Greetings Michigan Library Community, In fiscal year 2017, the legislature appropriated one full time employee to support E-Rate administration for the State of Michigan. The Michigan Department of Education Office of Data and Information Management is pleased to announce that Joseph Polasek has accepted the position of E-Rate Specialist in the Educational Technology Unit. In funding year 2016, Michigan school districts and libraries were reimbursed over $68 million dollars for internet access and internal connections (WIFI). Joe will assist districts and libraries in maximizing their E-Rate reimbursements as recent programmatic changes to E-Rate at the federal level have been challenging for applicants. Additionally, he will assist districts with leveraging federal funds to meet connectivity targets for transforming teaching and learning, not simply to enable online assessments. The position also will assist districts and libraries in moving to consortium applications for internal connections, paralleling the migration of ISDs and subsequently school districts over to the Michigan State Education Network (MISEN) for internet access. The E-Rate Specialist will work more broadly on infrastructure issues and with community anchor institutions to narrow the homework gap, extending internet access to unserved and underserved areas through private sector partnerships and pilots. I will still be working on E-Rate as well, but it is only a small sliver of my job. The best way to reach Joe and myself with E-Rate questions is to email erate@michigan.gov<mailto:erate@michigan.gov>. Welcome Joe! Sonya Schryer Norris Library of Michigan 702 W. Kalamazoo St. Lansing, MI 48909 517-373-4457 http://michigan.gov/libraryofmichigan http://mel.org<http://mel.org/> http://michlibrary.org<http://michlibrary.org/> Explore the #GoOpen Michigan<http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,4615,7-140-28753_80670---,00.html> movement and how to make it a reality. Register today<https://www.solutionwhere.com/ww/Aspx/Public/Search/ShowCourse.aspx?courseNum=110&cId=47> for the #GoOpen Michigan Summit - 12/5/17. [GoOpen Logo - Transparent.gif]<http://www.michigan.gov/mde-goopen>
