ONLINE EDUCATION
PRnewswire | May 29, 2023
SSC Services for Education, a leading provider of educational facilities services, along with ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, are proud to announce that in addition to achieving recertification of ISSA Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) Green Building (GB) with Honors, SSC has become one of the first organizations to receive the Advanced by the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC) certification.
This certification builds on SSC's advanced 50 years of expertise in custodial services, grounds management, and educational facilities maintenance, helping ensure students and faculty are safe and thrive in the spaces they call home during the school day.
The CIMS-GB certification is a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation of an organization's management and operational excellence in the cleaning industry. The certification criteria include management best practices, performance systems, and sustainable cleaning practices. By achieving this certification, SSC has demonstrated its commitment to providing high-quality services that promote health, safety, and environmental sustainability.
"Even before the pandemic, we took great care to keep schools clean and open during flu season and other illness outbreaks and that commitment has only continued," said Seth Ferriell, CEO of SSC. "Being one of the first organizations to achieve the Advanced by GBAC certification so quickly after the new guidelines were introduced is a testament to our team's ability to provide exceptional services without sacrificing our focus on environmental sustainability."
The Advanced by GBAC certification requires organizations to have:
• Established and maintained a cleaning, disinfection, and infectious disease prevention program to minimize risks associated with infectious agents.
• The proper cleaning protocols, disinfection techniques, and work practices in place to combat biohazards and infectious disease.
• Highly informed cleaning professionals who are trained for outbreak and infectious disease preparation and response.
This certification is designed to help organizations prevent, respond to, and recover from biohazard situations. By obtaining the Advanced by GBAC certification, SSC has demonstrated its ability to provide safe and healthy environments for its clients, employees, and communities year-round, as well as during times of crisis.
"Every day, we're focused on creating sustainable and healthy environments where students, staff, and communities thrive, and the CIMS, GB-Honors, and GBAC certifications reaffirm our focus on innovation and industry leadership," added Ferriell.
About SSC Services for Education
SSC Services for Education, based in Knoxville, Tennessee, provides customized facility solutions to over 1000 K-12 and Higher Education schools nationwide. Our 10,000+ employees partner with these educational institutions to further the success and well-being of students, staff, and faculty by delivering quality facilities programs – custodial, grounds, and maintenance. As a trusted and specialized provider, we are committed to enhancing educational settings and creating financial guarantees. With SSC, students and staff flourish in improved surroundings, while partner schools focus on their core objective: educating future generations.
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TALENT DEVELOPMENT
Bluum | May 10, 2023
Bluum, is pleased to announce the opening of "The Modern Classroom" in their Las Vegas office. The Modern Classroom is designed to transform the learning experience by providing an environment that encourages critical thinking, adapts to student needs, promotes collaboration, increases student engagement, and heightens motivation to learn. "Technology is not a substitute for a teacher, but a tool that, when used effectively, can enhance the teacher's ability to engage and inspire students to reach their full potential," Wayne LawsonThe Modern Classroom is equipped with the latest educational technology solutions and tools to support teachers and students in achieving their educational goals.With interactive flat panels, software, STEM products and other cutting-edge classroom solutions, students will be able to engage in collaborative and interactive learning experiences that foster critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
About Bluum
At Bluum, we provide technology design, engineering, solutions and services that make business and learning environments more exciting, accessible and interactive, empowering professionals with the resources and knowledge they need to build a brighter tomorrow. Visit Bluum and Bluum Technology to learn more.
About Wayne Lawson
Wayne Lawson, a seasoned educator with nearly two decades of experience, has devoted his life to teaching and has positively impacted numerous students by enabling them to realize their full potential and develop a lifelong love of learning. Wayne's enthusiasm for educational technology has led him to spearhead the integration of cutting-edge tools and methodologies into his teaching methods.
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TALENT DEVELOPMENT
PRnewswire | April 27, 2023
Clever, the platform powering digital learning for more than 75% of U.S. K-12 schools, today announced its new service, Clever MFA+. Designed to help districts facing a growing number of cybersecurity incidents in schools, Clever's new offering protects sensitive data by providing a dual layer of authentication that's easy for administrators and educators to use.
"With the growing sophistication of hackers, we designed this tool to support the realities of schools today, offering busy teachers and staff peace of mind," said Mohit Gupta, Group Product Manager at Clever. "Clever MFA+ helps districts prevent malicious account access, meet insurance requirements, and ensure a safe and secure learning environment."
In a recent Clever survey, one in four administrators said their district had experienced a hack, phishing incident, data breach, or other cyber attack in the past year. The impact, including cost and learning time lost to get systems running again, is high for K-12 education – on average costing schools $1.6M per ransomware incident.
Clever MFA+ serves as a holistic, all-in-one solution that helps districts easily secure access to critical applications:
• Staff-and teacher-friendly factors: Clever MFA+ offers a variety of authentication options, including app tokens (TOTP), SMS codes, voice calls and hardware tokens, as well as biometric.
• Clever MFA+ into familiar devices and apps: The solution covers Chromebooks and Windows devices, while integrating with Google Workspace, Azure, AD and ADFS and any additional apps available with SAML, OpenIDConnect, or OAuth2.
• One, secure Clever login: This new offering means sensitive applications and devices can be protected behind one secure login and with one familiar, trusted single-sign on partner.
"Our instructional programs all filter through Clever — and some of our most sensitive information is rostered into those programs. Having a second layer of protection is paramount," said Dylan Jones, Instructional Technology and Data Coordinator at Sunflower County Consolidated School District. "Clever MFA+ provides seamless protection for an app that all teachers and staff are used to and familiar with! We already do identity management, rostering, and the single sign-on Portal with Clever — so MFA just made sense."
Clever MFA+ is now available with a low price per staff user per year, and schools benefit from free set-up and support to make adoption seamless and quick. To learn more about Clever MFA+, visit here.
The Clever SSO portal for students remains free of charge. Districts can take advantage of built-in MFA functionality to secure the Clever Portal for users with admin access and the existing Clever Badges + Pin functionality to protect students' accounts today.
About Clever
Clever is on a mission to connect every student to a world of learning. More than 75% of U.S. K-12 schools now use Clever to power secure digital learning experiences. With our platform for schools and a network of leading application providers, we're committed to advance education with technology that works for students everywhere.
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