Sources: Dawn Anderson, 785-532-5112, dpeters@k-state.edu;
and Virginia Moxley, 785-532-5500, moxley@k-state.edu
Web sites: http://www.gpidea.org/ and http://www.k-state.edu/ksugpidea/
Monday, June 22, 2009
CAROL GOULD TO SERVE AS EXECUTIVE COORDINATOR OF GREAT PLAINS IDEA, THE INTERACTIVE DISTANCE EDUCATION ALLIANCE WITH ROOTS AT K-STATE
MANHATTAN -- A veteran of Kansas State University has a new role in the campus community. Carol Gould has been named executive coordinator of the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance, also known as Great Plains IDEA.
Gould's appointment was announced by Virginia Moxley, dean of K-State's College of Human Ecology. Moxley also is a founder of the Great Plains IDEA and the co-director of the Institute for Academic Alliances. Moxley said Gould brings years of higher education and program administration experience to Great Plains IDEA.
"She is joining a dynamic team working with universities throughout the Great Plains to bring innovative master's degree programs to students, Moxley said. "As Great Plains IDEA continues to grow, Carol's experience will be invaluable."
K-State serves as the managing partner for the Great Plains IDEA. Gould will manage consortium activities, facilitating communication and program activities among the 11 alliance universities offering courses in seven academic program areas, and working with the Great Plains IDEA cabinet and the Human Sciences board of directors to develop and implement policies and programs.
Sue Maes, co-director of the Institute for Academic Alliances and dean of K-State's Division of Continuing Education, said Gould will help the institute and the Great Plains IDEA extend their outreach.
"Carol will help to implement a new, expanded organizational structure for Great Plains IDEA, the first and largest consortium managed by the Institute for Academic Alliances," Maes said.
Gould first joined K-State in 1987. As director of the university's Community Service Program and the Kansas Center for Rural Initiatives for 18 years, she helped connect the resources of the university and the energy of students with the needs of rural Kansas communities.
Great Plains IDEA is an award-winning multistate alliance founded in 1994 to offer distance education courses and programs at the graduate level. Combining today's emerging technologies with program-based alliances, it uses the growing field of distance education to connect students around the country and afford them the opportunity to be admitted to one member institution and study at other member institutions via Internet-based courses.
Great Plains IDEA facilitates strategic interinstitutional academic alliances, allowing institutions working together to field academic programs that are greater in reach and significance than any single institution could field alone, that manage institutional and shared resources in highly efficient ways, and that enrich the teaching experience for faculty and the learning experience for students. Initially based in human sciences areas, the alliance has recently expanded to include new program areas in agriculture through an affiliate alliance, AG*IDEA.
The Institute for Academic Alliances at K-State was founded in 2004 to provide just-in-time assistance to higher education clients engaged in interinstitutional academic programs, a cost-effective alternative to single institution offerings. The institute specializes in low-input, high-impact solutions, program and partner identification, high-quality program development guidance, infrastructure development, and program implementation and sustainability.
