VISA Balance Transfer - Time is Running Out!

FYI……Employee Benefits from Greater New Orleans Federal Credit Union

From: Cindi Russo Cindi.Russo@gnofcu.com
Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2012 8:19 AM
Subject: VISA Balance Transfer - Time is Running Out!

Krewe Captains,

Just a quick reminder that February 15th is the deadline for members to receive $25 for their balance transfer of $2500 or greater!

Remind your employees to take a look at their current card programs and compare their rate. Chances are, GNO can beat it!

In additions, all our FIXED rate Visa cards offer:
· No hidden rate increase
· No transfer fees
· No annual fees

Attached is our most recent newsletter that provides details about the above promotion and more!

Cindi L. Russo
Business Development Rep
3105 Lime Street
Metairie, LA 70006
504.459.8149 Direct
504.459.8152 Fax
cindi.russo@gnofcu.com

Building Relationships, Delivering Dreams: Learn more @ http://www.gnofcu.com/

VISA Balance Transfer - Time is Running Out!

Campus Technology: Tactics for the Smart Classroom: Getting Smarter About Faculty Involvement

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2012/02/07/tactics-for-the-smart-classroom-getting-smarter-about-faculty-involvement.aspx
By Bridget McCrea
02/07/12

Higher education classrooms are being outfitted with the latest technology equipment, software, apps, and tools at unprecedented rates. From iPads to whiteboards and clickers to AV equipment, these new additions are meant to make teaching and learning more effective for everyone involved. When done right these initiatives achieve exactly that. But when it's not done properly, universities wind up with frustrated faculty and technologies that end up gathering dust on the shelf.

Some schools have gotten it right when it comes to professional development in the smart classroom. Here are five strategies that they're using to help faculty members embrace technology and integrate it into their classrooms:

1.Create peer training groups. At MBA@UNC, some faculty come into the program ready to use technology in their classrooms; others need help.

"A whiteboard is pretty advanced for some of us," said Douglas Shackelford, associate dean for the online MBA program offered through the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler campus.

Instead of equipping classrooms with technology and expecting faculty members to use it, Shackelford said, the university trained a small group of "ambassadors" who help other professors get onboard with the new equipment, software, and applications. Facebook, for example, was introduced not only as a social networking platform for students but also as a communication tool for professors to use with one another and with their students.

"We basically created a community around technology maximization," said Shackelford. "As that community grew so did the number of faculty members who embraced and used the technology."

2.Carve out time for professional development. New technology initiatives can be fast and furious as IT departments collaborate with campus academic divisions, network groups, and other entities to meet deployment deadlines. Faculty members can get swept up in the excitement and wind up with classrooms full of technology that they don't know how to use.

To avoid this scenario, Phil Komarny, CIO and vice president for information technology at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA, said his team carves out time for professional development. Working with instructional designer Mary Spataro and a team of work-study students (who assist faculty members in the classroom), Komarny navigates busy teaching schedules to ensure that all professors get the training and support that they need. "Support is a key factor to making sure the technology is used properly and effectively," said Komarny, whose team has also developed wikis, blogs, and other Web-based support tools for faculty members.

3.Align IT with academic instructional departments. Komarny, Spataro, and their respective team members work together to develop and orchestrate professional development programs for Seton Hill's faculty members. If this collaboration didn't exist both say that the task of getting professors on board with technology would be insurmountable.

"We can't do what we want to do on the development side if we don't have the IT support," said Spataro, who often bounces ideas off the IT team.

When faculty members complained about a multistep sign-on process, for example, the two entities worked together to come up with a single-portal option where professors can "access everything that they need," she said.

4.Create a link between technological innovation and pedagogical effectiveness. If professors know that the time they're putting into professional development will ultimately help them teach better, then the odds that they will participate and be engaged will be that much higher.

"Many faculty members are experts in their disciplines, but they are not experts in technology," said Joseph Ugoretz, associate dean of teaching, learning, and technology at Macaulay Honors College in New York. "In some cases they see technology and the associated learning curve as threatening and intimidating."

To overcome this hurdle, Ugoretz said, the college set up an instructional technology fellows program where a cohort of graduate students (most of whom are doctoral candidates) work with individual professors to develop syllabi, create activities and assignments, and assist in classroom instruction. The doctoral candidates have extensive teaching experience and possess the academic background necessary to connect technology to the course material. "They provide a level of support that integrates both technology and pedagogy on a peer-to-peer level," said Ugoretz. "It's extremely effective."

5.Finally, involve faculty members in the planning process. Getting professors to integrate smart classroom technologies into their lessons, lectures, assignments, and projects can be as simple as opening up the lines of communication early between those instructors and their IT and instructional technology departments.

"We start by asking professors what they want to accomplish in their classrooms," said Joseph Battaglia, director of budget, planning, and project management at Adelphi University's Office of Information Technology in Garden City, NY. "Letting them tell us what they want--in their native languages--is very productive."

Using a project management approach Battaglia and his team sit down with faculty members and the school's Faculty Center for Professional Excellence to develop a charter. Most recently the process was used to develop a tech-enabled simulated training room where students learn how to address heart attacks, strokes, and other medical emergencies. "This initiative was a success because teachers played a role in designing it and using it," said Battaglia. "That kind of collaboration goes a long way in ensuring that everyone is on board and successfully utilizing the IT that we purchase and install."

About the Author
Bridget McCrea is a business and technology writer in Clearwater, FL. She can be reached at bridgetmc@earthlink.net

Campus Technology: Tactics for the Smart Classroom: Getting Smarter About Faculty Involvement

Learn About a New Generation of Undergraduate Research – Register for CUR2012

http://www.cur.org/

The Council on Undergraduate Research will host "Leveraging Uncertainty: Toward a New Generation of Undergraduate Research" at The College of New Jersey on June 23-26, 2012.
This conference will bring together faculty, administrators, policy makers, representatives of funding agencies and other stakeholders with an interest in doing and promoting undergraduate research. With over 100 presentations and social interactions, this promises to be an outstanding conference.

In current crises of economic viability, urban decline, environmental degradation, and cultural meaning, we face deep and broad-based concerns, both for personal prospects and larger social contracts. We can be swept along by those changes, or we can use them as opportunities for positive transformation. We know that research must inform our responses to these new conditions. And we know that undergraduate research offers experiences and skills that our students can draw on for successful future study, meaningful work lives, and social engagement. This conference will ask us to consider new models of undergraduate research that create possibilities where others might see peril.

The subthemes for the 2012 CUR Conference are as follows:

1. Research Transcending Historic Disciplinary Boundaries;
2. Sustaining Undergraduate Research in an Era of Fiscal Uncertainty;
3. Online Technology in Undergraduate Research: Possibilities, Threats and Challenges; and
4. The Challenges and Opportunities of Undergraduate Research in a Broad Global Context.

Some of this year's sessions will include topics such as:

1. Google Products - How to Use These Collaborative Online Tools to Create and Sustain Undergraduate
2. Research Projects Involving Underrepresented Disciplines in UR
3. Measureable Benefits to the University from Undergraduate Research: Small Investments that Yield Big Returns at a Predominantly Undergraduate Institution
4. Social Media Tools for Networking, Collaborating, and Disseminating Undergraduate Research
5. STARTING an Office of Undergraduate Research in an Era of Fiscal Uncertainly
6. Your Priorities as UR Program Director: How Can You Maximize Your Impact?

Learn About a New Generation of Undergraduate Research – Register for CUR2012

Sonic Foundry FREE Webinar: Small Budget, Big Impact Lecture Capture

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/webcast/small-budget-big-impact-lecture-capture?utm_campaign=Big%20Impact%20Capture%20Webinar%20invite%201A%20Feb12&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elid=239647&elq=2e0fc4721f484d89b43894e7b6052bee


Small Budget, Big Impact Lecture Capture
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Central


How did a university with minimal budget, one full time staffer and three distributed campuses, including a distance learning programme with 16,000 enrolled students, get to 2500 online presentations with 131,085 views?


Ask a Massey University professor, instructional designer and academic technologist and they will all tell you the same thing: vision, cooperation and Mediasite lecture capture technology.


Over the last six years, faculty adoption and student demand has grown exponentially, yet Massey maintains the growing programme without major new investments in technology or staff.


Join us for this webinar in three parts, each featuring an academic perspective on how to get the most out of lecture capture automation for the biggest learning impact.


Matt Alexander is the single staffer dedicated to supporting university-wide lecture capture for Massey's five colleges, as well as conferences, staff training and high profile, must not fail live webcasts of VIP speakers in a variety of environments, from traditional classroom lecture theatres to traditional Maori meeting houses.


Dr. Macpherson teaches a marketing paper (or course) that combines both face to face and distance students who are spread across the globe. Since 2009, he's recorded over two hours of online instruction each week with no specialized technical expertise, and his research shows students find the use of Mediasite highly beneficial to the success of the learning experience.


Scott Symonds assists faculty and academic staff to integrate online video into their daily teaching. He provides best practices, tips and tricks for the best live lecture delivery, dynamic online collaboration and ways to leverage the recordings on demand in the learning management system.


About the presenters:
Dr. Terry Macpherson, PhD, has been lecturing for the past 16 years and is presently professor of Marketing in the College of Business at Massey University. He specializes in social marketing, marketing communications and green marketing, with a varied background that includes government administration, sales, directing and managing a small importing and retailing business, and horticulture.


As Multimedia Developer for Information Technology Services, Matt Alexander was instrumental in Massey University’s Mediasite initiative. Serving as project facilitator for the past six years, Matt is responsible for all aspects of Mediasite activity on Massey's three campuses – from EX Server, mobile and automated room recording to teaching best practices. He also serves as Multimedia Development Consultancy for university, college and departmental groups.


Scott Symonds is an instructor and teaching consultant at Massey University. He advises and assists academic staff during the development of online teaching spaces and programmes, with an aim to help teaching staff provide the most effective online and blended learning experiences for their students. He has worked as a graphic designer, secondary school Design & Technology teacher and a lecturer in digital imaging.


Moderator:
Sean Brown, Vice President of Education, Sonic Foundry

Sonic Foundry FREE Webinar: Small Budget, Big Impact Lecture Capture