Southern State’s IT Team Wins Cloud Leadership Award

  • 01/10/18

HILLSBORO, OH – Southern State Community College in Hillsboro, OH, has been named a recipient of a Cloud Leadership Award for moving self-hosted technology services to the cloud, as well as embracing additional cloud services to address many strategic needs of the college.

“As a small community college with limited resources, receiving this award was very special...but after viewing the list of winners and honorable mentions we realized just how special it really was to be among them,” says Brian Rice, SSCC’s executive director of Information Technology Services. “Technology is a core component for any modern organization today, and our technology team has been working hard since 2015 to really evaluate our environment and make foundational improvements that allow other departments and areas of the college to build from. Receiving this type of validation and recognition is just such an honor and greatly appreciated by the entire team.”

Projects implemented at Southern State include a new mobile student app, upgraded campus student ID system, classroom and event scheduling software, adoption of a new learning management system, and even a mobile telepresence robot that allows students to visit campus or attend class from anywhere in the world. The college is also slated to implement a new human resource management system as well as an advanced cloud-based “real-time” threat security platform, and just kicked off a new initiative for a student engagement platform to guide students toward instructional programs based on customized interests and career assessment tools.

E&I Cooperative Services announced the winners of its inaugural Cloud Leadership Awards during the EDUCAUSE 2017 annual conference reception held November 2 in Philadelphia. Sponsored by Adobe, Cisco, Microsoft Azure, and CDW-G, the Cloud Leadership Awards honor the achievements of higher education institutions that have used cloud solutions for the benefit of students, teachers, administrators, and staff. A total of 24 awards across six categories, along with 18 honorable mentions, were given from nearly 100 nominations. Southern State was one of only two community colleges to receive this prestigious award, and was recognized as a winner in the Innovation category.

“Technology is a critical area for our members and across the educational landscape,” says Tom Fitzgerald, CEO of E&I Cooperative Services. “Cloud solutions have become especially important on campuses across the country. We commend these higher education institutions for their innovate efforts in this area, and are pleased to share with our members the achievements of these institutions so more can realize the positive impacts, increased efficiencies, and cost-savings behind cloud solutions.”

Featured

  • Schools In Focus: Talking Campus Security with Mitch McKinley

    Furnishing the Future: Adaptive Solutions for Modern Learning Spaces

    On this episode of Schools in Focus, we'll talk about the role that classroom furniture plays in creating adaptive, flexible learning spaces. Our guest is Wesley Edmonds, the Director of Workplace, Adaptive Solutions at OFS.

  • a traditional red brick school building with the right side visibly deteriorated and the left side well-maintained, surrounded by neat landscaping

    Making the Grade: Navigating Funding Uncertainty in K-12 Schools

    School districts across the country must prepare for all possible funding scenarios by analyzing school asset and infrastructure conditions, understanding their funding needs, and developing a proactive maintenance strategy to stretch their funding dollars.

  • S4L Launches 2025 Facilities and Construction Brief Survey

    Spaces4Learning recently launched its 2025 Facilities and Construction Brief Survey, which gathers information on K–12 and higher education construction projects nationwide from the previous year. The data we get from you, our readers, forms an industry report offering an overview of current trends in school facilities.

  • DLR Group Hires Higher Education Business Development Leader

    Integrated design firm DLR Group recently announced that Senior Associate Megan Todd will serve as its new Higher Education Business Development Leader, according to a news release. Her responsibilities will include building the firm’s reach and client relationships in the California higher education sector, based out of San Diego.

Digital Edition