MACRO UNIVERSITY

Macro University is a Federation of Distance Learning Universities and Institutions. The accompanying white paper explains the motivations for the Macro University.

Purpose

1. Disseminates enabling technologies for distance learning

2. Develops tools and contents for adaptive distance learning

3. Provides assessment guidelines for distance learning programs

4. Serves as global accreditation body for distance learning programs

5. Assists economically deprived regions in less developed nations to start innovative distance learning programs.

Participants

1. Universities and Colleges with distance learning programs

2. Organizations offering distance learning courses/programs

3. Organizations needing distance learning courses/programs

4. Companies providing technologies and tools for distance learning

5. Research groups in universities and nonprofit organizations engaged in research projects related to distance learning.

Activities

1. Annual conference -- International Conference on Distributed Multimedia Systems (DMS) -- with demos and exhibits from companies and schools.

2. On-line newsletter to disseminate new products, courseware and research results.

3. White paper for assessment of distance learning programs.

4. Global accreditation body.

5. Innovative programs for economically deprived regions in less developed countries to start distance learning.

Membership Fee

1. Universities and nonprofit educational organizations: $1,500 per year

2. Companies and for-profit educational organizations: $3,000 per year

3. Research groups in universities and nonprofit organizations: $500 per year

Organizers

S. K. Chang, University of Pittsburgh, USA
T. Arndt, Cleveland State University, USA
F. R. Guo, National Taiwan University Medical College, Taiwan
S. Levialdi, University of Roma, Italy
A. C. Liu, Feng Chia University, Taiwan
J. H. Ma, Aizu University, Japan
T. Shih, Tamkang University, Taiwan
G. Tortora, University of Salerno, Italy

For More Information

Macro University is managed by Center for Parallel, Distributed and Intelligent Systems (CPDIS), University of Pittsburgh, and Knowledge Systems Institute (KSI), a private graduate school of computer and information sciences.

Please contact: Professor Shi-Kuo Chang, Co-Director, Center for Parallel, Distributed and Intelligent Systems, Department of Computer Science, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA (tel: 412-624-8423, fax: 412-624-8465, e-mail: chang@cs.pitt.edu)