World’s largest technical society signs agreement with Stevens

HOBOKEN, N.J. — Recognizing the Internet as a significant force in professional advancement today, Stevens Institute of Technology and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) — the world’s largest technical society — have taken a giant step forward to offer distance learning graduate programs online to IEEE’s 330,000 members.

The courses are part of Stevens’ new service, WebCampus.Stevens, which begins offering online graduate-level courses worldwide in spring 2000.

In its first-ever such agreement with a graduate school, the IEEE will co-sponsor WebCampus.Stevens programs in telecommunications management, wireless communications and technology-based teacher education. The IEEE will promote Stevens’ online program with direct mail, catalogs, advertisements and exhibits. The joint venture calls for IEEE members to enroll on the society’s web site and take courses delivered by Stevens’ faculty using the WebCampus.Stevens courseware platform.

"We plan to extend educational content to IEEE members and others around the country and the world," said WebCampus.Stevens Director Robert Ubell. "Our aim is to offer quality professional advancement programs in every medium that makes sense, including online."

After the first classes go online in January, Stevens will generate modular versions of its graduate programs as IEEE short courses.

Stevens already delivers video courses to graduate students in six states, using interactive videoconferencing technologies in collaboration with giants such as Bell Atlantic and Lucent Technologies. In spring 2000, for example, some 250 graduate students will be in classes conducted using interactive video. The addition of online courses was the next natural step, said Ubell, and the IEEE’s involvement offers an outstanding measure of support.

Many WebCampus.Stevens faculty hold prominent positions in IEEE. Dr. Stuart Tewksbury, for example, director of the online wireless communications course sequence, is editor of Microelectronic Systems, an IEEE Press series. He has also served as symposium and general chair of a number of IEEE conferences. Dr. M.T. Fatehi, who teaches a course in the online telecommunications management program, is a senior IEEE member.

Publisher of IEEE Spectrum and more than 60 technical periodicals, the powerful organization generates 30 percent of the world’s literature in electrical engineering, computers, and control technology, many of which are now available online. The IEEE holds more than 300 major conferences annually and produces more than 800 standards, with 700 currently under development.

Composed of 36 societies in all branches of electrical engineering, including communications, signal processing, and engineering management, its 300 local groups are in every part of the globe. In addition to the United States and Canada, regional sections are in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia. Stevens is also home to an IEEE Student Chapter.

The IEEE-Stevens agreement was concluded with the society’s Education Activities Division, publisher of nearly 200 books, CD-ROMs, self-study courses, videos and videos on demand.

Ubell, who directs the WebCampus.Stevens site, has long been associated with science and engineering publishing and education. A former publisher of Nature, the noted weekly British journal of science, editor of the National Magazine Award-winning monthly, The Sciences, and former president of BioMedNet, the giant life science web site, Ubell is the first web-based distance learning director at Stevens.

To learn more about WebCampus.Stevens, visit its web site at: webcampus.stevens.edu

Note to reporters: Robert Ubell, director of WebCampus.Stevens, is available for interviews by calling (201) 216-5084. He can also be reached by e-mail at webcampus@stevens.edu.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870 and celebrating 140 Years of Innovation, Stevens Institute of Technology, The Innovation University TM , lives at the intersection of industry, academics and research.  The University's students, faculty and partners leverage their collective real-world experience and culture of innovation, research and entrepreneurship to confront global challenges in engineering, science, systems and technology management.

Based in Hoboken, N.J. and with a location in Washington, D.C., Stevens offers baccalaureate, master’s, certificates and doctoral degrees in engineering, the sciences and management, in addition to baccalaureate degrees in business and liberal arts.  Stevens has been recognized by both the US Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security as a National Center of Excellence in the areas of systems engineering and port security research. The University has a total enrollment of more than 2,200 undergraduate and 3,700 graduate students with almost 450 faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America as well as strategic partnerships with industry leaders, governments and other universities around the world.  Additional information may be obtained at www.stevens.edu and www.stevens.edu/press.