WISE Welcomes Manchester Metropolitan University

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                

Contacts:
Bob Glass
MMU WISE Program Leader
Department of Information & Communications
Manchester Metropolitan University
N.R.Glass@mmu.ac.uk
https://www.hlss.mmu.ac.uk/infocomms/ 

Kathleen Schisa
WISE Director
School of Information Studies
Syracuse University
support@wiseeducation.org
www.wiseeducation.org

January 9, 2008 

WISE Welcomes New Member Manchester Metropolitan University

The WISE Consortium is pleased to announce the addition of a 15th institutional member, Manchester Metropolitan University, in Manchester, UK.

The Department of Information & Communications at Manchester Metropolitan University has long been at the forefront of LIS Graduate and Undergraduate Course provision in the UK. With professionally accredited LIS curricula, MMU attracts staff and students globally, and graduates are placed in key positions in Library and Information Management sectors in the UK and beyond.

In addition to contributions from research units, including the Center for Research in Library and Information Management (CERLIM), The Information Research Institute (TIRI), and the Learn Higher Information Literacy Project, MMU’s presence benefits the entire LIS Community in the UK. Recently, the school was awarded UK Government status of "Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning" (a CETL) and the school’s teaching spaces and technologies have undergone renovation and updating. Manchester Metropolitan’s WISE Program leader, Bob Glass, notes, “Joining WISE comes at exactly the right time for us; we are excited, enthusiastic and ready to make a real contribution to the scheme.”

Professor Dick Hartley (Head of School) says, “I am delighted that our school has become a member of the WISE Consortium. This process has taken us over a year to complete, but it has been well worth everyone’s efforts. WISE will provide UK students with a unique experience by offering reciprocal online educational opportunities for post graduate LIS students through access to virtual seats where spaces remain on members existing online course. It also provides opportunities for us to collaborate and to develop new courses for a truly global audience.”

Bob Glass reports, “This is a really exciting opportunity both for our school and for our graduate students. The educational opportunities and access to resources provided by this online union are second to none. We look forward to working with the staff and students who are members of the consortium to provide a really exciting range of courses and resources.”

Bob will be attending this year’s Association for Library and Information Science Educators (ALISE) conference in Philadelphia, PA, January 8 – 11, 2008, and is looking forward to meeting his new WISE colleagues.