HOUSTON (Nov. 2, 2011) – Lone Star College System has been ranked second nationwide in the seventh annual Digital Community Colleges Survey by e.Republic’s Center for Digital Education and Converge Online.
This is the first time that Lone Star College has made the prestigious list and it is the only community college in Texas to grace the 2011 list.
The survey documents advances made by community colleges in using information technology and recognizes the colleges that are providing a high level of service to their faculty, students and communities as a result.
LSCS is among the leading community colleges that are offering Web-based coursework, delivering services to mobile devices and are moving IT systems to the cloud in order to cope with reduced budgets and increased enrollments, according to the survey report.
Institutions were ranked by enrollment size and by how they are using technology to effectively improve services to students, faculty and staff. Data from hundreds of respondents was gathered via a questionnaire and ranked using points-based benchmarking.
The survey reviewed technology functions such as integration into college curriculum and campus life, documenting use of online admissions processes, distance education, training for students and faculty, campus security alerts, and online tutoring and advisory services. Use of mobile devices was also a key indicator of success.
“Lone Star College System is pushing the technology envelope compared to any higher education institution in the country, and the results are obvious,” said Shah Ardalan, LSCS vice chancellor and CIO. “We pride ourselves in being able to exceed our faculty and student expectations through superior service and offering relevant technologies to support Lone Star's mission of providing access to affordable quality education.”
LSCS was also recently awarded the Journey to the Cloud Award by the EMC Corp. This award is given to EMC’s elite customers who are at the forefront of driving innovation, performance and business value through the use of virtualization as the foundational step to achieving the benefits of cloud computing.
LSCS is a national leader in using private and public cloud-based systems for enterprise administrative and student support services, desktop virtualization, online courses and other functions.
With more than 75,000 students in credit classes for fall 2011, and a total enrollment of more than 90,000, Lone Star College System is the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area, and the fastest-growing community college system in Texas. Dr. Richard Carpenter is the chancellor of LSCS, which consists of five colleges including LSC-CyFair, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-North Harris, and LSC-Tomball, six centers, LSC-University Park, LSC-University Center at Montgomery, LSC-University Center at University Park, Lone Star Corporate College, and LSC-Online. To learn more visit LoneStar.edu.
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