VP Robyn Render Elected as Educause Board Chair
Recently, Robyn Render, vice president of information resources and cio, UNC-OP, was elected to serve a one-year term as chair of the EDUCAUSE Board of Directors. Other board members include: David Ward, president, American Council on Education, George Strawn, CIO, National Science Foundation, and chief information technology officers from universities around the nation. “EDUCAUSE is an impressive organization of university professionals on the cutting edge of campus, state, and national issues in information technology and I am thrilled to be elected to the leadership,” said Vice President Render. EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose current membership includes more than 1,900 colleges, universities, and educational organizations, including 200 corporations, with 15,000 active members. EDUCAUSE has offices in Boulder, Colorado, and Washington, D.C. Render has served on a variety of committees for EDUCAUSE, including Information Resources, Recognition, and the 2000 Program Committees. The membership elected her to the Board of Directors in 2002, and she has most recently served as Board Secretary.
For more information: http://www.educause.edu
WebCT and Blackboard to Merge
Two companies providing online learning products to the higher education community, WebCT and Blackboard, have signed a formal agreement outlining plans to merge the two companies. The combined company will be named Blackboard and will be led by Michael Chasen, current president and CEO of Blackboard. It is expected the merger will be finalized in the next few months, depending on regulatory approval. The companies have stated they will continue to maintain existing service agreements without any interruption in service. In the future, the combined company will endeavor to maintain the best features from each product line in delivering a new, standards-based product line. For more information:
http://www.blackboard.com/WebCT
Virtual High School Planned for North Carolina
The State Board of Education recently approved plans to begin a pilot program for a virtual high school that would provide web-based and electronic courses to students across North Carolina. Plans for this school were outlined in a report from the e-Learning Commission. The school is designed to serve students with different abilities and needs including: students seeking a specialized course, honors students looking for a more challenging curriculum, and special needs students who require a more flexible schedule. The planners envision a virtual school that will eventually span the preschool to college years. For more information:
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/sbehighlights/2005/08highlights.html
Ericsson IP Expanding NC Operations
Ericsson Internet Protocol Infrastructure (IPI) recently announced plans to move its research and development operations to NC State’s Centennial Campus and create 45 new jobs by 2006. “The relationship to the university and the availability of talent to meet our future staffing needs were key factors in our decision to move to the Raleigh area,” said John Moon, head of operations at Ericsson IPI. The center, a division of Ericsson, provides high-performance Internet Protocol routing solutions for service provider networks. With an existing staff of 30 on the Centennial Campus, this move will bring Ericsson IPI divisional headquarters to North Carolina. For more information:
http://www.ncsu.edu/news.
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