Proposed Center for the Integration of Technology and
                                Education (CITE) 

DRAFT — 3 November 1996 

Geoffrey Fox 

Marvin Goldberg 

Edward Lipson 

Synopsis 

We propose that a joint Center be set up between the two colleges of Engineering and Computer Science and Arts and
Sciences. The goal of this Center is to exploit the rapid evolution of information technology in order to develop new curricula
and new ways of delivering existing courses at Syracuse University. The Center would conduct world-class research in
educational technologies with the expectation of attracting significant external funding. This Center builds on and integrates
together several highly regarded curriculum and technology activities now at the University. The Center would support and
encourage new courses whose value would be enhanced by use of new information technology such as that used in the Web
based courses Phy105/106 Science for the 21st Century, Phy307/308 Science and Computers in A&S and
ECS400/CPS616 Introduction to Web Technologies, CPS615 Introduction to Computational Science in ECS. Further, it will
support and encourage new educational degree offerings such as the proposed "Masters in Multimedia" and "Certificate in
Internet Engineering." All such degree programs would be Centered in existing academic units. 

We anticipate great student interest in new minors and certificates that focus on the latest Internet and Web technologies and
that can be taken by students in essentially any existing program. Further, we see that the growing interest in lifelong learning
and the tremendous demand from employers for Web technology expertise together suggest that there is great opportunity for
increased offerings through DCESS of degrees and certificates in the latest information technologies. We propose that the
Center partner with DCESS in developing such offerings. The technologies in which the Center would specialize are expected
to be central in a trend towards "Virtual Education" and, in particular the "Virtual University". The time scale and impact of this
is not clear but a world class activity in this area must be useful and prudent for the University. We expect that CITE would
work with other University units including DCESS, School of Education, and IST in various distance education projects which
will help position Syracuse to be a leader in whatever emerges as the Virtual University. 

Proposed Organization of CITE 

Director: Marv Goldberg 

Technology Lead: NPAC (Geoffrey Fox) 

The Center would have some administrative and systems staff including some personnel transferred from NPAC. It will build
(based on initial NPAC and perhaps ECS infrastructure) resources to support proposed education initiatives. This will include
high speed networks (ATM) and video servers. Note that CITE would work with existing academic Faculty Computing and
Media Services so that CITE offers leading edge services outside the current scope of base University activity. As concepts
and services "mature," both infrastructure and consulting services would move to Computing and Media Services. In this sense,
one could view one role of CITE as being a "research unit" of CMS. 

Remarks on the Business Model for CITE

We have analyzed a business model for CITE (see appendix for long description of CITE) where we envision CITE hiring
instructors who can help teach courses (with a typical load of four assignments per semester) and partnering with the academic
units to teach conventional and distance education courses. We also assume that CITE's innovative role will attract substantial
external support from government and foundations. The combined business plan leads to a viable business model (FBOH of
80% including IDC) in the third year after foundation. 

Implementation Strategy

There is an obvious "chicken and egg" problem, and so we propose that the concept of setting up CITE be agreed "now" with
the approximate budget below. CITE will be set up as soon as possible but not funded until July 1,1997. The fast set up will
remove a lot of certainty of future of participants, allow real discussions with partners (see below), and allow federal and
foundation funding to be sought immediately. We propose initial approval be for a three-year time period with an extensive
review at the beginning of the third year. 

Like most new initiatives, CITE will need start up funds which we propose in annual amounts: 

   1.ECS Dean: Approximately $200K with $100K of this existing IT staff and the other half operating funds 
   2.Arts and Science: $200K including (portion of) salary of Goldberg 
   3.University Administration: $200K Operating Funds 
   4.University Administration: $200K Equipment (Could be part of equipment funds already requested by NPAC
     through Ben Ware) 

In addition we expect that units such as NPAC and CASE will bring significant resources to project.

Some Possible Partners

We have had detailed discussions of work of this type with: 

     Arts and Sciences - initially Physics Department (at a level to be determined) 
     Engineering and Computer Science - Dean and CIS (Carlos Hartmann) 
     Office of VP for Research and Computing - Ben Ware 
     DCESS - Tom Cummings 
     IST - Information Institute (Mike Eisenberg) 
     CASE - Bob Birge 
     NPAC - Geoffrey Fox 

The issues have been briefly discussed with: 

     IST more generally - Dean 
     School of Education - Dean 
     CID - Bob Diamond 

Exemplar Existing Activities 

     Science for the 21st Century course Phy105/106 
     CIS Web-based courses including the new "Certificate in Internet Engineering" 
     Living SchoolBook for K-12 Education 
     NPAC research in Web Technologies 
     Pulsar Project (NPAC) - Enhanced human-computer interfaces, including those for the disabled 

Some Possible Early Initiatives in Arts and Sciences 

     New minor (certificate, degree) in Electronic Science Communication aimed at future science communicators including
     K-12 science teachers. This would combine instruction in Web technologies, Science and communication (e.g. "how to
     develop a version of Phy 105 for high schools and general public") and exploit the natural synergy between a science
     education and the high technical expertise needed to make best use of the Web for dissemination (e.g. knowledge of
     Java) 
     Less technical version of above for non-science majors in college. 

Some Possible Early Initiatives in Engineering and Computer Science

     Electronic delivery of the "Certificate in Internet Engineering" 
     Extensions of Web Technology courses to K-12 and undergraduate classes