The Good and Bad News About EDUCAUSE 2000

Black Issues in Higher Education, Nov 9, 2000

THOUGH THE MINORITY PRESENCE WAS LOW, MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTIONS CAME IN RECORD NUMBERS

More than 6,500 people attended the EDUCAUSE 2000 Conference in Nashville, Tenn., last month. It was the largest crowd yet for higher education's leading information technology association. The conference included 130 presentations and more than 180 corporate participants conducted workshops and presentations.

Although official attendance by Black and Hispanic IT professionals and college administrators is not known, minorities were few in number at the annual event, for sure.

But there is good news.

Educause officials report that minority-serving institutions had the largest representation ever at the annual IT conference. Representatives from 22 historically Black colleges and universities attended the conference.

Mark A. Luker, an Educause vice-president, credits the Educause-administered Advanced Networking/Minority Serving Institution initiative, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, for helping to boost overall minority attendance.

What did minorities miss out on by not attending in higher numbers?

Keynote speakers included noted author David Halberstam, humorist Dave Barry and technology executive Judith Estrin. Presentations covered six program areas, including infrastructure and basic services; teaching and learning; managing information technologies and resources; information systems; new technologies; and patterns of converging and emerging.

Conference proceedings will be posted soon to the EDUCAUSE 2000 Web site at <http://www.educause.edu/conference/e2000/>