Nate Angellraised by wolves, accidental open-source evangelist

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The first Annual General Meeting of the Apereo Foundation will take place in Pearl Room in the Westin San Diego, at 1500 PST on Tuesday June 4th.

Agenda

1) Introducing the Board
2) Progress since the merger
3) Budget
4) Strategy Statement from the Board
5) Immediate priorities

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Apereo Foundation Announces that Marist College will help Lead
the Sakai Open Academic Environment (OAE) Initiative
 

May 1, 2013 – The Apereo Foundation has announced that Marist College will formally join the Sakai Open Academic Environment (OAE) initiative to provide leadership and resources for initial pilots as well as further development of the OAE platform. Marist will be coming together with the University of Cambridge (UK) and Georgia Tech, current project partners, to help realize OAE’s compelling vision for the future of academic collaboration.

"The University of Cambridge is delighted to be working with Marist on this groundbreaking project, said John Norman, Director for Cambridge’s Centre for Applied Research in Educational Technologies, “We have always respected Marist’s vision and openness in their approach to technology for higher education and will greatly value their contributions to the project."

Marist’s involvement in the Sakai OAE project connects with its larger strategic goal of advancing its leadership in the use of information technology to support teaching, learning and scholarship.

“Marist has played a leadership role within the Sakai for many years,” said Marist College President, Dr. Dennis Murray, “we are excited about the ways in which OAE can open up our academic community to the world, and thereby enrich our student’s learning experiences while also benefiting our larger global society.”

Marist College will be providing financial support to the project as well as dedicating staff and student employee time for Quality Assurance testing; something that Marist has done for the Sakai Collaboration and Learning Environment (CLE) for many years. They will also be participating in several pioneering pilots both locally at Marist as well as an inter-institutional pilot that will leverage OAE’s unique “permeability”, allowing participants at all three institutions to collaborate across separate OAE instances or “tenants”.

“The ability for users to control whether content and interactions are shared with just their group, the entire institution, across institutions or even with the world is extremely powerful from a community building and collaboration perspective,” said Josh Baron, Senior Academic Technology Officer and Pro-Tem chair of the Apereo Foundation Board of Directors, whose office has been piloting Sakai OAE with faculty for the past semester.

In addition to participating in this inter-institutional pilot, Marist will also be leveraging the unique capabilities of Sakai OAE to support a new initiative called the Academic Community Cloud or ACC. The initiative’s goal is to “go beyond MOOCs” by opening up the Marist academic community, not just its courses, to the world. Thus allowing the public to connect and collaborate with Marist as means to create new knowledge.

“As a center of excellence at Marist College, the Enterprise Computing Community (ECC) will be among the first groups to pilot Sakai OAE as part of the Academic Community Cloud initiative”, said Dr. Roger Norton, Dean of the Marist School of Computer Science and Mathematics, “with the goal of helping our community connect with those interested in enterprise computing.”

 

About the Apereo Foundation

The Apereo Foundation (http://www.apereo.org) was formed by the merger of Jasig (http://www.jasig.org) and the Sakai (http://www.sakaiproject.org) Foundation in late December 2012. Sakai and Jasig had been pioneers in the production and adoption of open source software for higher education for over ten years. Apereo will take that work further, providing a more rational and improved organizational umbrella for a range of projects and software communities serving higher education. The core mission of the Foundation - to "assist and facilitate educational organizations which collaborate to foster, develop, and sustain open technologies and innovation to support learning, teaching, and research" is discussed, along with the rationale for the merger, in more detail in our white paper “The Value of a Common Foundation: The Case for Apereo”.

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OPEN APEREO 2013 CONFERENCE
REGISTER NOW! http://bitly.com/apereo13registration
The Westin San Diego, CA
June 2-7, 2013

The preliminary Open Apereo 2013 conference program is now available! We have a robust and diverse program of over 100 presentations by over 150 speakers representing more than 60 organizations from around the globe. Come to learn about the latest news and success stories from your colleagues in the Apereo and open source communities. Presentations will cover projects and topics like Sakai, analytics, CAS, integration, Bedework, blended learning, uPortal, security, uMobile, collaboration, CIFER, BigBlueButton, Kaltura, and much, much more!

FULL PROGRAM: http://www.concentra-cms.com/cfp/sessions/apereo13
VISUAL PROGRAM: http://www.concentra-cms.com/cfp/grid/apereo13

If you haven't done so already, Please take advantage of the early bird conference registration and special hotel rate. The deadline for both is May 3!

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION: http://bitly.com/apereo13registration
HOTEL REGISTRATION: https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/Book/apereo

June 2: Pre-conference Workshops
June 3-6: Main Conference
June 7: Post-conference Project Collaboration Time

The program is preliminary and subject to change, and would not have been possible without the time and efforts of a great group of volunteers. Apereo gratefully acknowledges the support our volunteers have contributed.

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Nominations for the Apereo Sakai Fellows Program for 2013 are now
open. Up to 4 fellows will be chosen by the selection committee. The
nomination form is attached and eligibility requirements are listed
below. You are encouraged to submit more than one nomination and you
are free to nominate yourself.

Nominations are due by Friday, 26 April
2013, 23:59 UTC.

https://confluence.sakaiproject.org/display/MGT/2013+Apereo+Sakai+Fellow...

As part of the transition to Apereo, a companion Jasig Fellows Program
has been established this year. Individuals will only awarded a single
(Sakai or Jasig) fellowship.

PURPOSE

The Apereo Sakai Fellows program seeks to foster community leadership
and contributions by recognizing and supporting active contributors.
Fellows enrich the community in a variety of ways, including technical
expertise, teaching and research practices and community organization,
support and leadership. Fellowship awards recognize such contributions
and support the efforts of the Fellows with a modest stipend.

For more information on the program and previous Sakai Fellows, please visit:

https://confluence.sakaiproject.org/display/MGT/Sakai+Fellows

AWARD AT A GLANCE

Total: up to 4 Fellowships will be awarded
Term: 1 year from date of award
Stipend: US$2500.00
* Registration fees for the Open Apereo 2013 conference in San Diego
will also be waived.

ELIGIBILITY

All members of the Sakai Community are eligible for nomination subject
to the following limitations:

1. A nominee must not be a previous fellowship winner.
2. A nominee cannot be a member of the Apereo Board, Apereo Foundation
staff, and Selection Committee.

NOMINATION FORM AND DUE DATE

http://bit.ly/12OI7nQ

Deadline: Friday, 26 April 2013, 23:59 UTC
Please return the completed form(s) to Seth Theriault at slt@columbia.edu.

2013 APEREO SAKAI FELLOWS SELECTION COMMITTEE

Nicolaas Matthijs (Fellow 2009)
Megan May (Fellow 2011)
Sam Ottenhoff (Fellow 2012)
Janice Smith (Fellow 2009)
Seth Theriault (Fellow 2006-7), chair
Zach Thomas (Fellow 2006-7)
Lynn Ward (Fellow 2012)

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Dear Apereo and open source communities,

We are very excited to announce our first keynote for June’s Open Apereo 2013 in San Diego, CA:

"Challenges, Encouragement, and Women in IT - Does it Matter?"
by Theresa Rowe, Chief Information Officer, Oakland University

There's much in the news about women seeking successful careers in IT. We read about the lack of young women choosing computer science as a major, at a time when we need more graduates in technical fields. The news tells us about the challenges women face in technology careers, such as the Adria Richards incident at PyCon. Finally, Sheryl Sandberg has started a national conversation with her book Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead . What are the challenges facing women seeking careers in information technology? What can we do about it, together? And does it matter? Let's explore our roles in attracting and retaining the best talent to our profession - male or female.

Theresa Rowe is currently the Chief Information officer at Oakland University, a position she has held since 2002. Rowe has been at Oakland University since 1990, where she has served as a Senior Systems Analyst, the Manager of Student Information Systems and Director of Information Systems before stepping into her current role. Rowe is active with EDUCAUSE and other organizations focused on technology in higher education. Some of her project experience includes creating a ten year network plan, upgrading data-center facilities, implementation of two ERP systems, and implementing an open-source portal. She has a lot of experience and insight to share!

Come to Open Apereo 2013 to learn from Theresa Rowe and many of your peers in higher education.

Please join us in Opening Minds to Open Solutions!

Sincerely,

Ian Dolphin, Executive Director, Apereo Foundation
Patty Gertz, Associate Director, Apereo Foundation
Jim Helwig, Planning Committee Chair
Alan Regan, Program Committee Chair

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A survey was recently sent out to the Sakai community looking for information on institutional plans for upgrading Sakai CLE. The survey results are available and summarized at - https://confluence.sakaiproject.org/display/TCC/CLE+upgrade+survey+resul...

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact the Sakai CLE Community Coordinator at nealcaidin@sakaifoundation.org .

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Highlights from the Ja Sakai Conference - Kyoto, Japan
By: Josh Baron
March 2013

I had the great pleasure and honor of attending and presenting at the 2013 Ja Sakai Conference in Kyoto, Japan during the week of March 11th and wanted to take a few moments to share just a few of the highlights from the conference and trip.

Prior to the conference, I spent time with faculty from Kyoto University who are working to launch a new graduate program, called Shishu-Kan, which is focused on developing global leaders. As part of this program they are implementing electronic portfolios and are working with Dr. Janice Smith and Three Canoes LLC to adopt the electronic portfolio system that HEC Montreal has been developing (which has conceptual similarities with Sakai OSP). As part of my time with the Shishu-Kan faculty I had the opportunity to share the Marist College journey with ePortfolios and show some examples of the Sakai OSP work that has been implemented at Marist. I left very impressed with the Shishu-Kan’s faculty and their dedication to transforming the student learning and assessment process with ePortfolios. I’m confident they will be a model for others in Japan interested in adopting such innovations.

Of course, the highlight of the trip was the Ja Sakai conference itself which is now in its 6th year which is great testimony to both the leadership of the Ja Sakai organization as well as the expanding Sakai implementations taking place throughout Japan. Although there were many great presentations, I was particularly excited to see Shoji Kaijita, of Kyoto University (and recently elected to the Apereo Foundation Board of Directors) demonstrate Sakai 2.9 (localized in Japanese of course) and how it would be integrated with HEC Montreal’s ePortfolio system and possibly Sakai OAE. I was also very impressed with the innovative work being done at Hosei University that was presented by Yuji Tokiwa (Chair of Ja Sakai Community) which included a system that allows them to digitize information students are recording on paper and automatically import this information into Sakai. Also, starting this year the Apereo Foundation has begun to support the funding of simultaneous translation between Japanese and English during the conference. This simultaneous translation for presentations by Japanese Sakai institutions was quite helpful for me to transparently understand their presentations and have discussions among participants, as well as Japanese participants could do so for mine and the keynote presentation by Mr. Paul Treuer (Director, Supportive Services Program, University of Minnesota Duluth) entitled “Literacy Skills for ePortfolio Success”.

I left Japan with a renewed appreciation for the significant impact that Sakai is having around the world and for the innovative implementations of Sakai in Japan. I want to especially thank Shoji Kaijita and Yuji Tokiwa for the leadership they have provided to the Ja Sakai community as well as the tremendous effort that they dedicated to the conference. I want to also thank all of the other presenters and attendees, as well as sponsors which included Kyoto University, Kanematsu Electronics Ltd., Nippon Steel Sumitomo Metals Solutions, and Fuji Xerox. On a personal note, I want to thank everyone for being such wonderful hosts during my visit!

Josh Baron is the Pro-Tem Chair of the Apereo Foundation Board of Directors and the Senior Academic Technology Officer at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY.

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Inaugural Apereo (Jasig/Sakai) Foundation Conference
Opening Minds to Open Solutions
June 2-7, 2013 San Diego Westin - San Diego, CA
http://conference.apereo.org
#apereo13

Registration is now open for the inaugural Open Apereo 2013 conference! Early bird pricing (available until May 3rd) will be: $595 for Apereo Foundation Members or $725 for Non-Members. The fee includes breakfast (Monday-Thursday), lunch (Monday-Wednesday), two receptions, and 3 1/2 days of conference presentations. Hands-on pre-conference workshops may require an additional fee. This is a great opportunity to come and learn about our new organization.

The program is being finalized but it will be sure to include over 100 sessions on all the Apereo projects (Sakai CLE, Sakai OAE, CAS, uPortal, uMobile, Bedework, Open Registry). Find out the latest updates and see how your peers are using these tools to improve teaching, learning and research on their campus. Talks will focus on leadership, advocacy, analytics, teaching and learning, identity management and technology.

On Tuesday, June 4th, 2013, conference attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a number of fun and exciting social events. Each event offers a unique opportunity to experience some of the culture and cuisine of southern California while getting to mingle with a group of fellow attendees. See the options at http://conference.apereo.org/events.

Quick links:
Conference Web Site: http://conference.apereo.org
Conference Registration: http://bit.ly/apereo13registration
Hotel Registration: http://bit.ly/apereo13hotel

Schedule:
June 2: Pre-conference workshops
June 3-6: Main conference
June 6-7: Post-conference project collaboration time

Register today for the best rates and stay tuned for publication of the full program!

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The Apereo Foundation is pleased to announce the regional Sakai (an Apereo Project) Mexico Conference 2013. The event will be held on April 24th, 25th and 26th in the historic city of Puebla, Mexico.

Conference themes include the new Apereo Foundation, Sakai CLE and Sakai OAE, innovation in education and technology, and sharing best practices in current teaching and learning initiatives, research collaboration, and ePortfolios.

Further information is available at

http://www.u-red.com.mx/sakaimexico2013/

Logo:  open-apereo-2013.png Front Page Teaser: 

Annual Conference
San Diego, CA
June 2-7, 2013

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DEADLINE EXTENDED!
Open Apereo 2013 Call for Proposals
https://www.concentra-cms.com/cfp/p/apereo13

Thank you to everyone that has already submitted a proposal to this year's conference. We've received many great proposals (over 100!), but also many requests for more time. By popular request, we are extending the deadline to Monday, March 11, 2013 by midnight Pacific.

TIP: We received a few reports of errors submitting to the system. If you experienced this issue, we apologize for the inconvenience. To avoid this problem, please be sure to select the primary presenter at the bottom of the form. Even if you are the only presenter, you must click the "primary" radio button. Again, we are sorry for any trouble you may have experienced and hope the extended deadline will help you re-submit your proposal.

We want to hear your new ideas, see your great work, and learn from your successes. What are you waiting for? Get your proposal in!

Hot off the presses! Registration for the conference will open by March 15. Early bird pricing will be: $595 for Apereo Foundation Members or $725 for Non-Members. The fee includes breakfast (Monday-Thursday), lunch (Monday-Wednesday), two receptions, and 3 1/2 days of conference presentations (excluding pre-conference workshops). The early bird deadline will be May 3, 2013. Look for a formal registration announcement and more details on hotel, travel, and other info soon!

Sincerely,

Ian Dolphin, Executive Director, Apereo Foundation
Patty Gertz, Associate Director, Apereo Foundation
Jim Helwig, Planning Committee Chair
Alan Regan, Program Committee Chair

Submit your conference proposal by Monday, March 11, 2013
https://www.concentra-cms.com/cfp/p/apereo13