The AN-MSI Project

The Advanced Networking with Minority-Serving Institutions (AN-MSI) project is a strategic partnership between HACU and Educause to ensure that Hispanics and other minority communities are full participants in the Internet-based Information Age. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the mission of AN-MSI is to address the Digital Divide by providing resources, information, and a collaborative forum for Minority Serving Institutions to investigate, develop, and deploy networking and emerging technologies in teaching and learning, research, administration and service. The project fosters partnerships among Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), their local communities, and the public and private sectors to integrate networking and emerging technologies into the total fabric of all participating MSIs. It assists MSIs in developing and maintaining systems that are reliable, effective, and appropriate for their unique institutional contexts.

The AN-MSI project has provided participating institutions:
· individual campus technology assessments with technical and IT organizational recommendations
· support with campus IT strategic planning
· executive conference sessions or support to national IT conferences to increase the IT knowledge of campus presidents and other key executives, including Chief Information Officers (CIOs)
· a videoconference series on teaching and learning with technology
· assistance with network planning and technical training in network hardware and network security, so critical given the events of 9/11
· bridges with other IT organizations, groups and corporations
· a forum for HSIs, TCUs, and HBCUs to share among themselves common IT issues and concerns and to collaborate to meet those issues and those unique to each community or campus, building the networking of the human kind.

For more information, go to the general AN-MSI web site: http://www.anmsi.org//
or contact Dr. Alex Ramirez, Executive Director for Information Technology Initiatives at aramirez@hacu.net or by calling (210) 692-3805, extension 123.