For Immediate Release: September 27, 2000
Contact: Dr. Rosemary Orgren - Director, New Hampshire AHEC Program, 603-650-1817
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New Hampshire AHEC Program to Enhance Distance Learning Opportunities in the State
Hanover, NH-The program office of the New Hampshire AHEC learned today that it will receive support from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant Program to purchase interactive videoconferencing equipment for nine sites in rural New Hampshire. One of two such grants recently awarded in the state, the award will "help build capacity in the North Country to participate in a variety of educational opportunities at a distance," notes Rosemary Orgren, New Hampshire AHEC Program director.
The mission of the New Hampshire AHEC Program, administratively based at Dartmouth Medical School, is to enhance the distribution, quality and diversity of health care professionals in the state in order to improve access to care. A partnership between communities and academic institutions, the AHEC Program - through its Centers in Littleton and Raymond - provides continuing education, support for community-based training of students in the health professions, special opportunities for high school students to learn about health careers, and more.
Three statewide programs - the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, the State Library, and the AHEC - collaborated on this grant application. Groups that will be served by this award include health and human service professionals, Cooperative Extension educators, librarians, students who are in community placements at a distance from their academic institutions, and the general public.
ATM lines will be used for the new equipment, and will support high-speed Internet access as well as "real-time" video transmission. The ATM connections, to be provided by end-user sites, will further enhance the value and impact of the support from USDA. The "Granite State Distance Learning Network," a collaborative partnership that includes the University of New Hampshire, New Hampshire Public Television, K-12 schools districts and other post-secondary institutions, will provide the bridge that supports multi-site simultaneous videoconferencing sessions. With this capacity, people at multiple, geographically separated sites will have the ability to interact in a real time environment where they will both see and hear each other at all times.
Frank Windsor, Director of The Knowledge Network, notes that "these USDA grants will provide critical funding to expand the capabilities of the educational institutions and organizations to deliver cost-effective and timely professional development and training to the rural parts of New Hampshire."
