Category: Community

Theresa Rowe, CIO at Oakland University and long-standing Merit Board member, has announced her pending retirement. She shared reflections on her tenure and advice for the future with the Merit team. Before joining OU in 1990 as a systems analyst,…

Q & A with Michael Thompson, Merit’s Senior Software Developer Michael Thompson is a Senior Software Developer at Merit Network, Inc. Michael’s career in web and application design and development spans more than 15 years and has included everything from…

On May 8th and 9th, the Merit Member Conference, Voyage to the Future, offered informative sessions, memorable keynote speakers and the chance to collaborate with colleagues within each supported community. Each year the Merit Awards recognize Members that assist our…

More than 360,000 homes in Michigan and 27% of K-12 students lack access to broadband internet in their homes. This digital inclusion discrepancy is posing a serious risk for Michigan students as the state ventures into the information economy. On Thursday,…

The USDA has been investing in rural telecommunications infrastructure for decades. But approximately 80 percent of the American households who lack reliable, affordable, high-speed Internet access are in rural areas. Current USDA telecommunication programs offer more than $700 million per year for…

Once again this March, the South by Southwest organization held its four-day conference on all things new and exciting in the world of education. The coverage extended from pre-kindergarten through K–12 and higher education to lifelong adult education. I attend…

While I’m pessimistic about the near-term prospects for any infrastructure package, I’m hopeful Congress will someday address the country’s infrastructure deficits. I’m also certain that the outcome then will be better if we begin debating different approaches now, enabling Congress…

Last week was a big one for rural broadband. On Tuesday, the nearly trillion-dollar farm bill passed the House and Senate. The five-year spending bill expanded the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) budget for broadband funding, directed the Federal…

ANN ARBOR, MI. May 9, 2019 – For the first time, U.S. veterans can now use their G.I. Bill benefits to fund cybersecurity education at the Pinckney Cyber Training Institute. It is anticipated that more than 1 million cybersecurity jobs…

Students throughout the Eastern Upper Peninsula will help researchers learn more about rural internet coverage gaps through a new multi-organizational collaboration. Read More.