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NEW CLEARINGHOUSE
By Judy Craig
Anyone needing information regarding the costs of constructing and maintaining education facilities can, for the first time, find national assistance through a new National Clearinghouse Education Facilities.
The new Clearinghouse and program will provide information and technical assistance including the removal of environmental hazards, improvements in air quality, plumbing, lighting, heating and air conditions, electrical systems, construction activities needed to meet the requirements of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and construction that facilitates the use of modern technologies.
The primary effort of this contract is to provide information and technical assistance on education facilities to elementary and secondary schools, practitioners, decision makers, governing boards, State Education Agency, Local Education Agency, and other interested parties. The Clearinghouse will use a variety of resources and existing programs to gather and disseminate information on innovative and efficient construction technologies and techniques, indoor environmental quality practices, durability, maintenance costs and energy use, as well as information on how to use energy cost savings to improve facility maintenance.
A contractor will establish a database and web-site of information on educational facilities issues. The database will also include the latest information on school construction activity across the nation. Each state's school infrastructure financing mechanism will be included in the database. The role of planning for and implementing building improvements that increase schools safety and technology is critical to the success of this project. The contractor will perform other duties and oversee additional activities that will enhance the productivity of the Clearinghouse.
Although this clearinghouse will serve as an independent clearinghouse from the existing sixteen ERIC clearinghouse, it will share similar activities and perform similar functions. In addition, it will conform to ERIC system standards.
For more information, contact Jack Lyons, NLE, at 1-800-424-1616.
A New Global Education Marketplace
by Steven Hunt
The U.S. Network for Educational Information (USNEI) is a new partnership between federal agencies and private sector organizations dedicated to improving information services for Americans interested in studies and exchanges abroad and overseas students, parents, and educators interested in American education.
USNEI functions as a distributed information reference network managed by the National Library of Education, U.S. Department of Education. A major role of USNEI is to serve as the United States' official national education information center (NEIC/ENIC) in cooperation with other such centers overseas.
Current reference partners in the network include the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Information Agency (USIA), the American Council on Education (ACE), the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), the College Board (CEEB), the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), the Institute of International Education (IIE), and NAFSA - Association of International Educators. Participating offices within the U.S. Department of Education include the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE), the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), the Office of the General Counsel (OGC), and the Office of Interagency and Intergovernmental Affairs (OIIA).
USNEI will coordinate the advising and reference work of all its partner organizations. A Home Page on the World Wide Web will provide accurate and timely information, in user-friendly formats, to persons interested in information on the American and foreign educational systems, degrees and credentials, how to go about studying or teaching abroad, and helpful resources for further information and guidance. Links to foreign and domestic information sources will be provided, as well as to individual institutions.
USNEI is designed deliberately to reflect the diversity and autonomy of the U.S. postsecondary education system and to put the information customer in touch with the correct information provider or decisionmaker as efficiently as possible.