In a real-world example of how technology can facilitate communication among universities and overcome the challenges of worldwide travel, UC Davis will be utilizing a new campus videoconferencing service to simultaneously meet with a host of universities from around the Pacific Rim.

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UC Davis is part of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), whose members are recognized as leading educational institutions in their respective regions, with a track record of high quality academic research and education programs. APRU members will be holding a Special President's Meeting in mid-June, which will involve the senior staff of 35 college and university campuses from a wide range of countries, including Russia, China, Canada, Chile, Japan, New Zealand and the United States. However, because these universities are literally all over the map, getting all of the member universities together can be quite a logistical challenge. Additionally, many universities in this region are grappling with the recent health, security, and budgetary issues raised by worldwide travel.

To overcome these challenges, the Association plans to utilize videoconferencing equipment and facilities for the first time to allow conference members to hold a meeting in real time. The Videoconferencing group within IET-Classroom Technology Services, whom has a wealth of experience with videoconferencing and distance learning efforts, will be handling all of the technical arrangements for the UC Davis campus. The only curious challenge presented by this type of communication will be the timing issues brought upon the great geographic distance between the campuses (i.e., when it is 5:30pm on Wednesday at UC Davis, it is 8:30pm at the University of Chile and 10:30am on Thursday morning at Australian National University).

While this type of communication offers a clear benefit to meetings of a large group of universities, videoconferencing services are also available to individuals and departments here on campus. Reservations for instructional purposes in conjunction with a class may be made without cost to the client, and videoconferences for other purposes are offered on a recharge basis. For more information on videoconferencing here at UC Davis, visit the Videoconferencing Group Web site http://cts.ucdavis.edu/services/vtc.html or contact them by phone 530-752-9560 or email vtc@ucdavis.edu.