Xap Corporation Receives a Technology 2003 Focus Award from the California Community Colleges
CCCApply Project is recognized for streamlining the admissions process for 108 colleges.
Culver City, CA – February 6, 2004 – The California Community Colleges (CCC), Chancellor's Office and The Foundation for California Community Colleges have awarded the CCCApply Project Team and Xap Corporation, the leader in Internet-based student services, with a Technology 2003 Focus Award for contributions made to the CCCApply Project - a statewide, web-based admission application system that automates and simplifies the enrollment process for all the California Community Colleges.
Allen Firstenberg, President and CEO of Xap Corporation, received the award in September 2003 in recognition of Xap's role as the developer for the online system.
The award "...commends strategic, integrated uses of technology to empower faculty through sources within reach of all campus constituents - and often the wider community."
The 7-month project was a collaborative effort between Xap, the community colleges and districts, and the Chancellor's office.
The CCCApply system offers a broad-range of features to help improve the enrollment process, outreach efforts, and student services for the California Community Colleges, including unique services that allow applicants to check the status of their applications, search for special programs, or perform other tasks online.
"The CCCApply Project is an example of system-wide economies of scale being leveraged to maximal effect by making one common web-based application available to all colleges and students," said Patrick Perry, Vice Chancellor, Technology, Research and Information Systems Division for the California Community Colleges, Chancellor's Office.
"Both the project management team and the vendor are to be commended for their excellent work in bringing together the varied interests and complexities of local district needs into one workable product that can be used by everyone, while still retaining the capability of being customized for local needs.
This is truly an outstanding accomplishment for our system."
The CCCApply site (www.cccapply.org) allows students to enter their personal information one time and apply to any of the participating colleges.
In addition, students can access key facts about the colleges, utilize the search tools to find the college that meets their needs and interests, take a multimedia tour of a campus, obtain contact information and send e-mail communication, research financial aid, and more.
The site meets the legal requirements and standards for usability by persons with disabilities.
"I am thankful for what we have learned from the California Community Colleges' technical staff in the design of websites that help all students, including those with disabilities," said Allen Firstenberg, President and CEO of Xap Corporation.
"Xap's mission, together with the California Community Colleges' staff, is to continually look for ways to enhance CCCApply to better serve its students."
CCCApply launched in fall 2001 with 10 pilot colleges; participation has doubled for each of its first two years in operation to more than 46 subscribed colleges today.
Current subscribers represent all regions of the state, and single-and multi-college districts with small and large enrollments.
The Chancellor's Office is sponsoring a mini-grant program, until June 30, 2004, to fund the implementation and operation fees for participation, and encourage all 108 colleges to subscribe.
Other Technology Focus Award recipients included a project that will teach the Chinese language online, an ongoing project in distance-education that ensures instructional websites are compliant to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and increase access for all learners, and a project that supports community college faculty who use technology for instruction that promotes sharing of digital teaching materials.
About Xap
Headquartered in the Los Angeles area, Xap Corporation (www.xap.com) focuses on the creation of comprehensive Internet-based information management systems relating to secondary and post-secondary education.
Founded in 1990, Xap is the leading developer of online student services systems for associations and state-wide groups of colleges and universities across the United States.
Xap Corporation now has sites that cover the California State University system (www.csumentor.edu), the California Community Colleges (www.cccapply.org), and the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (www.aiccumentor.org), as well as a state-wide site for all colleges and universities in California (www.californiacolleges.edu).
About CCC
The California Community College system of two-year public institutions is comprised of 108 colleges statewide organized into 72 districts.
It is the largest system of higher education in the world, and serves more than 2.9 million students.
