By Jen Leasure
We are pleased to report the completion of The Quilt’s 6th Peer Review with Quilt member Utah Education Network (UEN) in December 2013.
One of the nation’s advanced education networks making up our Quilt membership, the UEN connects all Utah K-12 school districts, libraries and higher education institutions to a robust network and quality educational resources. UEN has a successful track record of delivering mission-critical services to users with positive feedback from their community about the organization, staff and services
The UEN Peer Review focused on the network design, operations and services offered by the organization. Dave Jent, associate vice president of networks at Indiana University (indiana.gigapop.net and www.ilight.net); WVNET Executive Director Dan O’Hanlon; and MCNC Chief Technology Officer Mark Johnson all served as peer reviewers for the project.
“The UEN serves a loyal and engaged community with a very dedicated staff,” said Johnson. “Participating in a Quilt Peer Review is always valuable for the reviewer as you get a lot of insight into how similar organizations are working and can bring that information back to your own organization.”
As part of the formal review, the review team conducted stakeholder interviews (15 in total across the state and various sectors) and then formed a set of recommendations which later were presented to UEN leadership and the UEN Board of Directors for consideration.
“The peer review was extremely useful in helping us consider new opportunities for the organization based on the experiences and environments of other research and education networking organizations,” said UEN Executive Director Ray Timothy. “UEN is very grateful for the time and expertise the peer reviewers gave freely in support of the project and our organization. We are also appreciative to The Quilt for providing this invaluable service to its members.”
Our Quilt Peer Review Service continues to be a key focus for our organization in 2014 and highlights the collaborative spirit of The Quilt community and the vested interest we have in one another’s success.