Carl Sandburg College No. 1 in Nation for Digital Technology for 4th Time in a Row
Aaron Frey
Wednesday, April 19, 2017 11:35 AM
Campus News
Galesburg, IL
For the fourth straight year in which it’s been eligible, Carl Sandburg College has been named the national champion in the Small Colleges category of the Digital Community Colleges Survey by e.Republic’s Center for Digital Education.
This marks the fifth time overall that Sandburg has been honored as the best in its category, which includes community colleges with less than 5,000 students. It’s also the ninth straight time the College has placed in the top 10 of its class. Sandburg served as a contributor for the 2016 survey and was not eligible to receive any awards.
In its 12th year, the Digital Community Colleges survey is open to accredited U.S. community colleges and analyzes how they use digital technologies to improve services to students, faculty, staff and the community.
Sandburg was lauded for including a mobile option for all services offered and for providing a learning environment that’s rich with interactive options like gaming, collaborative spaces, virtual reality and the use of telepresence robots that allow distance-learning students to have a more realistic classroom experience. The survey also recognized Sandburg’s Open Education Resource Initiative (OERCI), which has saved students nearly a half-million dollars in textbook costs since its inception.
“The credit goes to Linda Lee, our associate director of technology services, and her staff for yet another fantastic win and No. 1 ranking,” Sandburg President Dr. Lori Sundberg said. “As an administration, we remain committed to delivering to our students and faculty the latest technological innovation that we can provide. Linda and her staff make that happen with a limited budget and a lot of creativity.”
Sandburg was the only Illinois college to place in the top 10 in the Small Colleges category and one of just three overall from the state. Harper College was second among Large Colleges (more than 10,000 students), and Lake Land College tied for 10th in the Mid-Sized Colleges category (5,000-10,000 students). Click here for a complete list of this year’s winners.
“This year’s survey indicates community colleges are continuing to improve efforts at creating cost-effective platforms and open education resources, mobile environments, real-time resources, telepresence robots and more to create robust online and mobile environments for their students,” said Dr. Kecia Ray, executive director for the Center for Digital Education.
The Center for Digital Education is a national research and advisory institute specializing in K-12 and higher education technology trends, policy and funding. The CDE is a division of e.Republic, the nation’s only media and research company focused exclusively on state and local government and education.
For more information on the Digital Community Colleges Survey, contact Janet Grenslitt, director of surveys and awards, at jgrenslitt@centerdigitaled.com.
