CART Transfers Course Management Service to BSC

(Bluefield)—The Center for Applied Research and Technology (CART, Inc.) at Bluefield State College has transferred the administration of its online Course Management Service (CMS) to the college’s Instructional Technology Center.  The CMS was developed by CART in 2003 to provide faculty members with an alternative to the other online learning solutions available at the time, and it has served several thousand student enrollments since its inception.  The transfer will become effective for the 2010 spring semester.

CMS Developer Cody Chambers, who turned the Moodle-based software into a full-fledged online service under CART, will serve in the same capacity for the Instructional Technology Center under Dr. Tom Blevins, Dean of the Virtual College at BSC.  “Moodle-based services have become very popular among teachers around the world,” Chambers said.  “Moodle is a great tool for creating dynamic Web sites for students.  I really enjoy working with faculty to continually improve our online courses.”

The transfer of the CMS technology to the college is one example of how of CART fulfills its mission of producing outstanding results through applied research, according to CART CEO Bruce Mutter.  “We focus on innovation and the transfer of technology to a self-sustaining market," explained Mutter.  "Whenever we create and deploy a system or service that works, like the CMS, it becomes another proven example of our reliability as a business partner.”

“This is a wonderful merger with Web-CT services, as it consolidates management under one organization and allows us to move forward with accreditation of online programs which, in turn, will lead to a number of degrees being fully available online at Bluefield State College, noted Dr. Blevins.

Other CART projects include working with Fenner Dunlop Americas (F-D) to develop a steel-cord conveyor belt design software tool and supporting F-D with its Applied Research Assistantship Program.  The company also works with its other partners including SAIC, Kroger (Bluefield Beverage), Cliffs Natural Resources, Preferred Chassis (Tucson, AZ), Textron-RE2 (Pittsburgh, PA) and the Rahall Transportation Institute at Marshall University on applied research, advanced vehicles, technology training, web 2.0 applications, and technology development projects.