Bell Atlantic Pledges Support for Classroom Presentation Lab

SALISBURY, MD--A gift from Bell Atlantic-Maryland will soon put state-of-the-art teaching tools in the hands of Eastern Shore faculty: from kindergarten teachers to Salisbury State University professors. Tony Marva, area manager of external affairs for Bell Atlantic - Maryland, recently presented SSU President William C. Merwin with a check representing a pledge of $75,000. The funds, which will be provided over a three-year period, will be used to outfit a Classroom Presentation Lab at SSU and to support workshops and seminars for SSU faculty and teachers throughout the region.

With this gift to SSU, Bell Atlantic will give faculty state-of-the-art classroom technology and the means to incorporate it in their teaching. The Classroom Presentation Lab will be a focal point for a University-wide initiative to provide new and returning faculty with the tools and the time they need master communications technology for the classroom and for distance learning networks. Building on the success of SSUs New Faculty Initiative, an award-winning collaborative program that links SSU and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, the program provides for mentorships, workshops and training in communications technology for all new faculty.

Beyond serving SSU students and faculty, the Classroom Presentation Lab will be made available to the Center for Technology in Education (CTE). Based at Salisbury State University, which also supplies most of its funding, the CTE is a consortium that includes by eight Eastern Shore counties, Salisbury State University, Wor-Wic Community College, the business community and private schools. The CTE provides K-12 teachers across the Eastern Shore with technology training, planning, research-based activities, a communication network, resources for pre-service teachers and access to state-of-the-art technology hardware and software.

The gift is part of Bell Atlantic-Marylands pledge of $500,000 over five years for the University System of Maryland.