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The National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education (NITLE) was a "community-based, non-profit initiative" to "help liberal arts colleges and universities integrate inquiry, pedagogy, and technology". It was established in September 2001. Its stated mission was to catalyze "innovative teaching in order to enrich and advance
liberal education A liberal education is a system or course of education suitable for the cultivation of a free () human being. It is based on the medieval concept of the liberal arts or, more commonly now, the liberalism of the Age of Enlightenment. It has been d ...
in the digital age." The initiative provided programs and services that promote inter-institutional
collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. The ...
and innovative uses of technology at small, undergraduate-centered, residential colleges and universities.


History

NITLE was established in September 2001, through a grant from The
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, commonly known as the Mellon Foundation, is a New York City-based private foundation with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the product of the 1969 merger ...
. The original charge of this grant-funded initiative was to stimulate
collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. The ...
between selected
liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on Undergraduate education, undergraduate study in the Liberal arts education, liberal arts of humanities and science. Such colleges aim to impart ...
s and to act as a catalyst for the effective integration of emerging and newer
digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...
technologies into teaching, learning, scholarship, and information management at those colleges. In January, 2006, NITLE reorganized under Ithaka, bringing together and merging with three other Mellon-funded instructional technology initiatives: the Center for Educational Technology at
Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...
, the Associated Colleges of the South Technology Center, and the Midwest Instructional Technology Center (associated with the
Great Lakes Colleges Association The Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) is a consortium of 13 liberal arts colleges located in the states around the Great Lakes. The GLCA's offices are located in Ann Arbor, Michigan and its 13 schools are located in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvan ...
and the
Associated Colleges of the Midwest Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) is a consortium of 14 private liberal arts colleges, primarily in the Midwestern United States. The 14 colleges are located in five states: Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The ACM was esta ...
). The reorganization merged NITLE and the three regional technology centers into a unified, national initiative for providing instructional technology programs for providers of
liberal education A liberal education is a system or course of education suitable for the cultivation of a free () human being. It is based on the medieval concept of the liberal arts or, more commonly now, the liberalism of the Age of Enlightenment. It has been d ...
in the United States. The reformed organization continued to receive grant support from The
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, commonly known as the Mellon Foundation, is a New York City-based private foundation with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the product of the 1969 merger ...
.


Location

From 2009 to 2015 NITLE was hosted at
Southwestern University Southwestern University (Southwestern or SU) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Georgetown, Texas. Formed in 1873 from a revival of collegiate charters granted in 1840, Southwester ...
br>
a small, private
liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on Undergraduate education, undergraduate study in the Liberal arts education, liberal arts of humanities and science. Such colleges aim to impart ...
in
Georgetown, Texas Georgetown is a city in Texas and the county seat of Williamson County, Texas, United States. The population was 67,176 at the 2020 census, and according to 2024 census estimates, the city is estimated to have a population of 101,344. It is no ...
. Staff was distributed across several states. In 2015, NITLE migrated its operations to the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Institute closed in 2018.


Core program areas

The organization delivered a methodology that provided colleges and institutions with the traction they needed to move forward to meet stated strategic collaboration objectives. The program engaged targeted groups of institutions that had already identified – or were actively in the process of identifying—shared needs and objectives, and complementary strengths. The methodology guided participants through the process of identifying how to maximize the benefits of partnerships by using collaborative processes and tools to achieve specifically defined common objectives.


See also

* Al-Musharaka, an NITLE program to promote university
Arab studies Arab studies or Arabic studies is an academic discipline centered on the study of Arabs and Arab World. It consists of several disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, linguistics, historiography, archaeology, cultural studies, economics, geog ...


References


"What we Do"


External links


National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education
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Academic Commons
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ITHAKA

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Institutes based in the United States Defunct organizations based in the United States Organizations established in 2001 Organizations disestablished in 2018 2001 establishments in the United States 2018 disestablishments in the United States