Of course, in an economic downturn, it is easy to attribute enrollment challenges to increased financial uncertainty. However, in a recent publication by Public Agenda, With Their Whole Lives Ahead of Them, the study authors set out to better understand the challenges facing current university students by debunking a handful of myths and widely-held assumptions about those students that fail to complete college.
Last month, we announced that Blackboard Connect 5 has seen strong momentum, with hundreds of clients making the switch in the first 90 days of the new release. And while the numbers are impressive, we thought it would be interesting to learn more about what Connect 5 means for individual clients as well.
One institution that recently jumped to Connect 5 is Harford County, Maryland. The county government has been a Connect client since 2009, and a wide range of organizations use it to communicate with residents and county employees. County departments like the Emergency Management Office, Highway Department and Sheriff’s Office use the system, but so do local cities and towns like Aberdeen, Bel Air and Havre de Grace.
Harford is a battle-tested user of Connect, leveraging the service in blizzards, hurricanes and earthquakes. When they decided to make the switch to Connect 5, we gave local officials an on-site training session for the new release, and they were kind enough to share their migration experience with us on camera.
One user who spoke up was Leo Matrangula, Chief of Police for the Town of Bel Air. He told us, “I think this new Connect 5 system is going to make it easier for someone like me who is not real technical with searching maps and drawing lines and borders. It’s going to make it a lot simpler to get the message out to the people in a timely manner.”
For the Blackboard Connect team, winter is an exceptionally busy time of the year as many K-12 school districts and higher education institutions rely on Blackboard Connect to get the word out about snow days and delayed starts. Meanwhile, government agencies turn to Blackboard Connect to communicate with their constituents when exceptionally bad weather rolls in. In the last few years, winter storms have become increasingly severe, with many towns and cities being affected for days on end, even after the storm has passed. Already this year, we have seen a freak autumn snow storm incapacitate the Northeast, as many New England communities were without electricity for nearly 5 days. (more…)
The Blackboard Catalyst Awards honors those who push the boundaries of their educational programs and technology in order to deliver innovative and effective learning experiences. In previous years, innovators were recognized in a handful of categories, mostly focused on academic course planning and creation.
This year, however, the Blackboard Connect client community will have a more direct way to participate thanks to the inclusion of a brand new category — Communications Strategy. (more…)
For the third year in a row, Blackboard Connect has been selected by the readers of District Administration magazine as one of its Readers’ Choice Top 100 Products for 2011. The list is decided by DA readers, made up of school superintendents and district-level leaders, by nominating exceptional education products worthy of recognition and widespread adoption by their academic and administrative peers. While we are appreciative of every award bestowed upon us, we are especially grateful to be receiving this honor as it stands as a testament to our clients’ satisfaction with our service year after year.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank not just those that submitted nominations, but all of our clients for their continued support and partnership. The satisfaction of our clients serves as constant motivation, as we strive to continually deliver innovative and reliable product and enhancements. To learn more about our commitment to superior service, watch our online video.
