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| On May 12, this distance learning classroom, funded by the Ohio National Guard, was dedicated in The Polsy Building. |
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On May 12, Ohio Army National Guard representatives and members of the University community gathered for the dedication of a new kind of classroom in The Polsky Building.
The Guard invested nearly $250,000 to install computers, monitors and other equipment into the dedicated, distance-learning classroom. The facility will be used for disseminating information concerning the rapid deployment and briefing of Ohio Army National Guard units during times of emergencies, and for the ongoing professional development of Guard members. When not being used by the National Guard, the University will use the classroom for its courses.
Through distance-learning technologies at the University, the classroom will be linked to every National Guard armory in the state and to several community colleges. This high-tech linking will allow guardsmen to get information or pursue college courses at their local armories or community colleges.
The University of Akron was chosen as the initial site for this program because of its leading use of the technologies needed to put the classroom into effect, and its expertise in emergency management and emergency response education, The Guard will pay UA $25,000 a year to maintain the facility.
“This classroom at The University of Akron will give our soldiers the opportunity to complete their required education without having to deploy to a distant military facility,” said Maj. Gen. John Smith, adjutant general for the State of Ohio. “As the Ohio Army National Guard Distributed Training Technology Program matures, the goal is for every soldier to be within 50 miles of a high-tech training classroom.”
The Army National Guard expects to have other sites operational within 12 months, he added.
“We are on the leading edge of developing and implementing this technology, and we expect that other state militias will use this as a model for similar programs,” Smith said.
The Ohio Army National Guard will work with the University’s Center for Emergency Management and Disaster Research to develop courses and techniques for the dissemination of information through distance-learning technologies.
“The events of Sept. 11, 2001 dramatically showed the need for effective emergency management policies and training — not just in Ohio, but throughout the nation as well,” noted President Luis M. Proenza. “The University of Akron is proud to partner with the Ohio Army National Guard in this most important endeavor.”
The National Guard has three roles — to participate in global security for the United States, to provide emergency response at the state level and to give support to local community needs. This state/federal mission is based on a Constitutional mandate, the roots of which began with the militia forces of early Colonial America. The relationship is unique and sets the National Guard apart from other military reserve forces.
The Army National Guard has units in 2,700 communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Currently, more than 10,000 soldiers serve in the Ohio Army National Guard.
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