Region X - Transportation Consortium  - May 14/15, 2007 meeting
Moscow, Idaho
 

Agenda
1. Pooled fund project
2. Memorandum of understanding
3. Distance education and pilot projects
4. Student conference
5. National education conference
6. Next meeting

Meeting summary
1. Pooled fund project: Leni Oman from WSDOT led a discussion on the regional pooled fund project and some options for carrying out this project.  A draft of the project description has been prepared.  Discussions will continue on how funds will be made available to fund the projects.

2. Memorandum of understanding: Several MOUs were reviewed and are contained in the meeting notes.  See below.  A new draft has been prepared and will be reviewed by consortium members.

3. Distance education and pilot projects: Barry Willis, Director of the University of Idaho's Engineering Outreach program led a discussion on distance education and possible pilot projects that can be undertaken by the consortium.  The link to Barry's presentation is provided below.  After his presentation, Barry suggested several issues to be considered by the consortium if a pilot course is undertaken: (1) need to an on site facilitator, (2) strong technology components, (3) local case study experience, (4) an electronic library with materials that support the course.

Some suggested next steps include: (1) what does the pilot look like, (2) who is responsible, (3) what needs to be done in the next 3-6 months, and (4) what funding is available to support this pilot?  Three possible pilot projects were discussed and are summarized here.

4. Student conference: The next student conference will be held in November 2007 in Portland as part of the ITE regional meeting.

5. National education conference: This conference is planned for June 2009 and will focus on transportation education.  Possible supporters include ITE (Jodi Carson), DOT (Joe Toole, Ron Giguere, and RITA), ASCE education committee, ASEE, ARBTA, NSF, and ASPE.

6. Next meeting: The next meeting will be hosted in Seattle by the University of Washington and is tentatively scheduled for September or October.  The tentative agenda includes a half day meeting of the executive committee with a full day devoted to research focus areas (freight, infrastructure, operations, and the environment).

Meeting notes
"Effective Distance Education, Lessons Learned", distance education presentation, Barry Willis