TO:     SLN Campus Administrators, Faculty, MIDs, ACs,
 
FROM: David Porush, Executive Director
           SUNY Learning Environments
  
DATE:  September 7, 2005
 
RE:     Courses for students affected by Hurricane Katrina through the SUNY
Learning Network
 
As many as 175,000 students enrolled in institutions of higher education may
have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath and are unable to
continue their studies on their home campus.
 
SLN would like to bring to your attention a special relief effort -- called
the ³Sloan Semester² ­ offered by many universities and colleges coordinated
by the Sloan Consortium, an program of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, [see
http://www.sloansemester.org/provider/info.asp
<http://www.sloansemester.org/provider/info.asp> ]. Through this effort,
campuses are invited to offer completely online (asynchronous) courses for a
special semester to students in colleges and universities that have been
affected by the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
 
To support this effort, the Sloan Consortium is offering stipends to
campuses for each course (from $1000-$2500, depending on enrollments). To
participate, campuses must waive all tuition and fees to students who enroll
in these online courses under this program. Learning Environments and SLN
encourage campuses to explore their options for participating within the
policies of SUNY.  To aid your effort, SLN will waive all its normal fees to
campuses for their participation and support the courses through our Help
Desk, technology and instructional design services. Courses designed for the
Sloan Semester should begin on or soon after October 10, 2005 and end no
later than January 6, 2006, but courses can be as short as eight weeks long.
 
The Sloan Consortium in partnership with the Southern Regional Educational
Board has created quite complete rules for institutional participation and a
means to qualify students for enrollment that streamline the process and
take much of the administrative burden off the campuses. Descriptions of
these methods and rules can be found at
http://www.sloansemester.org/provider/rules.asp.
 
My office and the SUNY Learning Network staff stand ready to assist you in
creating courses for this program and bringing them online provided they
abide by SUNY policies. William Pelz, Professor of Social Science at
Herkimer County Community College, Coordinator of the Internet Academy, and
Sloan-award winning distinguished faculty member for SLN teaching, has
graciously consented to be the SLN Project Director for this effort and
indeed is leading the effort on his campus to offer courses. Please let him
know of your interest and specify which courses will be offered by
contacting him at:
 
Bill Pelz 
[log in to unmask]
(315) 866-0300 ext. 8211
FAX: (315) 866-0402
 
  
At the same time, SLN courses already underway as part of regular semester
offerings can participate in the larger SUNY mission to open the doors of
our campuses to students affected by the disaster in Louisiana, Alabama and
Mississippi. The Governor has announced an offer of enrollment in all SUNY
courses to Katrina-affected students at in-state tuition rates, which also
applies to SLN courses.
 
We seek your help in reaching out to students affected by Katrina and
communicating the fact that over SLN 4000 courses are currently available to
these students online as an alternative to traditional on-campus courses,
enabling students to continue their education without physical relocation.
  
 


 


------ End of Forwarded Message