CC* Regional: Accelerating Research and Education at Small Colleges in Texas via an
Advanced Networking Ecosystem Using a Virtual LEARN Science DMZ
The Lonestar Education And Research Network (LEARN), a consortium of 41 organizations
throughout Texas, is expanding opportunities for students and faculty at smaller campuses
to participate in research that relies on increasingly sophisticated network technology
and the expertise to manage that technology. LEARN has identified an initial set
of smaller campuses to take part in the first phase of the project and is providing
these campuses with advanced network and performance monitoring technologies, the
expertise to manage the technologies, training and assistance in increasing utilization
of the technologies, and a community of similarly engaged scholars and administrators
across Texas.
LEARN is partnering with national organizations in the implementation of this project.
Projected impacts include increased opportunities for students to learn about and
gain experience in advanced aspects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics
(STEM) for which they might not otherwise have had an opportunity, for extension of
the project to students and faculty at other campuses in Texas, and for the extension
of the LEARN model to other regional networks and smaller campuses throughout the
United States.
Akbar Kara
President & CEO at LEARN
Ryan Fitzgerald
Dean of Dual Enrollment & Distance Education / Director of Institutional Research
at South Plains College