DCLPublicationDate: 11/1/98 DCLID: ANN-98-14 AwardYear: Summary: Teleconference - Department is sponsoring to address the Y2K issue. November 1998 ANN-98-14 Dear Colleague, I am writing to you today to highlight the urgency of resolving the potential computer problems associated with the Year 2000, and to invite you to participate in a live teleconference which the Department is sponsoring to address the Y2K issue. Over the past several months the Department has met with computer experts and held focus groups and surveys with members of the higher education community. Both the participants and the outside experts have told us that a significant number of higher education institutions have not adequately addressed the problem. Many schools have reported a lack of sufficient funding and of trained personnel, difficulty raising the importance of the Y2K issue amid competing priorities faced by college administrations, lack of cooperation by outside vendors, and inadequate project management structure. Most of the participants in our research tell us that the sharing of information is key to implementing a successful Y2K strategy. In order to promote exchange of research and solutions, the Department, with assistance from the American Council on Education, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the National Association of College and University Business Officers, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the American Association of Community Colleges, the Career College Association and the Council of Great City Schools, is hosting a live Year 2000 teleconference. The teleconference, "Meeting the Year 2000 Computer Challenge: Schools, Colleges, & the Millennium Bug," will be held on December 7, 1998, from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. eastern time (11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. central time). Your school can register to receive the teleconference by satellite using the enclosed registration form. If you do not have satellite downlink capabilities, I encourage you to contact your local cable station to ask them to broadcast the program, and to notify us using the registration form. Because the Y2K problem is going to affect elementary and secondary schools, I also ask that when you register, you consider volunteering to act as a host site so others in your community can view the program. For further information concerning the Y2K teleconference, future opportunities to perform testing of data exchanges with the Department, or for other Y2K resources please see our Y2K web site (www.ed.gov/y2k) or email us at y2K@ed.gov>. I encourage you to share this information with all appropriate officials at your institution. Please do not hesitate to contact us for further information. Yours sincerely, Richard W. Riley Attachment A Attachment B Attachment C |