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.

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