EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
Apogee, Inc. | January 02, 2023
Apogee, an industry leader in managed technology services for higher education, has recently announced the acquisition of Cumulus Technology Services Inc. Headquartered in Ventura, California, Cumulus Technology Services is a specialist in secure cloud services for higher education and an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Select Consulting Partner.
This acquisition reaffirms Apogee's commitment to be the preferred managed technology partner for universities and colleges that strive to innovate and transform. The acquisition extends the managed networking and IT services capabilities of Apogee into the cloud, enabling the new potential for higher education IT innovation to enhance student experiences and promote institutional competitiveness.
While the use of technology in attracting and retaining students and providing great blended learning and student life experiences is growing, IT teams in higher education confront increasing difficulty in acquiring and retaining IT expertise. Services and products that delegate IT operations, manage expenses, improve operational effectiveness, and foster innovation are in great demand. Improving the delivery of managed cloud services in higher education helps universities and educational institutions liberate time for innovation, as promised by Apogee.
The following acquired services will be incorporated into Apogee's managed technology services portfolio:
Secure Cloud Services increase Apogee's expertise in cloud, security, and data center management. Cumulus Technology Services' significant understanding of enterprise resource planning (ERP) cloud migration and containerization, Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS), Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS), and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) will enable Apogee to provide colleges and universities even improved performance, scalability, robustness, and security of their apps, infrastructure, and data.
Cumulus Data Adapter (CDA) connects and synchronizes institutional ERP systems such as Ellucian Banner® with learning management systems (LMS) such as Canvas by Instructure using a secure, simple-to-deploy technology that significantly enhances IT administration efficiency and student life. As a managed service, CDA is an additional critical tool that addresses the major pain point of data synchronization between LMSs and ERPs, hence easing student data integration difficulties for IT and enhancing the student experience for class registration and attendance.
Security Services bolster Apogee's security experience and expertise, allowing for the delivery of brawl-tested college security assessments, ransomware incident response readiness, and staffing and disaster recovery plans.
About Apogee
Apogee, a leading provider of managed IT services founded in 1999 in Austin, enables colleges and universities to innovate in order to improve the campus experience and foster student life. Apogee helps over one million students and administrators from over 350 colleges and universities across the United States. The company's extensive array of managed services includes Managed Campus networks and IT services, campus engagement, residential networks (ResNet), and video.
Read More
ONLINE EDUCATION
PRnewswire | March 31, 2023
The Ellucian Foundation, established in 2020 by the leading higher education technology solutions provider Ellucian, today announced that the 2023 Progress, Accomplishment, Thriving, Hope (PATH) Scholarship Program will accept applications March 27th – May 12th for U.S. institutions and March 27th – May 26th for eligible institutions outside of the U.S. Now in its fourth year, the PATH Scholarship provides grants to higher education institutions globally to support students facing economic hardship and educational disruptions. For 2023, the PATH Scholarship Program will focus on providing grants to 2-year public colleges in the U.S. and eligible higher education institutions in Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Ireland, Lebanon, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.
"Students across the globe cite lack of financial resources among the biggest obstacles to achieving their educational goals," said Laura Ipsen, President & CEO, Ellucian. "We are proud to support students through The Ellucian Foundation's PATH Scholarship program, helping those facing financial hardship stay in school and complete their program of study."
• "Receiving the Ellucian PATH Scholarship means that I will be able to prioritize and focus on my education rather than worrying about how to finance it." - 2022 PATH Scholarship Recipient, Pacific University
• "Funding with my bills will take some of my worries and stress away so I can concentrate and finish school, which will be a dream come true." - 2022 PATH Scholarship Recipient, Central Carolina Technical College
• "This program provided invaluable support to students who were needing additional assistance...because of this award, our students are edging closer to achieving their goal of earning a degree." - an administrator from Our Lady of the Lake University. • "With the allocation of these funds, I can complete my degree this year. If I was not awarded...I would have had to remain on an academic registration hold, restricting my enrollment in Spring semester classes." - 2022 PATH Scholarship Recipient, Pacific University
"In the U.S., two-year public colleges play a vital role in providing access to higher education for underserved students, offering an affordable and flexible learning pathway to a better life," said Jen Welding, Executive Director of the Ellucian Foundation. "We are honored to continue this program and support students at these institutions and other higher education institutions around the world through this year's PATH Scholarship program, providing much-needed financial relief to help students facing hardships stay in school and achieve their educational and career goals."
In 2020, Ellucian partnered with the Business-Higher Education Forum and pledged an initial $1 million to create the PATH Scholarship. Now administered by the Ellucian Foundation, the program will award block grants to higher education institutions in $10,000, $15,000 and $25,000 (USD) amounts. The institutions will then distribute the scholarships to students in financial need, with a maximum award of $1,500 (USD) per student. Students can use these funds to help cover items such as housing, tuition and food. Since its creation, the program has distributed over $1.6 Million in scholarships to 1,900+ students.
For 2023, The following types of higher education institutions are invited to apply:
• In the U.S., public two-year institutions that are eligible to participate in the Federal Title IV Student aid programs. Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) are strongly encouraged to apply.
• In Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Ireland, Lebanon, Mexico and the United Kingdom, not-for-profit higher education institutions that are approved by the country's ministry of higher education (or other national government ministry) to provide associate's or bachelor's degrees.
An independent judging committee will select the institutions chosen to receive a PATH Scholarship award. Recipient institutions in the U.S. will be notified in mid-July and those outside the U.S. in mid-September.
ABOUT ELLUCIAN
Ellucian powers innovation for higher education, partnering with more than 2,900 customers across 50 countries, serving 22 million students. Fueled by decades of experience with a singular focus on the unique needs of learning institutions, the Ellucian platform features best-in-class SaaS capabilities and delivers insights needed now and into the future. These solutions and services span the entire student lifecycle, including data-rich tools for student recruitment, enrollment, and retention to workforce analytics, fundraising, and alumni engagement. Ellucian's innovative solutions, vast ecosystem of partners and user community of more than 45,000 provides best practices leading to greater institutional success and achieving better student outcomes
Read More
TALENT DEVELOPMENT
PRnewswire | March 29, 2023
Anthology, a leading provider of education solutions that support the entire learner lifecycle, and Navengage, an education technology pioneer in student engagement mobile technology, today announced a new partnership that will bring Anthology Engage, a dynamic student community engagement platform, together with Navengage's versatile student engagement mobile app.
The integrated solution will enable students to tap Anthology's time-tested student engagement platform from any device, innovating upon an already market-leading solution with even more flexibility. The application amplifies the impact of student affairs, gathers quality data institutions need to demonstrate the impact of student engagement on student success, and empowers staff to spend their time where it is most valuable – with students.
"We're excited to work with Navengage to deploy Anthology Engage's best-in-class engagement management platform in an effective, mobile-first experience that students expect," said Chris Husser, Vice President of Product Management at Anthology. "This is another significant step along our journey to deliver personalized experiences that drive student and institutional success across the student lifecycle."
"Through this partnership, we look forward to providing higher ed institutions with the best of both worlds – a combination of Anthology's expertise in compliance, reporting, and student services with Navengage's mobile accessibility and cutting-edge user experience," said Andrew Strause, Co-Founder and CEO of Navengage. "Together, our platforms can transform the student experience and further our commitment to helping students succeed outside of the classroom, especially those at risk of dropping out."
Through the native integration, campus leaders can meet students where they are – on their mobile devices. Key features of the integrated solution include:
• Easy-to-use tools to efficiently and effectively encourage student engagement through mobile access to events, organizations, academics, career preparation, student research, and studying abroad
• A complete picture of students' co-curricular involvement with more comprehensive student activity analytics to make data-informed decisions
• A personalized, accessible user experience with a modern user interface and campus branding
• The ability to integrate student goal setting with expanded access to opportunities and communities that are important to each student • A centralized location for student and academic affairs to unite around their common goal - the success of the student
"Educators have long sought to work across institutional silos and deliver a more holistic student experience," continued Strause. "Students similarly crave a personal and well-rounded experience. The Anthology and Navengage partnership will bring those experiences to fruition by providing institutions with robust engagement data across campus while also serving as the epicenter for students' engagement."
About Anthology
Anthology offers the largest EdTech ecosystem on a global scale for education, supporting more than 150 million users in 80 countries. With a mission to provide dynamic, data-informed experiences to the global education community through Anthology Intelligent Experiences™, we help learners, leaders and educators achieve their goals by offering over 60 SaaS products and services designed to advance learning.
Read More