Introducing the CVU
Maximizing The Educational Product
Study Online At California Colleges And Universities
Register And Stay Informed About New Course Offerings!
Faculty Center
Student Union
Intranet Zone
Press Briefing Room
Visit Online Libraries
Track The California Virtual University Legislation
CVU Corporate Sponsors
Vote For A Mascot
References
List Of Figures

boydl: 

  Introducing the CVU
 

Figure 1: CVU Home Page Logo

To some students entering college, the competition factor among schools for capturing the registration dollar can lead to lucrative offers and benefits for top scholars. It has long been lamented that there are untold numbers of other potential top scholars, but they are barricaded by

location, by age, by class, by financial desperation . . . by fact of having been born into "wrong circumstances." A decade ago, who would have ever thought that it would be an unseen and un-seeable element that would eventually bring higher education to the rest of us – and at an affordable price, a perfect time of day, and in the perfect location? Moreover, who would have believed that such handshake compatibility could ever have been reached by institutions more used to rivalry amongst the ranks? Who is this invisible, mysterious benefactor? This Oz-like being with Glinda Goodwitch overtones is not a WHO but a WHAT. It is none other than . . .

"The California Virtual University (CVU) is a joint project of the University of California, the California State University, the California Community Colleges, and the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities. It’s an Internet-based catalog of course offerings from California’s accredited colleges and universities. The CVU intends to give people who can’t take advantage of on-campus classes access to higher education. More than 70 accredited California colleges and universities have signed on, making 500-plus courses available." (Wired, 1998).

albinl: 

  Maximizing The Educational Product

California Virtual University is bringing higher education to the people! In a very big way, Governor Pete Wilson and the California legislature advanced the cause of making education accessible by creating this unique entity. This virtual university is true to its name, in that it is a rather nebulous entity which presents an environment that does a lot, yet in reality is mostly a bunch of electrons.

California chose to:

Figure 2: CVU Catalog Pages Logo

   Study Online At California Colleges And Universities

California Virtual University’s (CVU) Web site is making higher education on the Net user-friendly. The first thing one sees after pointing their browser at the CVU home page is the information potential students are interested in, the course catalogue.

Links to course offerings categorized three ways, by subject, by segment, and by degree are visible in a single screen. Should this not be enough, a button is provided to take you to the catalogue, which is an alphabetical list of schools with a brief synopsis of their online offerings and a duplicate list of the subject catalogue. The subject catalogue’s initial layer of the hierarchy is only ten categories which simplifies deciding where to search for courses of interest. There are sixty-eight

Figure 3: CVU Online  Catalogs Logo

different colleges and universities listing a variety of online courses, certificates, and degree programs. There are also twenty-seven additional listings of schools offering televised and video courses and programs. (Design Team, 1997). This is a tremendous wealth of resources succinctly organized to be easily accessible to interested persons.

albinl: 

   Register And Stay Informed About New Course Offerings!
 

Figure 4:   Registration Logo

Additional features of the site which make it very user-friendly and functional include a New Courses Notification service that allows a person to register within given subjects of interest. Notice is automatically sent out when new related coursework is developed. The Tour an Online Class features six different tours/tutorials developed by various participating schools and allows a person to know what to expect from an online class.

(end albinl:)
 

mentillo:

  The home page offered the first time visitor a greeting, the opportunity to register for automatic course offerings, and to vote for the school mascot. Very friendly.
 

Figure 5: Faculty Center Logo – California Virtual University

Citation: http://www.virtualu.ca.gov/Faculty/academic.html

This site gives a brief overview of the history of California Virtual University. It has several links for anyone interested in more information about the university and how to use it. The help link and general info link open up to a list of links for more information. These links were easy to follow for a first time user.
 

Figure 6: Student Union Logo – California Virtual University

Citation: http://www.california.edu/Students/

The best part of this link was the sample classes and the synopsis of what a new student can expect from online classes. It also gave a very clear message of what is expected of the student. The interactive part of the this link was a survey and a registration link that would forward any new class information to your email address. The registration link was in every site I visited.
 

Figure 7: Intranet Zone Logo – CVU’s Site For Employers

Citation: http://www.california.edu/Employers/

This site was dedicated to business people who wanted to have employees receive training through the virtual university. Links for online educational services each had a short paragraph explaining what would be found on the site.
 

Figure 8: Press Releases Logo – CVU’s Site For All The News

Citation: http://www.virtualu.ca.gov/news.html

This site had every newsworthy story about the University from the present to April 4, 1997 when Governor Pete Wilson established the design team for the California Virtual University. Some interesting reading if you are interested in the political realities of education.

(end mentillo:)
 

Figure 9: Online Libraries Logo – One Of The Most Extensive Systems In The World

  Visit Online Libraries

The California Virtual University subtly invites the Internet traveler to view the 60 libraries that make up its Online Library System, saying that it’s a great resource for doing research online. In this writer’s opinion, this probably is one of the greatest understatements of all time! The Library System is extensive, the offerings are massive, and the content and presentation are nothing less than voluptuous. These 60 California colleges and universities well rank in high tech and visual professionalism on the Web, and have come armored and prepared for the legions of online students that are anticipated.

From the top of the list, at the Grace Van Dyke Bird Library at Bakersfield College, to the Del E. Webb Memorial Library at Loma Linda University, to the last entry of West Valley Community College, this is an impressive – even intimidating – list of informational sources! One notable observation was that each site offered much in the way of lessening the impact of "information overload" for the prospective student. There are dozens of workshops, help files, tutorials, and Librarian email addresses, to aid the student or ‘Net wanderer in any search.

A brief overview of a few of these libraries gives only a "tip-of-the-iceberg" look at what California has to offer the distance learner.

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  California Institute of Technology

 

Figure 10: CalTech  Library System

What’s New at the CalTech Library? That is exactly what the CalTech website asks the viewer. The interesting part is what they proceed to tell you! These are just a few of the offerings: the American Chemical Society (ACS) journals are now online in full text. The Water Resource Abstracts CD-ROMs have updated through February of 1998. The Academic Abstracts CD-ROMs have also been updated to March of 1998. For those running a bit late, tax forms and publications

for 1997 returns are still available online. National Engineers Week occurred from February 22-28, 1998, and the entire seminar series is available. Concerning dissertation abstracts, citations are available from 1861 through the present, abstracts from 1980 until now, and CalTech dissertations in full text are available 1997 to the present. It is obvious that research items in abundance are accessible to today’s computer-connected student. Facilities such as CVU are changing not just the face of information storage and retrieval, but also the way we view and experience education, itself.
 

Part of the excitement of the Internet is the anticipation of the "surprise element." CalTech’s site is no different! There were links to every corner of the world. In fact, one link provided pathways to EVERY corner of the world, literally. The GeoRef Database is maintained by the Community of Science (COS). The original database was established by the American Geological Institute in 1966. It provides access to the geoscience literature of the world. GeoRef is the most comprehensive database in the geosciences and it grows by more than 60,000 references a year. "The

Figure 11: GeoRef Database of the Community of Science

database contains over 1.8 million references to geoscience journal articles, books, maps, conference papers, reports and theses. The GeoRef database covers the geology of North America from 1785 to the present and the geology of the rest of the world from 1933 to the present." (COS, 1998).

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  California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
 

The Robert E. Kennedy Library at Polytechnic State University offers the Polycat, where one may search the Library’s online card catalog with a web browser. Their Data Genie allows the learner to specify a subject, several sources, and a time frame, and it returns a list of relevant databases and resources that match the criteria. Their site specializes in Senior Projects and Internet Workshops.

Figure 12: Robert E. Kennedy Library at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

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  University of San Francisco
 

The University of San Francisco has tremendous offerings for those in legal fields. The USF Law Library has an online collection of materials put on reserve by the School of Law Faculty, in addition to other online research guides, such as Ignacio, the online catalog, and the Electronic Collections (Electronic reserves, Research guides, and Pathfinders).    (end boydl:)

Figure 13:  University of San Francisco

 

 

albinl: 

  Track The California Virtual University Legislation
 

The legislation and an Executive Order establishing CVU are posted on their own pages. While being rather dry on one hand, and verbose on the other, these two documents do provide valuable background and even inspiration for similar endeavors (Lempert, 1998) (Executive Department, 1997).  (end albinl:)

Figure 14:  California Virtual University legislation, Assembly Bill 2431

 

boydl: 

  CVU Corporate Sponsors

There is an impressive – and growing! – list of well-known international leaders in the technological industries who have agreed to serve as Founding Partners of the California Virtual University. They are bearing the costs of development of the online catalog, as well as other major services. The California Virtual University has been established as a private, nonprofit foundation.

Participating companies include International Thomson Publishing, Cisco Systems, Inc., Sun Microsystems, Inc., and Pacific Bell. The impact on distance learning in the online collaborative environment is so extremely well represented by these companies – from Thompson’s massive list of published clients, to Cisco and Sun’s instrumental positions in the computing community, to Pacific Bell’s extensive and people-centered programs in communications. Each of these sites has a large section on their involvement in the education arenas.
 

Figure 15: International  Thomson Publishing    Figure 17: Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Figure 16: Cisco, Inc.

Figure 18: Pacific Bell

 
(end boydl:)
 

albinl: 

  Vote For A Mascot
 

One is gratified to find, when nearing the bottom of the web page and pointing at a link which lets everyone vote for a mascot for the school, to find that the mascot with twice as many votes as any other is The Surfers! (Design Team, 1998).    (end albinl:)

Figure 19: Vote!

 
 

California Institute of Technology. (1998).CalTech Library System. [Online]. Available: http://library.caltech.edu/

(1998). What’s New at the CalTech Library? Updated: May 1, 1998. [Online]. Available: http://library.caltech.edu/about/whatsnew.htm

Community of Science (COS). (1998). The GeoRef Database. Retrieved Apr. 1998 from the World Wide Web. [Online]. Available: http://georef.cos.com/

Design Team, California Virtual University. (1997 and 1998). CVU Home Page. All web pages: Retrieved Apr. 1998 from the World Wide Web. [Online]. Available: http://www.california.edu/

(1998). Academic Plan. [Online].
            Available: http://www.virtualu.ca.gov/Faculty/academic.html
(1997). Catalogues. [Online]. Available: http://www.california.edu/catalogs.html
(1998). Faculty Center. [On-line]. Available: http://www.california.edu/Faculty/
(1998). Intranet Zone. [On-line]. Available: http://www.california.edu/Employers/
(1998). Name the mascot. [Online]. Available: http://www.virtualu.ca.gov/mascot.html
(1998). Press Briefing. [On-line]. Available: http://www.virtualu.ca.gov/news.html
(1998). Student Union. [On-line]. Available: http://www.california.edu/Students/

Lempert, T., Firestone, B., Cunneen, J. (1998). AB 2431: Distance learning: State policy: California Virtual University Matching Grant Program. Retrieved Apr. 1998. [Online]. Available: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab_2401-2450/ab_2431_bill_980414_
amended_asm.html

Wired, Inc. (1998). Cisco Sponsors California Virtual University. Wired News Report: Culture News. © 1993-97 Wired Ventures Inc. Issue: Feb. 28, 1998. [Online]. Available: http://www.wired.com/news/news/culture/story/10536.html

1. CVU Home Page Logo. [Online]. Available: http://www.california.edu/
2. CVU Catalog Pages Logo. [Online]. Available: http://www.california.edu/catalogs.html
3. CVU Online Catalogs Logo. [Online]. Available: http://www.california.edu/
4. Registration Logo. [Online]. Available: http://www.california.edu/
5. Faculty Center Logo – California Virtual University. [Online]. Available: http://www.california.edu/Faculty/
6. Student Union Logo – California Virtual University. [Online]. Available: http://www.california.edu/Students/
7. Intranet Zone Logo – CVU’s Site For Employers. [Online]. Available: http://www.california.edu/Employers/
8. Press Releases Logo – CVU’s Site For All The News. [Online]. Available: http://www.virtualu.ca.gov/news.html
9. Online Libraries Logo – One Of The Most Extensive Systems In The World. [Online]. Available: http://www.california.edu/libraries.html
10. CalTech Library System. [Online]. Available: http://library.caltech.edu/
11. GeoRef Database of the Community of Science. [Online]. Available: http://georef.cos.com/
12. Robert E. Kennedy Library at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. [Online]. Available: http://www.lib.calpoly.edu/
13. University of San Francisco. The USF Law Library. [Online]. Available: http://www.usfca.edu/law_library/index.html
14. California Virtual University Legislation, Assembly Bill 2431. [Online]. Available: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab_2401-2450/ab_2431_bill_980414_

amended_asm.html
15. International Thomson Publishing – Logo. [Online]. Available: http://www.thomson.com/
16. Cisco Systems, Inc. – Company Logo. [Online]. Available: http://www.cisco.com/
17. Sun Microsystems, Inc. – Company Logo. [Online]. Available: http://www.sun.com/
18. Pacific Bell – Website Splash Screen Art. [Online]. Available: http://www.pacbell.com
19. Vote! (Vote for a Mascot for CVU). [Online]. Available: http://www.california.edu/