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Release
UAlbany President
Kermit L. Hall Launches Two Videoconference
Facilities – One
at Ohio State University and One at UAlbany
Contact: Catherine Herman (518) 437-4980
ALBANY, N.Y. (February 23,2005) -- University
at Albany President Kermit L. Hall launched
two new videoconference facilities on Wednesday,
Feb. 23, one at Ohio State University and one
at the University at Albany.
“From just one place today, I am able
to see and talk with students and faculty in
Columbus, Ohio, Cairo, Egypt and Albany, New
York. The new videoconference technology that
UAlbany and Ohio State are now using is a great
new channel for the exchange of ideas and the
expansion of opportunities for students and
faculty,” said Hall.
Using UAlbany’s new videoconference
room in the Life Sciences Research Building
for the first time, Hall and his wife Phyllis
participated in the dedication by Ohio State
of the Kermit L. Hall Videoconferencing Room
in its World Media and Culture Center. Hall
served at Ohio State from 1994 to 1999 and
the room was named in recognition of his role
in making the World Media and Culture Center
a reality.
Ohio State faculty and administrators who
worked with Hall on the Ohio State project,
including Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate
Studies,Professor Martha Garland, Professor
of French and Director of the Foreign Language
Center Diane Birckbichler, and Professor Galal
Walker of the Department of East Asian Languages
and Literatures participated in the dedication
from the Kermit L. Hall Videoconferencing Room.
The Ohio State dedication and the symbolic
ribbon-cuttings for both facilities took place
following a videoconference that enabled an
Ohio State class to join in discussions with
a class at the American University in Cairo,
Egypt. The audience in UAlbany’s facility
was linked into that videoconference, first
to observe, and then to participate.
“We are so pleased to officially open
the Kermit L. Hall Videoconferencing Room with
this demonstration of its value in supporting
our students in their efforts to become world
citizens,” said Sabra Webber, associate
professor in Ohio State’s College of
Social and Behavioral Sciences. Her “Arab-American
Family Immigration Sagas” class participated
in the videoconference with a “Cross
Cultural Perceptions and Representations” class
led by Michael Lattanzi at American University.
UAlbany’s new videoconference room is
the first on campus that is network-based and
has the capability to do multi-point video
calls. It is more cost effective and offers
more flexibility than UAlbany’s older
videoconference facilities, which are based
on ISDN technology and can only conduct point-to-point
calls.
“We plan to use this new technology
to bring together faculty and students from
far-flung locations for classes, discussions,
conferences and presentations that would not
otherwise be possible,” said Hall.
The event was also broadcast via UAlbany’s
web site.
At Ohio State University, President Hall served
as dean of the College of Humanities from 1994
to 1999, and executive dean of the Colleges of
the Arts and Sciences from 1996 to 1999. In those
roles, he helped set in motion the renovation
of historic Hagerty Hall at Ohio State to serve
as the home of the World Media and Culture Center
and nine units of the College of Humanities.
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