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September 28, 2004

AT Seminars

The Academic Technology Seminars will provide updates on a few new technology products to be unveiled to the VCU community this fall. These include VCUfiles, a network file sharing system that is accessed using the web; Blackboard 6.1, an update to blackboard 5.5 and the addition of new exciting features; myVCU Portal, a single point of entry to a list of resources and information about VCU; and Inquisite, an online survey tool. The seminar dates are available at VCU Training web site for details.

Emerging Technologies Day

Academic Technology is hosting its fifth annual Emerging technologies Day on Friday, April 8, 2005 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm in the Student Commons. This year it will be held in conjunction with our State-wide Blackboard User Conference. This will be an excellent way to learn about new technologies and ways to incorperate technology to improve teaching, learning, research, and patient care.

In the upcoming months we will call for papers and posters and exhibits showing innovative ways technology can be/is used to improve teaching, learning, and research. These papers will be published in PDF format and be available online on our Emerging Technologies Day web site. Posters and exhibits will be showcased during the day in the ballroom. Grant-winning undergraduate and graduate student projects will be presented as well.

VCUFiles

This new web file management system allows instructors, staff, and students to share and manage documents on the web. Users of VCUfiles can create folders, upload files into folders, and share their documents with other individuals or groups. All of this can be accomplished using a web-browser interface that is very easy and intuitive to use. Go to http://vcufiles.vcu.edu to access this file management system. You will use your VCUeID to log into the system.

Inquisite

Have you wanted to produce Online Surveys? After a year of research and support from the Provost Office VCU has purchased an excellent product called Inquisite that will allow you to do this. Inquisite is an easy-to-use automated survey software system that gives non-technical users the ability to easily manage their own web surveys. Inquisite eliminates the high cost of outsourcing and puts you in control of the entire survey process. Individuals wishing to learn more about this product should contact Tiffany Mills at tamills@vcu.edu

myVCU Portal

During the week of October 18, 2004 Academic technology will showcase myVCU Portal. The development of this portal is funded with a $1.1 million, five-year grant from CampusEAI/ Oracle portal. Approximately 30 institutions are collaborating with VCU to conduct research and develop the CampusEAI/Oracle Portal. The initial focus of myVCU Portal is on current students, with special emphasis on retention and community building. The content for the portal is a collabrative effort from many units including Academic Technology, Administrative Information Technology, and VCU Libraries. Individuals wishing to learn more about myVCU Portal should contact Jim Yucha at jyucha@vcu.edu. We look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions on ways to make this a very useful tool to students and the VCU community at large.