At its fall board meeting, the Carolinas Virtual World Consortium (CVWC) Board of Directors voted to extend membership to the University Center of Greenville (UCG). The CVWC is a group of universities, school districts, and corporate partners dedicated to investigating how 3-dimensional virtual worlds can enhance teaching, training, and learning at all educational levels.

UCG President & CEO, Dr. Fred Baus, said that joining the consortium will “allow the University Center to remain at the cutting edge of technologies for teaching and learning, and advance new models for immersive learning in virtual environments.” Bruce Rafert, Chairman of the CVWC’s Board of Directors, expressed his enthusiasm for the Board’s decision, saying that, “The seven universities and 130 faculty housed at the University Center bring a lot of capability, strength, and growth potential for weaving immersive technologies into the fabric of the Upstate.

Rafert adds, “This partnership positions this region to become a core hub of activity related to research and development in immersive technologies as we bring the combined resources of the CVWC and the University Center to bear on the possibilities of virtual worlds.

Steve Bronack, a professor in Clemson’s Human ResourceDevelopment graduate program located at the University Center, conductsresearch on the role of 3-dimensional virtual worlds in teaching and trainingand also expressed his excitement about the prospects of the new partnership.According to Professor Bronack, the University Center’s membership in theCarolinas Virtual World Consortium will allow him to expand his professionalreach beyond just the classroom. “The CVWC relationship will enable us toleverage the multiple online, 3-dimensional environments managed by theconsortium, and the expertise present across the partner institutions, willenable us to develop and then answer important questions regarding thepotential of 3-D worlds that facilitate more effective models for supportinglearners in formal and informal educational spaces,” notes Bronack.

The UniversityCenter of Greenville is a consortium of higher education institutions dedicatedto increasing access to educational opportunities for the citizens of theUpstate of South Carolina. UCG offers more than 75 undergraduate and graduatedegrees through Clemson, Furman, Lander, Medical University of South Carolina,South Carolina State, University of South Carolina and the University of SouthCarolina Upstate. For more information, please call 864.250.1111 or visit www.ucgreenville.org .

The Carolina Virtual Worlds Consortium was founded in 2007to explore the role of 3-dimensional virtual worlds and immersive technologiesfor teaching, training and learning. The founding institutions, ClemsonUniversity in South Carolina and Appalachian State University in NorthCarolina, have been joined by the North Carolina Virtual Public School Districtand now the University Center. In 2008, the consortium also received $1.5million in federal funding from the National Science Foundation’s “InnovativeTechnology Experiences for Students and Teachers” (ITEST) to help fund itsresearch and outreach activities. For more information on the Carolina VirtualWorlds Consortium, visit the website, http://www.cvwconline.org/ , and for moreinformation on the ITEST program, visit the project’s website at: