Grant Application

The network will link all 12 colleges and give each equal access to a powerful computer designed to host a Consortium Web Site. This site will also be the vehicle for students to get 'on-line' training in E-commerce. In a sense, it will be a single port of entry for access to the world of E-commerce. The Web Site would have a multitude of users including: existing area businesses involved in E-commerce, individuals considering entering the E-commerce market, and community college students, staff and faculty. According to sources at Handmade in America, there are some 3,400 part-time crafters in the region, yet only a few market their products on the Internet. The Web Site would open new doors not just to artisans, but also to specialty businesses such as bed and breakfasts, gift shops and Christmas tree farms.

The Web Site will be designed as a prototype and set up by a consultant who will be the designated Project Manager for a one-year period. The Project Manager will coordinate training components, establish a marketing program, coordinate the summit conference, manage Consortium relations and assist in initial web site design. A Webmaster will be charged with designing and maintaining the Web Site. This individual will be a college employee and will be given release time during the project. The Webmaster will also assist in providing E-commerce training, recommend Consortium web policies and procedures, and provide technical assistance to Consortium members. After one year, the Project Manager's duties will diminish and be absorbed by the Webmaster.

To operate the Web Site, a new super server computer will be acquired and housed on one of the campuses. Each consortium college will require a smaller, dedicated server to handle the increased volume. In order to accommodate the user load without adversely affecting existing college capacity, the super computer host will require a bandwidth upgrade to a dedicated, leased

T-1 line. In addition, the project will provide each institution with its own small-scale web development server that will provide for localized web-based training and storage during the development of web pages.

E-commerce instruction takes many forms and the Web Site will be designed to offer basic information about electronic commerce geared to varying levels of need. It will employ the latest technology including streaming audio and video clips and will carry links to the E-commerce resources of all of the Consortium members so that users have the power of 12 local community college contributors. The Site will have links to the best of other E-commerce sites on the Internet, with an emphasis on offering training programs. The Web Site will contain a variety of 'on-line' E-commerce courses, some free and some password protected. Consortium faculty members will create many of these courses themselves and the Virtual Learning Community may be the source of others.

The newly developed Web Site will be a valued resource to teach curriculum students in college transfer or business administration programs or teach continuing education students. Some of these students will be small business entrepreneurs or employees of existing businesses who want to integrate E-commerce into their respective work areas. The network can be used by college staff, public agencies or government officials who want to use E-commerce to improve customer service such as a local water department that wants to accept utility payments or take new service requests on line.

The Consortium's Web Site will be the point of access to web design instruction and to the web page design incubator program that will be offered at each college. In this program the 'student' can learn the basics of E-commerce, go to a computer lab to design a web page, store the work on the local web development server, retrieve it later and keep working. In Certificate courses, students will learn web page management as well as how to do business on the Internet. Once graduated from the Certificate program, the students will move to the "practicum" program where they will design a web page for their own business. During a 6 to 12 month "incubation" period, the Consortium will host the student's web page. At a point in time the student will "go live" and actually market his products or services on the web and do it all using the Consortium's Web Page. After the incubation period, the page must migrate to another Internet service provider of the student's choice.

Students will have access to the latest E-commerce software including: Cold Fusion, Front Page, Go Live, Photo Shop, Access and others using a modest software allowance in the grant. There will also be an "on-line help desk." Graduates will also "give something back" by serving as on-line mentors for the next class. The project includes three stand-alone work stations located at each institution's Small Business Center that will offer the student the ability to work when computer labs are in use. Hands-on instruction will be given by the local SBC.

The Web Site will offer a local users networking feature. This will be achieved through an E-commerce list serve available to all WNC businesses, particularly those whose employees have taken the E-commerce course work through the Consortium. Users can post information on E-commerce, share success stories, talk about what's new or discuss subjects such as E-commerce legal and security issues, credit card invoicing, product shipping, and do it all on-line.

Staff and Faculty Training in E-commerce

Training will be delivered to up to 180 Consortium faculty and staff. The Consortium will retain a number of consultants and instructors with varied disciplines who will provide key personnel at each institution with basic instruction in E-commerce. Some of the training will be in workshop format and some will be delivered among the colleges using interactive distance education, where as many as five NCIH locations in the region will be designated as regional training sites. Training will be offered in basic electronic commerce and its applications and how to integrate it into existing curricula. Dr. Michael Rappa, who heads the E-commerce Section at North Carolina State University, says that "E-commerce is more like drivers' training than physics - you've got to get them behind the wheel." The program will emphasize "hands-on" training to achieve true understanding of rather complex subject matter. There will also be a "train the trainer" component, where designated staff and faculty will be designated as E-commerce mentors for others on their respective campuses.

Kick-off Summit Conference
The Consortium will sponsor a region-wide "kick-off" summit on E-commerce which will be held in a central location in WNC and will be open to community college officials, key people involved in economic development and those in private business, particularly small businesses. The conference will focus on opportunities available through E-commerce and will promote the new role of the community college in economic development using E-commerce. The Consortium will co-sponsor the summit with other economic development agencies and education institutions in Western North Carolina.

WNC Community College Electronic Commerce Advisory Board
The Consortium's Advisory Board will include officials appointed by and representing each of the 12 community colleges. The members can be community college officials, economic developers, or representatives of business and industry, particularly those engaged in electronic commerce. The Board will be charged with hiring the project manager. The Board will develop new ideas and concepts for the Consortium and provide leadership and oversight for the project.

Institutional Commitment
As noted in the first paragraph of this narrative, a 12-member consortium was formed in response to identified economic development needs in Western North Carolina. This proposal follows the recommendations of that initiative. The president of each of the 12 consortium institutions formally supports this project and this grant application. Areas of individual College responsibility for the project are shown in Attachment B.

Budget
As detailed in the Budget Narrative (Attachment C) and summarized below, project will require a total expenditure of $600,000, not including local in-kind expenses.

Salaries and Benefits	$116,000
Contractual Services	$123,000
Travel	$ 14,000
Equipment	$156,000
Instructional Supplies & Materials	$191,000
Total	$600,000