Source: Sue Maes, 785-532-5644, scmaes@k-state.edu
http://www.k-state.edu/media/mediaguide/bios/maesbio.html
Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008
NEW BIG 12 ENGINEERING CONSORTIUM ADOPTS K-STATE'S COURSE ENROLLMENT SYSTEM
MANHATTAN -- ExpanSIS, an award-winning, multi-university student information system co-developed by Kansas State University's Institute for Academic Alliances and office of mediated education, will be used by the newly-formed Big 12 Engineering Consortium to exchange student, course and financial information among Big 12 universities participating in the Big 12 Nuclear Engineering Program.
ExpanSIS is a high-tech solution to the challenges of sharing courses among educational institutions. It was developed with funding assistance from a U.S. Department of Education congressionally-directed grant.
The Big 12 Engineering Consortium is offering fully online nuclear engineering courses from K-State, Texas A&M University, University of Missouri and University of Texas. Students from the other Big 12 universities can enroll in these online courses and pay at their own university. Enrollment information is entered into ExpanSIS, a secure Web-based system containing course schedules, textbook information, course rosters, contact information grades, reports and invoice information. It also is used to map course numbers among institutions and track progress.
"We're pleased to use ExpanSIS to securely and legally share student data," said G. Kemble Bennett, vice chancellor and dean of engineering at Texas A&M. "ExpanSIS will speed the flow of information across the Big 12 Engineering Consortium, eliminating the need for students to transfer credits between institutions."
ExpanSIS recently received three national awards: a WOW Award from the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education in November 2007; the Association for Continuing Higher Education's Creative Use of Technology Award in October 2007; and the University Continuing Education Association's Great Plains Region Excellence in Innovation Award in September 2007.
"These awards speak to the excellent service provided by dedicated faculty and staff for the outreach mission of the university," said Sue Maes, interim dean of continuing education at K-State. "K-State is truly proving to be a leader in online course delivery across the Midwest."
ExpanSIS is also used by the Great Plains Interactive Distance Educational Alliance and the 1890 Family and Consumer Sciences Distance Instructional Alliance. The Illinois Distance Education Alliance-Homeland Security also will join the Big 12 Engineering Consortium in the use of ExpanSIS for the spring 2008 semester.
More information about ExpanSIS is available from the Institute for Academic Alliances at 785-532-1999 or https://www.k-state.edu/iaa/expansis