AUSTIN, Texas— The Charles A. Dana Center’s SHELTRS project (Support for Homeless Education: Linking Technology Resources to Shelters) at The University of Texas at Austin has been named one of five finalists in the Education and Academia category of the 2000 Computerworld Smithsonian Award.
The Computerworld Smithsonian Program will announce the award recipient for each of its 10 categories on Monday (June 5) during the program’s annual award gala at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.
Edward E. Whitacre, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Southwestern Bell Communications, nominated the SHELTRS project for the award. The nomination was based on the project’s installation of new technology resources, along with academic tutors, at homeless shelters. The SHELTRS project is being piloted in Austin, where it provides computers, instructional technology, Internet access and tutors to eight shelters. It also offers educational enrichment to children of homeless families, who often lag two to three years behind their peers in schoolwork.
A panel of distinguished judges selected the SHELTRS project as one of 51 finalists in 10 categories from a total of 444 Laureates from 38 states and 21 countries. Case studies about the Laureates will be archived as part of the National Museum of American History’s Information Technology Collection.
Daniel Morrow, executive director of the Computerworld Smithsonian Program, said the Dana Center and its SHELTRS project “should be considered as outstanding among the 444 Laureates. It represents some of the very best in an extraordinary class of Laureates in the 2000 Collection.”
Founded in 1988, the Computerworld Smithsonian Program recognizes individuals and organizations for demonstrating vision and leadership as they strive to use information technology to benefit society. Each year, the Computerworld Smithsonian Chairmen’s Committee nominates organizations that use information technology to improve society. Now in its 12th year, the Computerworld Smithsonian Program (CWSP) is considered the most prestigious awards program in the information technology industry.
The SHELTRS project case study was cataloged and included in the Computerworld Smithsonian Program’s Annual Collection, which was formally presented to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History for their Permanent Research Collection during the spring medal presentation in April. Information about the 2000 Collection will be available at http://www.cwsmithsonian.org, the official Internet site of the Computerworld Smithsonian Program, where the entire collection will be available to scholars, researchers and the general public worldwide.
The Charles A. Dana Center is an organized research unit in UT Austin’s College of Natural Sciences that is dedicated to strengthening education and civic life in Texas. The Dana Center serves as an incubator of innovative programs and practices designed to support local and state agencies, school districts, and civic organizations as they work together to serve their Texas constituencies in ways that reflect their local values.
For more information about the SHELTRS Project, please contact Tim Stahlke at (512) 475-9709 or tstahlke@mail.utexas.edu. For further information about the Computerworld Smithsonian Program, please contact Simone Ross or Shahaeda Abbas at (617) 357-1977.
