Technology Happenings in Higher Education
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS is developing a systemwide presence
in Second Life, with an archipelago of more than 50 regions.
:: NEWS
FOUR PERCENT MORE
APPLICANTS. In support of its
efforts to increase national and international
enrollment, create a more diverse
student body, and raise the profile of
incoming classes, the University of San
Diego has implemented the Banner
Relationship Management solution from
SunGard Higher Education. With the
new system, the university has been
able to increase the number of contacts
made with prospects, automate invitations
and responses for events, and
provide better follow-up with event
attendees. As a result, applications have
increased by 4 percent and the university
is experiencing a higher ratio of
enrolled-to-admitted students.
EFFICIENT SYSTEMS
MANAGEMENT. To replace an
aging and buggy combination of manual
processes, scripts, and applications,
North Georgia College & State
University has selected Matrix42’s
Empirum suite of systems management
products to deploy, maintain, and service
the university’s fleet of 2,000 desktop
and mobile computers. In addition
to computer and software deployment,
the IT department will gain unified
patch management and software management
capabilities for computers
across multiple campuses and
networks. Faculty and staff will
benefit from the included Personal
Backup for all their data, as well
as Remote Control for instant onscreen
assistance from the help
desk. The new systems management
suite will free two full-time
equivalent positions for redirection
to areas of greater need.
SECOND LIFE
SYSTEMWIDE. Linden Lab
has announced a year-long project
to bring The University of Texas
System’s 16 campuses into the Second
Life virtual learning environment. UT’s
virtual world presence will consist of an
archipelago of more than 50 Second
Life regions, which students, faculty,
and staff will use for meetings and educational
collaboration. Each campus
will develop its own Second Life project
plan according to its needs and
priorities. Throughout the project,
evidence-based research data will be
collected and shared with the Second
Life education community, on best
practices for holding classes and building
campuses in the virtual world.
CONTINGENCY CLASS
CAPTURE. Class capture provider
Tegrity has introduced Tegrity Emergency
Response, a contingency service
enabling institutions to continue
course delivery in the event of emergencies
that force campus closure.
Schools pay a reservation fee (plus a
one-time setup fee) during periods of
normal operation; if disaster strikes,
the system is switched on instantly,
and a primary usage fee is incurred.
Instructors then can quickly create a
course online, invite students to participate,
and record class material. Students
receive an e-mail invitation that
allows them to access the recordings
and other course materials online,
enabling them to continue their learning
even if the campus is closed.
NETBOOK GROWTH. The
worldwide netbook market is growing
at twice the rate of notebook PCs,
according to the DisplaySearch Q3’09
Quarterly Notebook PC Shipment and
Forecast Report. In Q2’09, the netbook
market grew 40 percent over the
previous quarter, while notebook PCs
posted a 22 percent growth rate.
FROM TECH TO TEACHING. In a
new program called Operation Reboot,
the College of Computing at Georgia
Tech is helping unemployed technology
professionals shift into teaching careers.
The initiative pairs IT professionals
with computing teachers, to teach at
least two high school computer science
courses together for one year. The IT
workers will become familiar with
classroom teaching environments and
will receive a teaching certificate and
computer science endorsement. The
program kicked off Sept. 1 with an initial
set of 30 technology workers; it is
funded by a $2.5 million grant from the
National Science Foundation.
:: PEOPLE
NEW CUSTOMER-FOCUSED
ROLES.
SunGard Higher Education
has announced
the appointment of
Matt Mandalinci as
president and chief customer officer,
a new role focused on the customer
experience. Mandalinci most recently
served as president of SunGard’s
Energy Solutions business. In addition,
SunGard veteran Jack Kramer
has been named as senior vice president
of customer satisfaction.