As stated in College Brief No. 32, issued on November 6, 2007, the College developed a Request for Proposals (RFP) last spring in order to secure a contract for a single course management system. A committee was formed to develop the RFP and review the proposals. The committee was made up of teaching faculty, technology support personnel (faculty and administra- tors), Instructional Technology staff, members of the College Distance Education Committee, Central Administration, a peer mentor, a member of the Educational Technology Unit (ETU), and faculty representatives from all three campuses.
The committee worked throughout the summer and into the fall reviewing the proposals and presentations received from four companies who responded to the RFP. As a result of the committee’s deliberative process, the committee unanimously supported the selection of the Desire2Learn Course Management System because of its highly intuitive and user-friendly software. Desire2Learn is currently used by the Rochester Institute of Technology, the Universities of Arizona, Iowa, Wisconsin, and the Oklahoma State and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Systems. Pursuant to the committee’s recommendation, the Board of Trustees adopted a resolution on Thursday, December 6, 2007, authorizing the College to contract with Desire2Learn for a new course management system.
The College will now work with Desire2Learn to develop a detailed implementation and training plan with the expectation that this new course management system will be the sole platform supported by the College as of fall 2008. Implementation and training will begin with the conversion of existing courses in both SLN Course Space and Blackboard to the new platform.
Desire2Learn’s many features will provide faculty with the latest software in distance education and support the College’s long-term goal of Web enabling more courses at the College. I would like to thank the committee members for their hard work and diligence throughout this process. Their efforts have assured that Suffolk County Community College will have a course management system that best serves our students now and in the future.
