Enterprise Information Technology Services Press Release
The University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

WRITER: Sarah Lee, 706/542-5359, slee23@uga.edu
CONTACT: George Matthews, 706/542-0197, gmatthew@uga.edu

UGA to Deploy Blackboard Learning System - Vista Enterprise Edition

ATHENS, Ga.— Based upon the recommendation from the UGA Learning Management Systems (LMS) Executive Committee, the Blackboard Learning System - Vista Enterprise Edition (formerly known as WebCT Vista) was selected as the future University course management platform. An implementation plan is currently under development and details and a timeline for the migration from WebCT Campus Edition to Blackboard Vista will be available in the near future. As part of the continued monitoring of course management systems, the Sakai community source LMS product will also continue to be evaluated and available on a limited basis for faculty to explore and to use in conjunction with their courses

George Matthews, IT senior manager with EITS

The LMS Executive Committee was charged by Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Associate Provost Dr. Barbara A. White to evaluate the current learning management solution on campus and recommend future directions in course management systems. Membership on the LMS Executive Committee included faculty and staff from the College of Education, College of Pharmacy, Terry College of Business, the UGA Libraries, the Georgia Center, Enterprise Information Technology Services (EITS), and the UGA Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL).

George Matthews, an IT senior manager with EITS who was involved in the committee, said the charge came from the CIO in 2006 to respond to what Matthews calls the "vastly changing and ever-evolving learning management landscape."

"Realizing that our current LMS, WebCT Campus Edition 4.1, would eventually become obsolete, the committee conducted an initial investigation of available products and recommended a parallel installation pilot (PIP) test during Fall 2007 of two systems: Blackboard Learning System - Vista Enterprise Edition (formerly WebCT Vista) and Sakai (an open source product built and maintained by the Sakai community). The purpose of the parallel installation pilot was to evaluate the suitability of Vista and Sakai for the needs of UGA students and faculty," said Matthews.

Matthews noted that one of the intended benefits of the parallel product testing is that EITS had the opportunity to collaborate on decisions concerning IT solutions that affect the entire campus. Further, he notes that when "key decisions are not made in a vacuum, and when input of the campus community is actively sought in every part of the process," collegiality among campus-wide departments is enhanced and facilitiated.

More information on the Vitsa/Sakai PIP can be found by visiting:

www.uga.edu/pip

About the Office of the CIO and EITS
The Office of the Chief Information Officer and Enterprise Information Technology Services (EITS) are committed to the mission of UGA as a land-and-sea-grant institution where academics come first and the research extensive university community encourages research efforts at the undergraduate and graduate levels. To that end, under the direction of the University´s Chief Information Officer, EITS endeavors to provide a robust, reliable, and secure information technology infrastructure, maintain essential production services, and offer world-class support.