Outreach Centers

Burns Technology Center

The Burns Technology Center (BTC) was founded in 1993 to explore and advance the use of emerging information, communication, and instructional technologies. The BTC was named for U.S. Senator Conrad Burns, a national advocate for enhancing rural vitality using affordable telecommunications resources. The Burns Technology Center opened its doors in the Engineering/Physical Sciences Building in February 1997 and functions as a self-sustaining, multipurpose, instructional facility at MSU.

The BTC offers training in the use of new information and communication technologies for both educators and business professionals, supports the development of distance learning courses and programs, and conducts research related to distance learning, instructional technology, and rural access to information/communication resources. The BTC services and programs are self-supporting and are funded through grants and contracts, donations, and fees for services.

The BTC works collaboratively with many campus departments, public agencies, and the private sector to support and promote the growing opportunities for public access to education and resources.

Extended University

Extended University administers and coordinates on-and off-campus instruction in the form of distance-delivered and face-to-face courses, programs, institutes, and conferences that supplement the formal academic curriculum at MSU. Extended University services are organized into three main categories.

Distance Degree and Certificate Programs: Looking for an online or distance learning course at MSU? Currently MSU offers several graduate degrees and select undergraduate courses online and via video conferencing. Non-traditional programs are offered in partnership with Extended University and MSU academic departments.

Office of Continuing Education: Continuing education courses extend the educational resources of the University to the citizens of Montana and beyond. Credit and non-credit courses are offered at various locations across the state. Increasingly, instruction is provided through the use of distance learning technologies, such as video conferencing and web-based online courses. Fees for continuing education courses vary and are established on a cost-recovery basis.

Burns Technology Center: The BTC supports a variety of instructional technology classrooms and tools at Montana State University. The BTC provides training and support services for faculty, students, and private organizations on a contract basis. In addition, the BTC participates in pilot and demonstration programs that explore and enhance information and communication technologies to benefit education and society.
Organizations, professional groups, and interested individuals are invited to contact Extended University for additional information concerning credit and non-credit courses and instructional technology programs.

http:// eu.montana.edu

Montana Area Health Education Center

The Montana Area Health Education Center (Montana AHEC) at Montana State University-Bozeman is one of six regional AHEC centers affiliated with the University of Washington School of Medicine.

The mission of the AHEC Program is to improve the supply and distribution of health care professionals, with an emphasis on primary care, through community/academic educational partnerships, to increase access to quality health care.erships, to increase access to quality health care.

This mission is accomplished through the following goals of the Montana AHEC:

  • form productive linkages between healthcare units to the benefit of underserved frontier and rural communities,
  • foster and encourage collaborative community-based health programs,
  • increase the number of minority and underserved youth entering health education programs,
  • serve as a resource, clearinghouse, and disseminator of health information,
  • promote improved health and disease prevention through educational interventions,
  • respond to emerging community-based needs regarding health issues,
  • provide technical assistance on healthcare-related issues to underserved communities,
  • contribute to achieving the goals of Healthy People 2010 and thereby improving the health status of frontier and rural constituents, and
  • help implement collaborative community-based, multidisciplinary education and training for health professionals and health professions students.

The Montana AHEC has many programs which serve Montana's health professionals, including student preceptorships, educational programs for health professionals and students, health professional recruitment activities, local community health care development assistance, rural health research, and telemedicine projects. Contact the Center at (406)994-6001, e-mail: sak@montana.edu or website: ahec.montana.edu.

Montana Office of Rural Health

The Montana Office of Rural Health (MORH) was established in 1987 with the overall mission to increass access to quality health care and improve daily functioning for rural and underserved Montanans through health promotion, disease prevention and reduction of the impact of illness, disease and disability. Montana is truly a rural-frontier state with 53 of its 56 counties designated either rural or frontier by federal definitions and with over 80% of its communities having populations of less than 3,000 people. The MORH seeks to accomplish its mission through the following four major goals and activities:

  • to collect and disseminate rural health information state-wide;
  • to improve recruitment and retention of health professionals into rural and underserved areas;
  • to provide technical assistance in securing additional funding for rural health; and
  • to coordinate rural health interests and activities across the state.

In essence, the MORH works to improve the health and well-being of all rural and underserved Montanans through advocacy, networking, collaboration, partnerships, education, outreach, research, and service. Contact the MORH at (406)994-5553. E-Mail: djjones@montana.edu or Website: ahec.msu.montana.edu/ruralhealth.

Burton K. Wheeler Center

The Burton K. Wheeler Center at Montana State University in Bozeman promotes the public discussion, analysis, and eventual resolution of critical issues facing Montanans. The Center holds an annual Conference and business Roundtable, sponsors lectures, publishes conference reports, and maintains a Web page at www.montana.edu/wheeler

The Wheeler Conference is the single most important yearly dialog in the state on pressing public policy questions. Topics have included tax policy, gambling, crime/corrections, education reform, and tribal sovereignty. Conference attendees include key policy makers and opinion leaders, legislators, state administrators, those with a direct connection to the subject at hand, and members of the general public from around the state and region. The conference highlight is always the keynote speaker, who in the past has included the Governors of Florida, Utah, Colorado, and Nevada; the President of Cargill Corporation; the Executive Director of the Native American Rights Fund and the Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The day-long Wheeler Roundtables focus more directly on economic problems and possibilities in Montana and the region. Held in various cities and towns in the state, Roundtables bring together the "players" on topics as diverse as capital formation, tourism, downtown revitalization, and the future of coal mining.

Past Conferences and Roundtables have influenced new legislation, administrative policy, and economic development. They are central forums for the examination of existing institutions and the source of new ideas.

The Wheeler Center has a close working relationship with Montana State University, but it is a non-partisan, independent, non-profit corporation with its own board of directors. The center depends entirely on private contributions for its programs and administration. The center is staffed by Executive Director Gordon G. Brittan, Jr., and Associate Director Julie Hitchcock. In keeping with the Center's goal to more closely involve students in the public policy arena, generous Wheeler fellowships are offered to several graduate students on an annual basis.

Contact the center at:

1102 South 6th
P.O. Box 170590
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59717-0590
Phone and Fax: 406-994-0336
E-mail: wheeler@montana.edu
Internet: www.montana.edu/wheeler.

Local Government Center

The goal of this outreach program affiliated with the Department of Political Science is to strengthen the capacities of Montana's county and municipal governments to deliver essential services efficiently. The Local Government Center conducts on- and off-campus training programs for local officials, provides direct technical assistance to local governments, and conducts applied policy research on community issues. The Montana Policy Review is published biennially by the Local Government Center.

Contents...