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University of Hawai'i |
(808) 956-8856 Telephone |
For Immediate Release: |
October 28, 1999 |
Contact: Victor Kobayashi, Dean, Outreach College, 808-956-3400, victor@outreach.hawaii.edu; Jaishree Odin, Project Director 808-956-3296, odin@hawaii.edu; Dan Suthers, Project Director, Information and Computer Sciences (808)-956-3890, suthers@hawaii.edu
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| Sloan Foundation grants University of Hawai'i $405 thousand to develop on-line degree programs |
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has awarded the University of Hawai'i a $405 thousand grant for developing three degree programs as part of the University of Hawai'i's Asynchronous Learning Network project (UH-ALN). Over a period of three years, the grant will support the development of an undergraduate and a graduate degree program in Information and Computer Sciences. It will also support the development of a Liberal Studies undergraduate program in Information Resource Management.
UH president, Kenneth P. Mortimer says that the project will allow "many professionals in Hawai'i to complete degree programs completely or partially on-line and in an asynchronous mode." He adds that it also "offers an opportunity for system-wide collaboration among the various UH campuses in order to make ALN degree programs available to students throughout the state."
A. Frank Mayadas, a program director with the Sloan Foundation, said during his visit to UH that Hawai'i's isolation and multi-island geography make it an ideal place for the development of ALN programs. The mission of the Sloan Foundation's ALN program is to support efforts to make higher education available to those who because of geography, family or work commitments have no access to campus-based education. ALN degrees in computer science and information resource management could prove to be vital to the economy of the state, which has already begun a series of initiatives to attract high technology companies to Hawai'i.
The UH-ALN project is a collaborative effort amongst various units and campuses of UH. Jaishree Odin, a UH Manoa liberal studies faculty who received the pilot grant given by the Sloan Foundation's asynchronous learning network initiative, will be directing the UH-ALN project with Dan Suthers, a faculty of the UHM information and computer sciences department. Outreach College will coordinate the offering of ALN degree programs for system-wide delivery. With the assistance of the UH Information Technology Services (ITS), the project staff will train a core group of faculty who will become leaders in promoting best practices in asynchronous teaching and learning. The funded project will facilitate collaboration amongst the UHM information and computer sciences department, the liberal studies program, the UH Hilo computer sciences department, the UHM Outreach College and the University centers on Kaua'i, Maui, and Hawai'i.
The courses developed under the grant will allow UH to extend its outreach to people throughout the state, thereby preparing more people to work in high-tech industries. Victor Kobayashi, interim dean of Outreach College, says this grant will put UH in the front rank of American universities exploring the possibilities of offering complete high-quality on-line degree programs. "It is a great honor to be chosen by such a prestigious organization," says Kobayashi. "We are grateful for the Sloan Foundation's support to develop the degree programs, which are extremely important for the economic recovery of the state of Hawai'i. Sloan Foundation's leadership and support, as well as that of vice president for academic affairs, Dean Smith, President Mortimer and others, will allow UH-ALN to become a model of high-quality on-line degree programs for colleges and universities experimenting with distance learning across the nation."
