College gets videoconferencing grant
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on January 16, 2007 1:48 PM
MOUNT OLIVE -- Mount Olive College has received a grant for $61,494 from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The grant will be used for distance learning classroom technology and acquisition of instructional programming to serve rural medical professionals and rural residents of North Carolina through live broadcasts of National Telehealth Virtual Grand Rounds and related distance learning Telehealth educational services.
Mount Olive College was one of the 103 distance learning and telemedicine grants given by the USDA that totaled $25.8 million during the 2006 fiscal year.
"The grant, when coupled with the College's matching funds of $19,400, equates to an $80,894 investment in distance learning classroom technology and instructional programming," said Dr. Carol Carrere, vice president for Institutional Planning and Support.
The distance learning and telemedicine grant program was created to encourage, improve and make affordable the use of telecommunications, computer networks and related technology for rural communities to improve access to educational and/or medical services.
With the funding, the college plans to purchase videoconference equipment for a 24-seat SMART classroom at the college's Washington location in Beaufort County, complementing the college's existing setup on the Mount Olive campus. It will allow the institution to deliver videoconferencing, multimedia presentations, and content creation in an interactive instructional environment that will benefit health care professionals, rural community residents, and general student populations.
Mount Olive College is expected to begin videoconferencing programming in early May.