News and Updates

Planning Meetings Held in Wisconsin and Washington, DC

The first planning meeting for the Reforging the Links project was held on February 13, 1999 in Madison, Wisconsin. While future meetings may occur "at a distance", this face-to-face session was designed to allow project participants meet and set the stage before continuing to collaborate for the duration of the project. The meeting was designed to bring together core participants from Wisconsin as well as Pennsylvania.

Best laid plans often go awry, and careful planning for this meeting was no exception. Madison representatives expected a plane carrying seven Penn State guests promptly at 11 am. However, an accident at the University Park Airport closed that facility just before the Penn State plane was scheduled to leave. So we had a sudden change from a "face-to-face" meeting to a videoconference. Special thanks to the Technical Operations Staff at the Pyle Center in Madison for the quick efforts to accommodate the videoconference.

Attending in Madison were project consultant Steve Vedro, Wisconsin Public Television General Manager Byron Knight, UW System Learning Innovations Director Mike Offerman, UW Extension Chancellor Al Beaver and Provost Kevin Reilly, UW-Madison distance education representative Pennie Maclean, and project expert panelists UWS Vice-Presidents Marcia Bromberg and David J. Ward, and Michael Skindrud and John Tallman.

Joining us from Pennsylvania through video were World Campus director Gary Miller, former WPSX-TV station manager Mark Erstling and interim manager Mark Smukler, PSU Vice Chancellor Jim Ryan, PSU Associate Vice President for Outreach Ted Alter, and PSU University Administrative Fellow Evelyn Ellis.

Project staff Sue Faust and Rebekah Irwin were also introduced, and appreciated the opportunity to meet many of the people with whom email messages had been exchanged. UNC-TV tribune Jay Holloway and CPB representative David Clark joined the meeting via audio conference.

Agenda issues included the selection of discussion topics for the upcoming year, the development of a process or forum for discussing those topics, logistical issues such as tentative meeting plans for the reminder of the project where, when, and how to meet, and a review of project goals and milestones.

Tools that will assist in project collaboration were also introduced; among them were the project website, FirstClass software, (TM) a computer conferencing, and lastly QuestMap(TM), a meeting ,collaboration, and idea mapping software.

A follow up meeting was held in Washington, DC on March 3rd between the "Core of 4" Project Directors (Knight, Offerman, Miller and Smukler), Project Consultant Steven Vedro and tribune Mark Erstling (now at APTS). It was agreed that the project would use a "business process redesign" model for its deliberations. Project "Process Teams" (consisting of project tribunes, UW and PSU co-directors, and project expert panelists) would be organized to look at the following areas: (1) capital and resource acquisition, (2) production and operations, (3) marketing and distribution, and (4) university relationships.

Over the course of the next 15 months, these teams would (a) conduct a formalized review of current implementation practices, (b) develop a consensus "current essential model" for public television and university outreach, (c) develop the new "digital business partnership" model, and (d) create a set of future implementation practices which will become the key elements in the digital business partnership "tool kit." Teams would meet via First Class and in five face-to-face meetings. Each meeting would include both a business redesign facilitation session and an informational presentation by one or more expert panelists. A full description of the business process redesign sequence as well as the date of the first face-to-face meeting will be posted on the website within the next two weeks.

Initial Planning Meeting
February 13, 1999
Madison, Wisconsin

A meeting will be held in Madison on February 13 to lay the framework for overall project flow for the next twelve months. Developing this framework will be the key outcome for the February 13 meeting. This framework consists of:

• Identification of emerging issues and topics faced by universities and public broadcasters as they begin to work together in new efforts to address credit and professional development instruction and other media-based entrepreneurial opportunities. Note that at our Madison meeting we will focus on identification, not resolution.

• Selection of best method to explore these issues, in such a way that matches your ideas and skills to the issues at hand. For example, how should we continue to meet? In a face to face manner? Collaborate at a distance? What support is needed for electronic dialoging? How many meetings are needed? If face-to-face, where should they be held?

• Development of consensus on project issues to explore as well as the process for researching these themes. In terms of "process", should teams be set up to research identified issues? How many teams are needed? How should participants be chosen for teams by area of expertise? Interest in topic?

Participant input will be a significant contribution to the February 13 meeting. As decisions made that day are publicized, please bear in mind that any framework created there will be flexible in nature in order to be responsive to changing project needs.