TEL8 and NHI Forge Partnership
TEL8 and the National Highway Institute (NHI) both offer specialized training for transportation professionals. NHI has renewed its commitment to distance learning programs and looks to TEL8 for expertise. TEL8 will help NHI develop courses that work in videoconference format.
In a new commitment to partnership, TEL8 may serve as a pilot program for the NHI to develop more courses, some of which may lead to NHI instructor certification for videoconferencing.
An upcoming course through TEL8 will be "ITS Architecture for Deployment," which will address state needs to effectively apply transportation technology. The June course will be followed by two others.
TEL8's know-how will also help inform state departments of transportation, universities and other transportation professionals as NHI develops new courses or redesigns courses that can be taught through videoconferencing.
The TEL8 interactive communications network serves North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Utah and Wyoming transportation departments. Mountain-Plains Consortium universities also participate in TEL8.
NHI is a training arm of the Federal Highway Administration, providing leadership and resources for training and education.
Contact Julie Rodriguez at the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute for further information. E-mail, julie.rodriguez@ndsu.edu or visit the www.tel8.org or www.ugpti.org websites.
TEL8's Fast-paced Growth
The rapid growth of TEL8's videoconference network continues with the inclusion of additional network sites and increased programming. During the past four years, the videoconference network has tripled in size. The number of sites in the system now total more than 30 including more than 20 network sites at Department of Transportation district sites in South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. More network growth into the western United States will be considered later this year.
TEL8's programming has more than doubled during this rapid network expansion. Recent examples of innovative programming developed by the network include new Mountain-Plains Consortium short courses and the MPC-X, a university-based research dissemination seminar series.
Julie Rodriguez, TEL8 program director, also recently announced the formation of a preliminary TEL8/NHI initiative investigating the videoconference delivery of NHI courses to TEL8. Moreover, the TEL8 bridge activity doubled in support of the network.
The TEL8 network continues to support and facilitate the establishment of a new prototype programming network. The new programming network, WASHTO-X, includes many of the western United States and is modeled after TEL8 and its InfoX series of programming.
The TEL8 network is administered by UGPTI staff. In addition to Rodriguez, Doug Benson is executive director, Mary Marquart, administrative assistant, and Mitch Hoffart, telecommunications technician.
