The State System of Higher Education will use a $200,000 grant from the Bell Atlantic Foundation to train faculty and staff at all 14 state-owned universities to use a new multi-point video network, which will enhance distance education opportunities for students across the System.

The new network will allow the universities to exchange courses and programs utilizing the latest two-way, interactive technology. Multi-point video will enable the schools to offer unique courses and new collaborative programs that the individual universities could not afford to offer on their own and will help make it more cost-effective to offer some necessary, but currently underenrolled programs.

“As we prepare to move into the 21^st century, our universities need to be at the cutting edge of technology,’’ said Chancellor James H. McCormick. “This new network will open an endless array of possibilities to our students. The $200,000 grant from the Bell Atlantic Foundation will help ensure our students benefit the most from this endeavor.”

“The Bell Atlantic Foundation is proud to partner with the State System in its initiative to train faculty and staff, and to enhance the benefits of technology in the learning process,” said Patricia A. Beadling, vice president-external and public relations for Bell Atlantic-Pennsylvania. "We are committed to helping provide students throughout the state with a quality education and this partnership expands opportunities outside the boundaries of the classroom walls for all system universities.”

The $1.6 million multi-point video network was installed across the State System earlier this year. The Bell Foundation grant will be used to train both faculty and staff to use the network in the development and delivery of distance education courses.

Distance education involves any course in which the students and instructor are not in the same location where the instruction is being delivered. In the past, it has involved primarily the use of cable television, videotape or correspondence courses.

The multi-point video network will allow courses to be offered in such a way that a professor can interact with his or her students as if they were in the same room. It permits two-way communication among the professor and all of his or her students, no matter where their classroom is situated.

“The number of courses offered by System universities via distance education is growing tremendously each year,” said David J. Gray, vice chancellor for informationtechnology. “The multi-point video network we now have in place will provide students the opportunity to experience a much broader array of classes than ever before possible. It also will support the formation of virtual degree programs that could not be offered without this technology.”

The Bell Atlantic Foundation grant continues the organization’s support of State System initiatives designed to integrate technology into the educational experience. The foundation in early 1998 presented a $500,000 grant to the Fund for the Advancement of the State System of Higher Education, Inc., on behalf of the System to establish three campus centers where college faculty and K-12 teachers can learn how to best use technology in their classrooms.

“The Bell Atlantic Foundation has become an important partner with the State System,” said Charles R. Agnew, vice chancellor for development. “Their continuing support demonstrates the foundation’s commitment to higher education and the opportunities it provides to students today as they prepare to become the leaders of tomorrow.”

With more than 95,000 students, the State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. Its 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. Nearly 350,000 System alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.

The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and the University Center for Southwest Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. The regional centers are part of the Educational Resources Group, which is responsible for coordinating statewide programming.

The Bell Atlantic Foundation supports a variety of projects domestically and internationally, with an emphasis on new technology applications in education, health and human services, the arts and humanities, and civic development in the communities served by Bell Atlantic. For more information, visit www.bellatlanticfoundation.com on the Internet.

The Fund for the Advancement of the State System of Higher Education, Inc. advances and supports the 14 State System universities. The Fund communicates the educational purposes of the System to the citizens of Pennsylvania, and encourages, solicits, receives and invests gifts, grants, bequests and other appropriate donations. It develops programs to encourage public and private sector support for the State System, including endowment, development, scholarship programs and regional partnerships.