EDUCAUSE
http://www.educause.edu

Organization Overview:
EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology.

Projects:

Molly Kleinman worked on the topic of open source software and its potential impact on higher education. She researched international government adoptions of open source software and platforms, and domestic open source adoptions (for example, in Massachusetts). Molly then wrote a brief description of open source software and an FAQ for the Educause website. She also attended senate committee hearing on the Universal Service Fund, sat in on two meetings, and had the chance to meet with a number of lobbyists such as the head of the UM policy office and a lobbyist at the ALA policy office.

Elisabeth Jones researched the issue of patent trolling to see if it was was something EDUCAUSE should take a stance on. This involved analyzing whether the increasing number of patent lawsuits  involving the use of IT (Acadia suing universities for using video streaming technology is one example) are hindering how the education and research communities use IT. Once it was determined that this is an issue EDUCAUSE would like to cover, she put together a resource page on the topic for the EDUCAUSE website.

What Students Had to Say:

" My supervisor gave excellent hands-on mentoring. He also made it a point to get us out of the office as much as possible - to a Senate hearing, to networking lunches. He made sure to introduce us to everyone in the office...They were very willing to give input and feedback, and the office environment was very collegial and friendly."

"...considering my interest in policy, getting to see more how the city [Washington D.C.] runs (and how the government runs) was fascinating. I'm still sorting out how my experiences affected my career plans; they really made me think about what specific kinds of positions in what specific kinds of organizations I'd be interested in having going forward."

" [My mentor] was fantastic, and the people at EDUCAUSE were very welcoming. There was lots of feedback, and lots of assistance available, and they made every effort to help us make connections of interest to us in DC."

"Our mentor was really great about getting us out of the office: we went to a Senate committee hearing, met with a representative of the ALA Washington Office, and had lunch and meetings with some other interesting folks."

See what past ASB students did at EDUCAUSE in 2005.

Original Projects:

1) Government involvement in facilitating access to high-speed broadband networks: Municipal Networks
Identify and compare how other countries are facilitating the   deployment of broadband networks, focusing on how a government treats   broadband (is it an essential service/utility, human right?), and whether they are working closely with local/regional governments and/or higher   education institutions to facilitate affordable access.  Are there any similarities to the approaches being employed by U.S.  municipalities? Can the U.S. federal and state governments learn anything from their foreign colleagues, while still ensuring the "free market" system reigns?

2) Intellectual Property and Patents: Open Source
Identify and analyze recent open source initiatives being  employed by colleges and universities to run essential functions (registration, library services). What are some of the challenges of higher ed  being
bisected into and how laws in other countries have either  hindered or facilitated its' use in higher education.

3) Intellectual Property and Patents: IT and Patent Reform
Analyze whether the increasing number of patent lawsuits  involving the use of IT (Acadia suing universities for using video streaming technology is one example) are hindering how the education and   research communities use IT.

4) Security/Privacy Issues: Data Breach Notification Laws & Policies
Identify, collect, and analyze new state laws that require colleges and universities to notify individuals whose personal information is compromised as a result of a security breach.  Identify and collect resulting institutional   policies and procedures that assist institutions for coming into compliance.  Analyze Federal proposals to compare similarities and differences  with new states laws and advise on policy preferences for institutions of higher education.

5) Security/Privacy Issues: International Differences in Privacy Protections
Research similarities and differences of U.S. laws and regulations with other countries in areas of privacy that impact IT use.  Corresponding lessons will   inform Policy2006 panel discussion and could lead to publication in  EDUCAUSE Review.

6) Security/Privacy Issues: RFID Technology & Policy Implications for Higher Education -  Develop a briefing paper on RFID technologies and the potential impact on  higher education.