Sent: 2021-07-30
From: EIU
To: Various Recipients

Subject: Online Meeting Tools Evaluation

EIU has utilized multiple online meeting tools during the past year to assist in remote teaching/working including Zoom, Collaborate Ultra, and Microsoft Teams. With recent enhancements, two of these tools, Zoom and Collaborate Ultra, offer very similar features. Given the institution's limited resources, EIU has created a working group to provide guidance on a likely choice of one of these tools moving forward. The earliest any change will take effect is July 1, 2022. Microsoft Teams will be retained because it is included as part of the campus-wide Microsoft agreement. 

To see a comparison between Zoom and Collaborate Ultra, go to the FDIC synchronous communication tools page. The working group is currently developing a campus feedback survey to be distributed in late August. If you have questions/concerns that can't be addressed in the survey, please feel free to reach out to any working group member listed below to provide additional insight.

Thank you.

Ryan Gibson - Working Group Lead
Jeremy Alexander – Housing & Dining / Staff 
Lu Ding - FDIC / Staff
Philip Kousma - ITS / Staff
Barry Kronenfeld - Geology/Geography / Faculty
Julie Lockett - FDIC / Staff
Deborah Meadows - School of Extended Learning / Staff
Bryan Murley - Journalism / Faculty
Dave Richardson - Art / Faculty
Amy Rosenstein - Special Education / Faculty
Steven Scher - Psychology / Faculty
Rebecca Throneburg - Communication Disorders and Sciences / Chair