[Announcements] Sakai Newsletter October 7, 2010

Margaret Wagner mwagner at umich.edu
Tue Oct 12 11:18:45 PDT 2010


Sakai Newsletter


October 7, 2010

1.  From the Executive Director

2.  Jasig and Sakai Foundations To Pursue Merger

3.  Invitation to EDUCAUSE Community Source Events

4.  Nominations for the Sakai Board of Directors are Still Being Accepted

5.  Spanish Sakai Conference IV in Barcelona

6.  Pepperdine University -- Article About Our Switch to Sakai

7.  Sakai-Related Job Postings at Tufts

8.  Recent Email Group Discussion

9.  Events


----------------------------------------
1.  From the Executive Director

Over the course of this quarter I'm visiting as many Sakai  
institutions as possible. My objectives are pretty straightforward; to  
learn more about the real world institutional uses of Sakai, and how  
they relate to institutional strategies, reconnect with the broad  
community, and discuss how we can improve the ways in which the  
Foundation serves that community. I'm also engaging in a series of  
conversations with senior staff about how the community steps up and  
coordinates available resource -- particularly for the Sakai 3 managed  
project.

My first visits were to schools in the North East of the United  
States, spread over two weeks in September. There could be few better  
re-introductions to the diversity of the Sakai community. Highlights  
included learning more about:

- Plans for media delivery at Yale
- The planned use of ePortfolios across multiple programmes at Delaware

- The significant, and extending, range of support and pedagogical  
materials at Marist College
- Rutgers' work to provide structured and sequenced content authoring
- The use of LAMS with Sakai to sequence content and activities by NYU  
Medical School
- The planned use of the Sakai 3 Open Academic Environment to support  
scholarly networking at NYU

The picture is one of a vibrant and active community, deeply engaged  
in pushing the boundaries of software support for the key mission  
areas of learning, teaching and research. As a community, there's  
clearly much we're getting right. Conversations around how effectively  
the community coordinates resource to meet common problems or  
ambitions have been equally useful, but perhaps most useful from the  
perspective of flagging an area the Foundation can do more to help  
facilitate. Whether dealing with integration issues, such as how  
Kaltura or Googledocs can be integrated, or improvements in specific  
areas of functionality, the message I'm hearing in institutions is  
pretty consistent. The community needs a means by which those who  
direct institutional resource can network more effectively and  
inclusively to share problems or issues and develop solutions. As the  
Foundation moves to bring the review of the Product Council to a  
close, this objective is high on my priority list.

I'd welcome further perspectives. Please drop me a line at  
iandolphin at sakaifoundation.org -- or grab me for a chat at EDUCAUSE  
conference if you're there.

I couldn't let this opportunity pass to offer congratulations to two  
Sakai Commercial Affiliates, SunGard Higher Education and rSmart, on  
their recent agreement. This is great news, which going to open up the  
Sakai adoption options considerably, and provide considerable  
opportunity for growing the community.

Sakai Board member Michael Feldstein has provided an extended  
perspective over at
http://tinyurl.com/2belmfs

http://mfeldstein.com/sungard-delivers-sakai-support-through-rsmart-partnership/

Whilst Chris Coppola of RSmart provides his own commentary
http://tinyurl.com/344wacg

http://coppola.rsmart.com/2010/09/28/an-open-path-rsmart-and-sungard-higher-education-partner-to-deliver-sakai/


----------------------------------------
2. Jasig and Sakai Foundations To Pursue Merger

I'm excited to be able to share with the Sakai community the  
announcement below (and attached).  The Sakai Board of Directors and  
Foundation staff look forward to engaging with all of our community  
members at the up coming EDUCAUSE conference, future regional meetings  
and, of course, online over the coming weeks to get your input and  
ideas as well as answer your questions.  If useful, we will post a FAQ  
in the next week or two based on questions that come in and/or hold  
some live "webinar" sessions.
Jasig and Sakai Foundations To Pursue Merger

Early this year, Jasig, the parent organization for uPortal, CAS,  
Bedework and other open source software serving higher education, and  
the Sakai Foundation, which supports the Sakai Collaboration and  
Learning Environment, formed Board-level groups to examine ways the  
two organizations could collaborate more closely. These Strategic  
Alliance Committees, led by Jasig Chair Aaron Godert, and Sakai  
Foundation Chair Josh Baron, met in New York in September to  
consolidate the outcomes of their discussions and bring proposals to  
their respective Boards.

Based on the recommendation of both Strategic Alliance Committees, the  
Jasig and Sakai Foundation Boards of Directors are today, October 7,  
2010, jointly announcing an intention to pursue a merger of their two  
organizations, subject to the approval of their respective  
communities. The new entity would foster the development and use of  
open source software that supports the academic mission. This goal  
would be achieved through the identification and promotion of related  
best practices for increasing effectiveness, efficiency, and  
innovation in academic institutions, while lowering the risk of the  
development and adoption of open source software. It would support the  
further development of communities of interest and practice to explore  
the use of open source systems and tools to support teaching,  
learning, research, and other aspects of the academic enterprise.  
These communities of interest will strongly inform future software  
development effort.

"Through the discussions over the past several months it has become  
clear to me that Sakai and Jasig share, at a strategic as well as  
operational level, much in common," said Josh Baron. "I am excited by  
the coming together of our organizations, which I see as a natural  
step in the evolution of higher education open source initiatives, as  
it will facilitate many new and exciting opportunities across the  
academy."

The new organization would provide shared infrastructure, expertise,  
and other resources for the development of a wide range of open source  
software projects that are designed to meet the needs of academic  
institutions. It would conduct outreach and explore more meaningful  
relationships with a broad range of open source and standards  
organizations. It would provide a clearinghouse for best practices on  
related management issues such as crafting open source-friendly  
procurement processes and assessing the adoption risks of open source  
software.

The Jasig and Sakai Foundation Boards of Directors share the  
conviction that the values of openness, transparency, and meritocracy  
that underpin successful open source projects are profoundly congruent  
with academic values. We believe that, beyond the benefits that the  
software itself can provide, fostering the skills and experience  
necessary to manage the development and implementation itself will  
strengthen both the commitment and the effectiveness with which our  
respective institutions uphold these values across the entire range of  
academic endeavors.

"As we look to position our products and communities for continued and  
sustainable success into the future, the opportunity for Jasig and  
Sakai to join efforts and create a more robust network of open source  
innovation and community engagement, is one I am enthusiastic about,"  
said Aaron Godert.

Moving forward, the two Strategic Alliance committees will continue  
their due diligence regarding the mechanics and practicalities of a  
merger and will seek ongoing input from their communities. They will  
craft a detailed proposal to be approved by the respective Boards of  
Directors and then voted on by their respective communities in the  
coming months and will be regularly communicating as this work  
progresses.

About Jasig
Jasig is a global consortium of educational institutions and  
commercial affiliates sponsoring free and open source software  
projects for higher education.  Jasig is a member supported,  
non-profit corporation aiming to attract, advance, and sustain  
communities developing enterprise-level, open source software that  
helps institutions fulfill their goals. Jasig connects people,  
provides infrastructure, and sponsors events that foster innovation  
and collaboration.  Jasig's flagship projects include uPortal, an  
enterprise portal; CAS, the Central Authentication Service used for  
single sign-on and secure, proxied authentication; and Bedework, an  
enterprise calendar used for public events and personal and group  
calendaring. Jasig also manages a Project Incubator designed to mentor  
new open source projects and sponsors communities of practice, such as  
The 2-3-98 Project, which aims to help institutions understand how to  
exploit open source.  For more information, visit the Jasig website  
atwww.jasig.org.

Joshua Baron
Senior Academic Technology Officer
Marist College
(845) 575-3623 (work)
Twitter: JoshB
Josh.Baron at marist.edu


----------------------------------------
3. Invitation to EDUCAUSE Community Source Events

Traveling to EDUCAUSE in Anaheim, CA, Oct. 12-15, 2010?

Please join leaders from the open source software for higher education  
community -- DuraSpace (DSpace, Fedora, DuraCloud), Kuali, Sakai and  
Jasig -- at a Community Source Reception and Poster Session at EDUCAUSE.

Community Source Reception
Wednesday
Oct 13th, 2010
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Laguna A, Fourth Floor, Hilton Hotel

Please join your colleagues in the open-source communities of Sakai,  
Jasig, DuraSpace, and Kuali. Network with friends from institutions  
that have joined these communities, talk to colleagues from schools  
that may be considering joining one or more of these communities, and  
learn more about activities under way. The executive director from  
each community will be available to speak with attendees. Or, just  
come have fun!

Poster Session - Enterprise Systems
Wednesday
Oct 13th, 2010
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM

Learn about the power of open source from leaders in organizations  
that provide open-source offerings for higher education: DuraSpace,  
Kuali, Jasig, Sakai, and Connexions. Come with questions about how to  
engage with these communities. There will be an interactive Q&A about  
current issues and breakouts where attendees can learn more.

Speakers:

Ian Dolphin
Executive Director
Sakai Foundation

Jennifer L. Foutty
Executive Director, Kuali Foundation
Indiana University System

Michele Kimpton
Chief Business Officer
DuraSpace

Jonathan Markow
Executive Director
Jasig, Inc.

Joel Thierstein
Associate Provost/Executive Director, Connexions
Rice University

------
Kim Thanos
kim at thanospartners.com


----------------------------------------
4. Nominations for the Sakai Board of Directors are Still Being Accepted

Just a quick reminder that nominations for the Sakai Board of  
Directors are being accepted through Monday, October 18.  Here is the  
original email from Ian Dolphin:

Dear Colleague
Over the course of October and November the Sakai Foundation will be  
holding elections for two positions on the Foundation Board. In line  
with Foundation by-laws, Josh Baron, of Marist College, ends his first  
three year elected term this December, and Jutta Trevinarus, of the  
Ontario College of Art and Design, ends her second term. I would like  
to offer my thanks, on behalf of the community, for their leadership  
in supporting Sakai over the years.

Anyone may be nominated for one of the two positions, although we  
would appreciate your best efforts to discover the willingness of  
anyone you may nominate to stand. Please forward your nomination to  
Mary Miles -- mmiles at sakaifoundation.org -- by midnight Monday October  
18th (US Eastern Daylight Time).

Voting will take place between October 30th and November 12th, and  
will be open to Sakai Foundation Institutional Representatives.  
Further details of candidates, together with details of how to vote,  
will be mailed to Institutional Representatives in advance of the  
voting period. The availability of candidates' details will be  
notified on this list.

I would remind you that Board members may be elected for a maximum of  
two consecutive terms. The Sakai Foundation by-laws may be found at:

http://sakaiproject.org/foundation-bylaws


----------------------------------------
5. Spanish Sakai Conference IV in Barcelona

Hello everybody,

On November 8 - 9th, the Fourth Spanish Sakai Conference will take  
place in Barcelona (Spain). We will have very interesting sessions  
about virtual campus management, deployment, and development, both in  
institutions and companies. In addition, and for the first time, there  
will be technical demonstrations that show that R&D&I is possible with  
Sakai.

Registration and schedule questions should be sent to Ester Gabarnet  
(Ester.Gabarnet at sigmaaie.org), and for questions about sessions,  
contact David Roldán (darolmar at upvnet.upv.es).

See you in Barcelona! ¡Nos vemos en Barcelona!

Dr. David Roldán Martínez
Sakai QA lead for Internationalization
Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain


----------------------------------------
6. Pepperdine University -- Article About Our Switch to Sakai

Recently, Campus Technology published an article from our Vice  
Provost/CIO about our switch to Sakai.  Here is the link in case you  
find the article interesting:

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2010/10/06/why-we-switched-to-sakai.aspx

Sincerely,

Alan Regan, MFA
Manager, Technology and Learning
Pepperdine University
(310) 506-6756
Alan.Regan at pepperdine.edu


----------------------------------------
7. Sakai-Related Job Postings at Tufts

Dear Sakai Community Members,

Tufts University's Schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering will  
be moving to Sakai in fall 2011.  In preparation for this move, we  
have recently posted three full-time Sakai related positions that we'd  
like to make the community aware of:

- Senior Client Support and Multi-media Specialist for Learning  
Management System
- Manager of Learning Management System (Sakai) services
- Project Manager for LMS (Sakai) implementation

A fourth position, Senior Systems Administrator -- LMS, should be  
posted later this week. Once posted, details on this position can be  
found here:  
https://recruiter.kenexa.com/tufts/cc/Home.ss?ccid=bupJEdUjsTs%3D

For details about the positions and to apply, go to www.tufts.edu/hr/jobs

Hannah Reeves
Hannah.Reeves at tufts.edu


----------------------------------------
8. Recent Email Group Discussions

[Building Sakai] Adding data retrieved from UDP to new gradebook column
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Adding-data-retrieved-from-UDP-to-new-gradebook-column-td5600559.html#a5600559

[Building Sakai] Anyone running headless OO.org in production or pilot?
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Anyone-running-headless-OO-org-in-production-or-pilot-td5599482.html#a5599482

[Building Sakai] Apply SAM-756 to 2.7.1 - Where is samigo!?
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Apply-SAM-756-to-2-7-1-Where-is-samigo-td5608475.html#a5608531

[Building Sakai] Blogwow with Sakai 2.7
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-How-to-setup-logging-to-send-ERRORs-by-mail-td5587085.html#a5611180

[Building Sakai] Enrollment feeds from SIS
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Enrollment-feeds-from-SIS-td5601667.html#a5602758

[Building Sakai] Google Meets Sakai
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Google-Meets-Sakai-td5607655.html#a5607655

[Building Sakai] how can I manage multiple course sections using one  
course site
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-how-can-I-manage-multiple-course-sections-using-one-course-site-td5610281.html#a5612354

[Building Sakai] How much RAM for small installation?
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/template/TplServlet.jtp?tpl=search-page&node=1343168&query=How+much+RAM+for+small+installation&days=0

[Building Sakai] Instructor comments in Assignment showing in raw html
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Instructor-comments-in-Assignment-showing-in-raw-html-td5599906.html#a5599906

[Building Sakai] James email relaying stopped
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-James-email-relaying-stopped-td5615865.html#a5615865

[Building Sakai] Jira upgrade: 3.13.2 -> 4.1.2
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Jira-upgrade-3-13-2-4-1-2-td5539597.html#a5539597

[Building Sakai] JSF upgraded to 1.1_02
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/sakai2-tcc-JSF-upgraded-to-1-1-02-td5610776.html#a5610776

[Building Sakai] MSGCNTR-2.7.2  Release Notification
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/MSGCNTR-2-7-2-Release-Notification-td5608371.html#a5608371

[Building Sakai] News Tool Picker
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-News-Tool-Picker-td5610880.html#a5610880

[Building Sakai] Oracle 11g release 1 or 2 compatible with Sakai 2.5x?
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Oracle-11g-release-1-or-2-compatible-with-Sakai-2-5x-td5613284.html#a5613284

[Building Sakai] Problem with the turnitin integration
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Problem-with-the-turnitin-integration-td5615010.html#a5615010

[Building Sakai] Reminder QA meeting tomorrow.
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/WG-Sakai-QA-Reminder-QA-meeting-tomorrow-td5597982.html#a5597982

[Building Sakai] Sakai 2.7.0 Realms Information Required
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Sakai-2-7-0-Realms-Information-Required-td5600785.html#a5600785

[Building Sakai] Sakai 2.7.1 performance issues
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Sakai-2-7-1-performance-issues-td5570475.html#a5575174

[Building Sakai] Sakai 3 on Windows?
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Sakai-3-on-Windows-td5613494.html#a5615542

[Building Sakai] Searching users with accent insensitive
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Searching-users-with-accent-insensitive-td5589310.html#a5589310

[Building Sakai] Update: Jira 4.1 upgrade
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/WG-Sakai-QA-Update-Jira-4-1-upgrade-td5594314.html#a5594314

[DG: User Experience][Management] Sakai 3 Q1 Status
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Sakai-3-Q1-Status-td5586571.html#a5586571

[DG: User Experience] Fwd: UIEtips: To Refresh, or Not to Refresh
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/DG-User-Experience-Fwd-UIEtips-To-Refresh-or-Not-to-Refresh-td5616057.html#a5616057

[DG: User Experience] Jira 4.1 upgrade: email issues resolved
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Update-Jira-4-1-upgrade-td5594315.html#a5595251

[Portfolio] ePortfolio Training Interest
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Portfolio-ePortfolio-Training-Interest-td5583742.html#a5583742

[Portfolio] Instructor Guidance
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Portfolio-Instructor-Guidance-td5592179.html#a5600733

[Portfolio] xsl keys and xalan
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Portfolio-xsl-keys-and-xalan-td5592153.html#a5592153

[Using Sakai][Building Sakai] Google Meets Sakai
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Google-Meets-Sakai-td5607655.html#a5607655

[Using Sakai] Chemistry VRE
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Using-Sakai-Chemistry-VRE-td5599461.html#a5599461

[Using Sakai] End-User Documentation
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Using-Sakai-End-User-Documentation-td5559113.html#a5559113

[Using Sakai] Gradebook setup bug (SAK-14201)
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Using-Sakai-Gradebook-setup-bug-SAK-14201-td5599309.html#a5599309

[Using Sakai] Hide Sakai iframe link
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Hide-sakai-iframe-link-td5586597.html#a5586597

[Using Sakai] What is the relation parent-child between sites for?
http://sakai-project-mail-list-archives.1343168.n2.nabble.com/Using-Sakai-What-is-the-relation-parent-child-between-sites-for-td5605638.html#a5605638


----------------------------------------
10. Events

Sakai 2011 Conference
June 14 - 16, 2011
Ramada Hotel Berlin -- Alexanderplatz
Berlin, Germany
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