,
Johnson & Johnson, 3M, General Electric, Abbott Laboratories and Dow Chemical,
which tied for No. 10. Universum CEO Claudia Tattanelli-Skeini said students
this year tended to choose companies that have an array of core businesses as
well as new product and service offerings. She said such diversity is viewed
as providing career growth, promotion potential and relocation opportunities.
For more information, visit: http://www.universum.se
Wharton webCafe Earns High Satisfaction Ratings
A survey of students of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania
found that 97 percent rated the school's web-based virtual meeting application
-- dubbed web Cafe -- as valuable to their education experience. Since Wharton
began using webCafe in 1998 as part of the school's student intranet, use of
webCafe has expanded to 5,200 users, 99 percent of full-time MBA candidates,
all executive MBA students, and almost all Wharton undergraduates. webCafe is
one component of Wharton's plan to reshape its business education. The school's
Alfred West Jr. Learning Lab is exploring methods of learning and instruction
using interactive multimedia and real-time simulations. This August, it is opening
Jon M. Huntsman Hall, which Wharton claims will be the largest and most sophisticated
instructional technology center at any business school.
For more information, visit: http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/learning
Fed Says Slowing Education Crimps Growth
The educational standards of American workers are likely to stagnate over the
next 20 years, which could restrain economic growth, an economist with the Federal
Reserve Bank of Boston said last week. Addressing a conference on Education
in the 21st Century, Fed economist Yolanda Kodrzycki said the educational standards
of 25-34-year-olds have changed relatively little since the early 1980s, compared
with improvements in previous decades. "Unless new policies offset the
effects of existing demographic and educational patterns, improvements in labor
quality are likely to contribute less to economic growth in the United States
in the coming two decades than has been the case since the 1960s or so,"
she said. Improving labor quality, reflected in a more highly educated work
force, is important because it helps increase productivity growth, or the amount
of output per hour worked.
HWS Colleges Unveil High-Speed Network
Hobart and William Smith Colleges has completed a campus-wide network upgrade
to a Gigabit Ethernet-based network, offering its users a secure high-capacity
facility to support new distance learning and field learning initiatives. Prior
to the migration, connectivity and resources were available only on a first-come,
first-serve basis. Users could not rely on network services or integrate technology
within their learning programs. In addition to increasing bandwidth, one goal
of the Colleges was to allocate bandwidth and network access to provide every
student with around-the-clock, reliable access to applications and resources.
The new network is powered by Enterasys' Matrix E7 intelligent switching platform
and NetSight network management software.