The University of Colorado at Boulder's Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society Institute, or ATLAS, has won one of the highest awards given by a national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the use of technology in higher education.
The Award for Systemic Progress in Teaching and Learning was made to the ATLAS program by EDUCAUSE, an association of nearly 1,900 colleges and educational organizations formed to advance higher education through information technology. The award is sponsored by Collegis, an EDUCAUSE Bronze Partner.
CU-Boulder's ATLAS program is directed by Bobby Schnabel, associate vice chancellor for Academic and Campus Technology and a professor in the computer science department. The ATLAS program will be honored Nov. 6 at the organization's annual conference in Anaheim, Calif.
ATLAS was established at CU-Boulder in 1997 with the goal of integrating information technology with all disciplines, people and communities. A key component of ATLAS is the creation and delivery of technology-centered, multidisciplinary curricular programs that are available to any CU-Boulder undergraduate student, Schnabel said.
ATLAS' Technology, Arts and Media program currently is the second largest certificate program at CU-Boulder with over 200 students enrolled. The CU Board of Regents recently designated ATLAS as CU-Boulder's first new institute in the past 35 years.
ATLAS programs include leadership in developing a national Center for Gender and Information Technology and K-12 outreach including a partnership with the Denver Public Schools MAGNET Program. ATLAS also has developed a partnership with Dillard University, a historically black liberal arts college in New Orleans.
With a membership of nearly 1,900 colleges, universities, and education organizations and more than 180 corporations, EDUCAUSE is one of the pre-eminent associations addressing the complex issues of incorporating information technologies and resources into the higher education mission. The association has offices in Washington, D.C., and Boulder. For more information about EDUCAUSE, visit .