NRCC History Book

26 On-Line Teaching (MERLOT). The MERLOT initiative involved building a database of peer-reviewed learning materials to be used in electronic courses (e-courses) or in the classroom. In 2002 the VCCS signed a contract with Blackboard to provide an online Learning Management System (LMS) for its colleges. Whether the course was online or face-to-face, faculty used Blackboard to communicate with students, distribute course materials, and record student grades. In addition, the system-wide college admissions application, created by NRCC’s John Van Hemert (then the director of information technology) and his staff, was available for use in Fall 2002. A new student administration system (SAS), used by administrators to keep track of faculty workloads, was implemented in March 2003. That same year a new student information system (SIS) People Soft was available, allowing students to register and obtain college information online. Changes in Technology at the Local Level . Additional changes in technology occurred on NRCC’s campus in 2004 05. A new telephone system, which was Internet protocol based (IP-based) with expanded features, was installed. Also, a wireless network connecting all buildings, the areas between the buildings, and the new learning park was mounted. A link was set up between NRCC and Giles High School (GHS) with a high-speed connection for the compressed video courses offered to the dual-enrolled GHS students. On September 1, 2004, NRCC and Old Dominion University (ODU) celebrated the 10th anniversary of Teletechnet, a distance learning initiative which provided students at NRCC an opportunity to obtain baccalaureate and master’s degrees remotely through ODU

using satellites and televisions with two-way video connections. Also, in 2004 NRCC and Virginia Western Community College (VWCC) collaborated to link Blue Ridge Public Television (BRPTV) to Network Virginia, providing BRPTV broad-band internet access. A collaborative advertising campaign occurred when VWCC, Dabney S. Lancaster Community College (DSLCC), now Mountain Gateway Community College (MGCC), and NRCC pooled their resources to purchase TV commercials to air at various times during 2004. Another change in 2004 included the development of a virtual advising center for the web. In 2005 an alumni web page was created to keep alumni connected to the college, and web pages for the NRCC Educational Foundation and the Office of Planning and Advancement were revised. In Fall 2008, NRCC, Radford University (RU), and VT jointly created an internet service called Multimedia Services Access Point (MSAP) located at NRCC’s Christiansburg site. This technology allowed the colleges to connect at speeds millions of times faster than a typical home broadband uplink. Connecting to MSAP enabled NRCC and RU to share access to VT’s high-speed connection to national and international research networks. This cost-effective collaboration also allowed the colleges to share computing and data storage resources and to provide backup services for one another. The benefits to NRCC’s students included high-speed connections for the game technology, engineering, and computer-aided drafting programs. Near the end of the decade, a communications tower was erected in Giles County through funds donated to the NRCC Educational Foundation. The new tower provided

Chapter 1