I. Introduction to OHECC
The purpose of OHECC is to foster communication between higher education IT professionals across the state. In past conferences, we have communicated and shared ideas, created statewide problem solving committees, negotiated statewide contracts where all schools enjoyed buying discounts, and created on going relationships between IT professionals.
The Ohio Higher Education Computing Council (OHECC), founded at the University of Cincinnati in the early 1970s, groups together Information Technology (IT) organizations and professionals within institutions of higher education in the state of Ohio. Originally, only State universities attended OHECC but as the popularity and effectiveness of this conference increased, private, technical, and community colleges began attending OHECC. Historically, the Council has held two conferences each year, in the spring and the fall, with locations rotating between participating institutions. Beginning in 2001-2002 OHECC leadership decided to hold only one conference in the spring.
At these conferences, vendors and manufacturers of computing hardware, software, communications and networking devices and other technologies are invited as scholarships, to exhibit and demonstrate the use of their products in higher education. There are presentations by computing professionals, faculty and others addressing topics ranging from current use and delivery of technology within higher education to future trends and prospects.
II. Overview of the OHECC Scholarship Program
In order to extend the benefits of the yearly OHECC conference to those individuals or institutions who cannot attend due to budgetary constraints, OHECC has established a scholarship program. The OHECC Steering Committee will manage the Scholarship Program. This document will contain guidelines regarding the amount of the scholarship, criteria for applying for to be scholarship, process for review and selection of applicants and the methods of payment.
The scholarship amount will be for the OHECC Conference Registration Fee and for hotel charges for 2 nights only. Transportation and meals not provided by conference will not be covered.
The OHECC Steering Committee will review the results of the Scholarship Program on a yearly basis and will be empowered to make any changes in the program to increase its overall effectiveness in achieving its goals.
III. Application Criteria
- A. Individuals who would like to present on a topic of interest but cannot afford to attend due to budgetary constraints. These individuals should submit their presentation and if accepted, should apply for a scholarship. An application form will be available from the annual conference coordinating committee or through the OHECC Registration page.
- B. The Steering Committee may reach out to the CIO of an institution who has not had an attendee in the recent past and invite the institution to register one attendee for the current conference.
- C. The total number of scholarships awarded should be twenty or under. This number is subject to yearly review by the Steering Committee.
IV. Application Review and Selection
- A. Applications for presenters who are requesting a scholarship due to budgetary constraints will require cosigning by the institution CIO. All such applications will be forwarded to the OHECC steering committee where they will be reviewed. Selection will be by majority vote of the steering committee. This vote should occur as soon as practical after the close of acceptance of proposals so that if a presenter cannot attend, an alternate can take their place. Should available funding be exhausted, the presenter will, of course, be given the opportunity to register for the conference as a non-funded attendee.
- B. Once the Steering Committee has extended an invitation and the invitation is accepted, no vote is necessary.
V. Payment Process
All scholarship payments will be made by the annual conference planning committee or by their designate directly to the hotel. No payments will be made directly to the attendee.