Alabama A&M University was the site recently for a comprehensive workshop designed to discuss and assess the readiness of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) to enter new realms of information technology. It also heavily focused on the development of faculty skills for restructuring course syllabi for a online program development.

"This workshop was significant because it was the first of a series of similar regional workshops," says Dr. Taylor Byrd, coordinator and Prinicipal Investigator of the project. "The first regional workshop was hosted by A&M, and the second will be held in October in North Carolina A&T University involving seven other regional HBCUs. The third workshop will be hosted by Hampton University, with another seven regional HBCUs. Prairie View A&M University, with an additional regional HBCUs."

Byrd was named a Minority Scholar two years ago in a collaborative program financed by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and coordinated by the American Distance Education Consortium (ADEC). In conversation with Dr. A. Frank Mayadas, Sloan Foundation Program Office, Byrd suggested the possibility of a workshop that might foster more HBCU envolvement in online learning. Mayadas expanded that idea to a series requesting HBCUs to submit proposals to host regional sessions. Alabama A&M was the first institution to secure a $45,000 grant from the Sloan Foundation and the workshop was held May 17-19 in Huntsville. Teams participating came from Tuskegee University (Ala.), Fort Valley University (Ga.), Florida A&M University, Jackson State University (MS), Tennessee State University and Langston University (Ok.). North Carolina A&T University also attended the AAMU meeting and have also received a $45,000 grant and will be hosting another workshop in October. It is hoped that additional workshops locations will be identified so that all of the major public and private HBCUs can participate.

The three-day workshop focused on "Advancing HBCU Participation in Asynchronous Learning Network Development (ALN)". ALNs are credited with helping to transform education and training from site-based, time-bound experiences to anytime-anywhere online learning environments. Through a connection of learners with each other, instructors, and resources, ALNs allow a high degree of interaction and collaboration.

The American Distance Education Consortium (ADEC) has provided co-sponsorship and technical assistance related to the design and delivery of the workshops. The Sloan Consortium has also provided sponsorship and intellectual support to the initiative.

The AAMU workshop was sponsored by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and co-sponsored by AAMU’s School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Agribusiness Department, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, American Distance Education Consortium, Consortium for Bioinformatics Instruction (USDA/CSREES Grant), 1890 Family & Consumer Sciences Distance Instructional Alliance, and AAMU’s Education Information Technology Services.

The AAMU team consists of Dr. Taylor Byrd, Jr., PI & coordinator; Dr. Chris Odionu, CIO; Dr. Mohan Aggarwal, Dr. Gerald Wheelock, Dr. Cynthia Smith, Dr. Dorothy Brandon, and Jim Richardson.

Follow-up activities are being initiated including collaborative development of online courses and online programs.