Membership

The EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) is a community of institutions, organizations, and corporations committed to advancing learning through IT innovation.

Make the Case for ELI Membership

The information below details the many benefits of ELI membership. However, we know that you may have to engage multiple audiences in different ways to make the case for ELI membership at your institution. To help you with that effort, ELI has developed a "sales kit" of materials and links you can use to highlight the value of ELI membership to your college or university. Please review the kit, use it in discussing ELI membership with campus stakeholders, and let us know if you have questions or suggestions.

Programs and Services

Membership in ELI provides organizations with many benefits. All members of an institutional community–including senior executives, technology professionals, and faculty–will find ELI programs and services that meet their needs:

• Professional development: Whether it's the ELI Annual Meeting, a focus session, a Web seminar, a podcast, or a conference presentation, ELI offers a host of professional development opportunities.
• Resources: ELI provides a rich array of resources on our Web site, including publications, podcasts, reading lists, event proceedings, Web seminar archives, links to relevant Web sites, and much more. Whether you are looking to learn more or are ready to start a project, ELI has resources than can help.
• Tools: Organizations need tools that help them advance learning. ELI develops topical guides, workshop materials, and other tools to help members achieve their learning and learning technology goals. Recognizing that one size does not fit all, we emphasize the development of tools that members can adapt to their unique needs and challenges.
• Community: ELI is a group of organizations and individuals committed to a common goal–advancing learning through IT innovation. Regardless of their institutional role or discipline, ELI members speak the same language–the language of learning and learning technology. This allows them to find colleagues with whom to explore common issues, collaborate on projects, and build friendships.

Join ELI

Both members and nonmembers have stressed the importance of keeping ELI membership as affordable as possible, and ELI's success has allowed us to do just that.

Starting July 1, 2007, ELI members receive the full range of ELI member benefits for a single, low membership rate of $2,500. The benefits include:

• Deeply reduced registration rates for ELI events ($400 for the annual meeting; $375 for the focus sessions)
• Access to ELI Web Seminars (members-only), including archived seminars (members-only for the first 6 months)
• Access to Discovery Tools (members-only for the first 6 months)
• ELI 7 Things You Should Know About... briefs
• ELI white paper series
• ELI Web resources

No matter when you join ELI, you will receive all the benefits of membership right away, with dues prorated quarterly based on the ELI membership year, July 1–June 30. Thereafter, you will be invoiced prior to July 1 for the next membership year. To become a member, contact Linda Kelley at 303-939-0304 or lkelley@educause.edu. You can also complete the membership application online.

View a list of ELI member institutions.

ELI is a strategic initiative of EDUCAUSE, whose mission focuses on all aspects of technology in higher education. If you are interested in ELI, you may also find EDUCAUSE resources and services of great value. Learn more about EDUCAUSE and EDUCAUSE membership online, or call 303-449-4430.

The Value of ELI

All ELI activities are designed to bring value to its members through awareness, enablement, and integration.

Awareness

ELI activities–including conferences, focus sessions, and Web seminars–generate greater awareness at all levels of an institution about learners and successful learning. ELI doesn't just focus its efforts solely on technology professionals. We also work with institutional leaders, faculty, librarians, and others to demystify the intersection of technology and pedagogy.

Enablement

Awareness alone isn't enough. Individuals throughout the institution must be able to use technologies and pedagogies to advance learning. ELI provides professional development opportunities, tools, and techniques that make it possible for institutions to move forward. Since not everyone can attend a conference, we provide podcasts, Web seminars, publications, and tools online so individuals can access resources when, where, and how they want.

Integration

Since no two institutions are alike, we know our members need resources they can adapt to their unique circumstances. ELI provides such resources, and we encourage members to revise our Discovery Tools and event materials for their own use. We also encourage participation in ELI activities by institutional teams, which generates a shared understanding that can catalyze campus-wide change. In everything we do, ELI strives to make available resources and approaches that institutions can integrate on campus to advance learning.

More of What Our Members Say

"ELI provides access to the nation's best practices in innovative uses of information technology in educational practice. Each conference or workshop brings national experts together to offer solutions and discuss creative approaches to instruction, knowledge management, and student learning. It is the interactive nature of the meetings that offers the dynamic synergy so often missing in 'talking heads' at other meetings."

John C. Cavanaugh
President
University of West Florida

"Each year I gain something from ELI that I can use on campus to be sure we maintain our competitive edge. It is interesting, and a sign of the times in which we live, that the way we compete today is by being part of strategic collaborations."

Anne H. Moore, Ed.D.
Associate Vice President, Learning Technologies Director
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

"I was originally drawn to ELI because they worked on issues that really matter. There is nothing more important than being sure our students have the best education possible."

Ron Bleed
Vice Chancellor Emeritus
Maricopa Community Colleges

"I never miss the ELI Annual Meeting, and I always send an interdisciplinary mix of IT staff members, faculty, and librarians. The smaller size of the meeting contributes to a rich interaction and exchange of ideas both inside and outside of sessions. Our contingent always returns to campus with concrete strategies and action plans on how to move forward on a variety of teaching and learning initiatives."

Susan Metros
Deputy CIO and Associate Vice Provost
for Technology-Enhanced Learning
The University of Southern California