RTPnet Annual Report:
January - December 2001

Judy Hallman <hallman@rtpnet.org>, Executive Director, RTPnet
Contents
Mission
Americorps*VISTA Program
Training
Conferences
Projects
Grants
Services
Finances
RTPnet Board, Meetings & Administration

Mission, Service Area, and Staff

The purpose of RTPnet (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization) is to promote the electronic communication of information of public interest to and among the general public and to educate the public by use of computer communications.

RTPnet, operated by a volunteer staff, serves Durham, Orange, and Wake counties in North Carolina.

Americorps*VISTA Program

Through the CTC VISTA Project, RTPnet has four full-time Americorps*VISTA workers. The VISTA workers are paid about $750/month by Americorps. RTPnet pays $1,500 each (to send them to a training program) plus the cost of sending them to the annual CTCNet conference, and RTPnet pays expenses associated with their work. So they cost about $3,000 each.
  • Eugena Harrington <techaware@yahoo.com> started February 2001. The goal of Gena's project is to provide technical support to Triangle Area community technology centers, both immediate assistance and technical support materials, to insure their steady and smooth technical operation. Gena provides technical support for about 20 centers in Orange, Durham, and Wake counties, and she's helping some schools in the area.

  • Martha Moore <mathm2@hotmail.com> started February 2001. Martha is working with Birchwood Learning Center (BLC) in Durham. The goal of her project is to promote community participation in the Center by developing, implementing, and publicizing computer education programs for the community that bring members of the community into the Center to learn and to help each other learn.

  • Kimmora Mckinnie <kmckinnie_27571@yahoo.com> started August 2001. The goal of Kimmora's project is to provide technical support and training support to the Riley Hill Community Technology Center (RHCTC), located in the Wendell, NC.

  • Shirlene Rogers <shirlrogers@netscape.net> started November 2001. The goals of Shirl's project are to identify assets and needs for Community Technology Centers, developing a database of Triangle area community technology centers that can be used by RTPnet and as a model for CTCNet, and assist the president of the CTCNet board of directors (Erroll Reese) with program development and capacity building.
For more information, see http://www.rtpnet.org/rtpnet/vista.shtml.

Public Training

  • Career Passport/PC Basics: Martha Moore (Americorps*VISTA) developed Career Passport Program, Career Passport Instructors Curriculum Book, and PC Basics Curriculum Book, under a contract with Durham County Literacy County, 30 hours at $10 per hour, bringing income of $300.00 to RTPnet.

  • Birchwood Learning Center: Martha Moore and Lisa Richmond hold computer classes at Birchwood Learning Center, in Durham, two days a week. The participants are learning basic computer skills, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, the Internet, and web design. Three people are regulars in the class, and two are also taking classes at Durham Tech. Two students are taking Advanced Office Skills, Resume Writing, Typing and Career Planning. Martha also works with the John Avery Boys and Girls Club in the after-school program to help young people to develop their skills.

  • Riley Hill Community Technology Center: Kimmora Mckinnie (Americorps*VISTA) and Bob Sams (RTPnet Board member) help adults increase or learn new computer skills and help children increase skills and prepare for end-of-year grade level testing in the Riley Hill Community Technology Center, which opened in June in Wendell. The RHCTC is a result of formal collaboration between the community outreach ministry of The Riley Hill Baptist Church and regional technology professionals recruited by the Colors of Collaboration, Inc. to implement community-based programs. RHCTC also provides students with one-on-one help from a community mentor. More volunteers, mentors, and teachers are needed.

  • Community Alliance for Student Success: RTPnet joined forces with Community Alliance for Student Success (CASS, a program of Chapel Hill - Carrboro City Schools), the Chapel Hill Police Department, and the Family Resource Centers at South Estes and Trinity Court, in Chapel Hill, to offer a special series of classes in the Fall. The classes focused on helping parents of school children learn to use school resources on the web and communicate with teachers via e-mail. Elizabeth Hamilton taught the classes at South Estes and Beth Fowler taught at Trinity Court. Chapel Hill - Carrboro Public School Foundation funded the project, which included an open house, stipends to the teachers and teacher's assistants, child care, and some prizes. About three to five people participated at each site. One person at each site completed all the courses and received a certificate. A teenager from South Estes was the teacher's assistant for some of the classes at Trinity Court. Plans are underway to repeat the offering in the Spring. There were numerous meetings with the school project and also with volunteers.

  • Computer Basics Class Handouts: Judy Hallman revised all the computer basics class handouts, with the advice and assistance of the others involved in the CASS project. The handouts are all linked from http://www.rtpnet.org/comp.

  • Job Hunting Online: Ken Dietel prepared course materials for Job Hunting Online. This handout is also linked from http://www.rtpnet.org/comp.

  • Volunteers: More people are volunteering to teach classes: Lisa Beavers, Elizabeth Hamilton, and Tom Munk assisted with classes at Hargraves, Sharon Riley and Beth Fowler taught a series of classes at South Estes on Saturdays in the Spring, and Elizabeth Hamilton and Beth Fowler taught the CASS series at South Estes and Trinity Court, respectively.

  • Training sessions: RTPnet conducted approximately 63 two-hour training sessions, as follows:

    • Hargraves Technology Center, Chapel Hill, 29 sessions, taught by Judy Hallman, Lisa Beavers, Elizabeth Hamilton, and Tom Munk:
      • Getting Started Using a Mouse: Jan. 2, Feb. 27, Jul. 3, Nov. 14
      • Getting Started Running Programs: Jan. 16, Mar. 6, Jul. 10, Dec. 12
      • Navigating the World Wide Web: Jan. 23, Mar. 20, Jul. 17, Nov. 21, Nov. 28
      • Electronic Mail Using Hotmail: Jan. 30, Mar. 27, Jul. 31, Dec 5
      • File Management: Feb. 6
      • Learning on Your Own: Aug. 7, Dec. 19
      • PowerPoint: Feb. 20
      • General computer help sessions: May 8, May 15, May 22, May 29, Jun. 5, Jun. 12, Jun. 19, Jun. 26

    • Orange County Public Library, Hillsborough, 14 sessions, taught by Judy Hallman:
      • Getting Started Using a Mouse: Feb. 19, May 22, Jul. 31, Oct. 8
      • Getting Started Running Programs: Feb. 20, May 23, Aug. 1, Oct. 9
      • Navigating the World Wide Web: Feb. 21, May 24, Aug. 2, Oct. 11, Dec. 6
      • Electronic Mail Using Hotmail: Dec. 7

    • South Estes Family Resource Center, Chapel Hill, 10 sessions
      • General computer help sessions: Apr. 7 and Apr. 21 (Sharon Riley), Apr. 28 (Beth Fowler)
      • Open House: Sep. 17, CASS
      • Getting Around on a Computer: Oct. 3, Elizabeth Hamilton
      • Exploring the Internet: Oct. 10, Elizabeth Hamilton
      • Electronic Mail Using Hotmail: Oct. 17, Oct. 24, Elizabeth Hamilton
      • Writing Using a Computer: Nov. 7, Elizabeth Hamilton
      • Learning on Your Own: Nov. 14, Elizabeth Hamilton

    • Trinity Court Family Resource Center, Chapel Hill, 7 sessions
      • Open House: Sep. 18, CASS
      • Getting Around on a Computer: Oct. 2, Beth Fowler
      • Exploring the Internet: Oct. 9, Beth Fowler
      • Electronic Mail Using Hotmail: Oct. 16, Oct. 23, Beth Fowler
      • Writing Using a Computer: Nov. 6, Beth Fowler
      • Learning on Your Own: Nov. 13, Beth Fowler

    • Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC), Durham, 3 sessions, taught by Judy Hallman:
      • Getting Around on a Computer: Sep. 24
      • Exploring the Internet: Sep. 25
      • Electronic Mail Using Hotmail: Sep. 26

RTPnet/TACT Conference

RTPnet sponsored its second conference on bridging the digital divide in the Research Triangle area, March 24, 2001, at the William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education in Chapel Hill. The 50 people who attended, represented a variety of nonprofit organizations, schools, universities, community colleges, and personal interests. The next conference is scheduled for April 27, 2002.

Regional Conference

RTPnet, with several other organizations, sponsored "A Regional Conference on Community Technology Centers (CTCs): Making CTCs Work for Citizens and Communities," September 20, 2001, at NC Central University, School of Education, Durham. Terry Grunwald was the conference coordinator. RTPnet was the fiscal agent and hosted the web site. Mike Rulison created a brochure describing RTPnet for distribution at this conference. Approximately 170 people registered for this conference. A followup web site has been created at http://www.rtpnet.org/ctnc/

General Meetings

A gathering, designed to share experiences, resources, needs, plans, and a Triangle-wide perspective, was held at the W. D. Hill Recreation Center in Durham, July 23. The event was planned by Ken Dietel and Terry Grunwald.

Other Conferences and National Participation

  • RTPnet is a member of the Association For Community Networks (AFCN) and the Community Technology Centers' Network (CTCNet).

  • Erroll Reese, president of Durham-based EasyWeb Inc. (EWI), an information technology solutions-and-training firm, was elected president of the CTCNet Board of Directors to lead the national community-technology movement.

  • Thirteen Triangle area people attended the 10th National Community Technology Centers' Network (CTCnet) conference, June 14-17 in San Diego, CA.

    • Erroll Reese was one of the leaders of the workshop, "Leadership: Do You Have What It Takes?" drawing on his N.C. successes with community organizing.

    • RTPnet Board of Directors member Jerry Winegarden, led two sessions: "Introduction to Computer Networking & Cost-Effective Network Solutions for CTCs" and "Advanced Topics in Computer Networking: Linux Router and Server Installation, Configuration & Network Troubleshooting," and he also provided technical consultation throughout each day and long into the evenings, assisting many conference attendees.

    • Heather Roberts, a UNC-Chapel Hill student, participated in the session "Innovative Community Technology Programs" describing the program Students Engaged in Technology (SET) for the Future" in which UNC-CH student volunteers work closely with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in Chapel Hill's Culbreth Middle School.

    • Lucy Haagen, executive director of the Durham County Literacy Council, participated in the session, "Don't Just Survive: Thrive," sharing her success in generating revenue and support for CTCs.

    • Judy Hallman participated in the session, "Some Basics from the Project Management Team and VISTA Supervisors" to described the projects and achievements of two Americorps/VISTA members -- Eugena Harrington and Martha Moore.

    • Other Triangle attendees included: Norman Boylorn, Durham County Literacy Council; Shlonda Brouchet, Americorps/VISTA, Durham County Literacy Council; Anthony Gachie, North Carolina Central University and Pines Community Center, Chapel Hill; Terry Grunwald, Making the Net Work, Raleigh; Lisa Richmond, Acting Executive Director, Birchwood Learning Center, Durham; and Bob Sams, President, Riley Hill Community Technology Center, Wendell, and RTPnet Board of Directors.

    Financial assistance provided by Verizon, St. Titus Episcopal Church in Durham, and Pine Knolls Community Center in Chapel Hill, allowed three of the Triangle people to attend.

  • Hallman also attended the NC Knowledge Nova Workforce Conference in Charlotte, October 10, and the 2001 Rural Partners Forum, in Raleigh, November 30.

Rural Internet Access Authority (www.e-nc.org)

Bob Sams, Erroll Reese, Terry Grunwald, and Judy Hallman have participated in, and followed the activities of, the Rural Internet Access Authority. Hallman worked with Cindy Bird and Bridge-IT on a survey of organizations in the state of North Carolina to determine the availability of digital/Internet literacy training programs to the public. The survey results will be valuable to the area's community technology centers.

Clearinghouse Project

Numerous groups in the Triangle area of North Carolina are attempting to help close the Digital Divide. It is difficult to determine who is doing what, where, and for whom. This project will start a clearinghouse of Triangle area community technology centers that includes programs, resources, partnerships, and other efforts, with the goal of making it easy for people to find the information they need. This project is funded by Verizon (see Grant Proposals below).

The project evolved from discussions at the CTCNet conference. A survey of organizations in the state of North Carolina to determine the availability of Digital/Internet Literacy Training Programs to the public, which is being conducted by Bridge-IT for e-NC, will be extremely helpful in establishing the Clearhouse.

Help Desk Project

Jerry Winegarden (Senior Analyst, Duke University OIT/Technical Support, with fifteen years experience with Duke University's Help Desk) and Gena Harrington (Americorps*VISTA), with assistance from Erroll Reese, Bob Sams, Judy Hallman and others, have developed plans for a model Help Desk support service for Triangle area community technology centers and schools that are members of RTPnet with the goal of expanding the service state wide. It will provide tiered levels of support for community technology centers and schools that need technical assistance. Plans are underway to find funding for this project.

Grant Proposals

  • Conference scholarships: Requested from Verizon February 2001, $5,000.00, for travel for four people to the Community Technology Centers' Network national conference in San Diego, June 15-17, 2001 and for 25 scholarships for the local conference in Chapel Hill on March 24, 2001. Funded for $1,000 that allowed two people to attend the CTCNet conference in San Diego.

  • Clearinghouse Project: Requested from Verizon November 2001, $15,000.00, for a one-year project to identify assets and needs and build a web site for Triangle area community technology centers. The project will be a model for further development both locally and nationally. Fully funded. Of the $15,000 to RTPnet, $5,000 will stay with RTPnet, to support the VISTA program, and $10,000 will be contracted to Easy Web Inc. to build the web site.

  • Warner Foundation, February: The project will extend existing partnerships bringing together training programs and technical support to strengthen community technology centers so that they may encourage and enable the people they serve to learn and apply technology in ways that improve their lives educationally, economically, and socially. Not funded.

  • Warner Foundation, August: The purpose of this project is to bring together the resources needed to allow one community technology center to achieve its goals and make an impact on the community it serves. There are two major partners: RTPnet, a community network for the Triangle area, and Eastern Wake Community Technology Center (EWCTC), in Riley Hill, NC. Not funded.

  • Neighbors Helping Neighbors Network: Closing the Family Achievement Gap in Central North Carolina, Technology Opportunities Program Proposal for the U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration, March 21, 2001. Not funded.

  • Field Innovation Grant Program, America Connects Consortium, requested $24,000 for CTC Community Participation Toolbox, August. Not funded.

  • NC Help Desk, TechFoundation, requesting $35,000 to develop a model Help Desk support service for Triangle area community technology centers and schools that are members of RTPnet with the goal of expanding the service state wide. To be submitted January 2002.

RTPnet Service Improvements

  • Errol Casey installed Phorum software (which uses PHP) on RTPnet. The forums themselves are at http://www.rtpnet.org/phorum/, and instructions are at http://www.rtpnet.org/rtpnet/phorum/. Phorum seems to have a great deal of potential as an easy-to-use bulletin board similar in function to Yahoo's eGroups.

RTPnet Systems Staff

  • Charles Hall <Charles.Hall@sas.com> is now our Lead System Administrator. Errol Casey resigned from RTPnet system administration to allow more time for his family. Errol was our lead system administrator, and Charles Hall has been his backup and support, since December 1997. They made a great team!

  • Amnon Nissan <amnon@deltaforce.net> and Deltaforce Technologies continue to provide Internet access and on-site services for RTPnet.

  • Roger Austin <rda@rti.org> provides maintenance and support for e-mail lists (Majordomo).

  • Ken Dietel has made signigicant improvements in RTPnet's web pages making RTPnet a better entry point for Triangle information.

Volunteers

RTPnet began an effort, in March, to recruit volunteers through a web page at http://www.rtpnet.org/rtpnet/vol.html. More than 20 people have submitted the form and at least 10 more have sent e-mail to info@rtpnet.org offering volunteer assistance. Although the volunteers are contacted, a volunteer coordinator and database system are needed to be able to use volunteers effectively. Teams of volunteers from local businesses, universities, and schools could provide a significant resource for the Help Desk.

Donations

Several persons donated a total of $650.00 to RTPnet during 2001 -- a significant part of RTPnet's income. During 2001, Rulison and Hallman revised the donations form at http://www.rtpnet.org/rtpnet/donations.html<, which says that credit card donations can be made through helping.org, and Hallman revised the information about RTPnet that is used by helping.org.

Thanks to Gena Harrington (Americorps*VISTA), donations of equipment were also significant in 2001. In February, Quintiles Corporation donated used computers to the Teaming for Technology program of Triangle United Way. Several volunteers, including Gena, went to Quintiles, cleared off all info, refurbished, installed Windows 95 and Office 97. Gena worked out the details for RTPnet to get 8 machines. Six went to Pine Knolls, in Chapel Hill.

Equipment from Triangle United Way in August included six systems. Four systems have Pentium 90mhz, 8mb-40mb memory, 1GB hard drive storage (one of four has a cd-rom). The other two have Pentium 200mhz, 32-64mb memory, 1-3GB hard drive storage and cd-roms. One of these machines went to Trinity Court in Chapel Hill and two went to a new program being set up in Chatham County, called Chatham County Together.

Other donations included: 

    1      harddrive -- 10gb
    5      mother boards
    3      Intel pentium processors
   16      harddrives -- 21 mg - 2 GB
    2      floppy drives
    1      Iomega Zip drive
    1      Iomega tape drive
    2      CD ROM drives
    3      video cards
    3      network cards
   10      other cards (parallel, serial, audio, sound, expansion)
    1      Netsurf wireless keyboard
    3      printers (two Kodak Diconix 150 plus and one Okidata Okijet 2010
                Plus with 3 cartridges)

RTPnet Membership

RTPnet Membership continues to hover between 100 and 125.

New members include:

  • aauwnc, American Association of University Women North Carolina
  • atwater, Ann Atwater Community School
  • cisoc, Communities In Schools of Orange County
  • citca, Carolina Interfaith Task Force on Central America
  • dclc, Durham County Literacy Council
  • fhna, Forest Hills Neighborhood Association (FHNA)
  • humor, The Humor Collection
  • jordband, Jordan High School Band Booster Club
  • ncatr, North Carolina Alliance for Transportation Reform
  • nchunger, North Carolina Hunger Network
  • nbcary, New Beginnings Christian Fellowship, Cary
  • pflag, PFLAG Triangle Chapter
  • plmweb, Pan Lutheran Ministries of Wake County, Inc.
  • s-estes, South Estes Family Resource Center
  • taes, Triangle Area Employment Services
  • trinity, Trinity Court Family Resource Center
  • trip, Transportation Reform Is Possible
  • wakeares, Wake County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)

The following organizations canceled membership:

  • afcn, Association For Community Networks
  • bullcity, Bull City Aquatics
  • cwc, Cary Wesleyan Church
  • diane, Sound and Motion, Raleigh Conservatory of Music
  • fjm, Fountain of Joy Ministries
  • htlc, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
  • nctalks, Toastmasters Club, District 37 (North Carolina)
  • nhas, New Hope Audubon Society
  • redeemer, Redeemer Presyterian Church of America
  • rockcary, Rock Church, Cary
  • sdll, South Durham Little League
  • sbp, Peruvian Baptist Seminary, Peru
  • takisuyo, Takisuyo, Música Andina en Raleigh
  • tcoc, Triumph Club of the Carolinas
  • tisqa, Triangle Information Systems Quality Assurance

Domain Name Services/Virtual Hosts on RTPnet

New Domain names hosted on RTPnet include the following list. The complete list is at http://virtual.rtpnet.org
  • www.pilgrimucc-dhuram.org (www.rtpnet.org/pucc)
  • www.nchungernet.org (www.rtpnet.org/nchunger)
  • www.ncarchivists.org (www.rtpnet.org/snca)
  • www.panlutheranministries.org (www.rtpnet.org/plmweb)
  • www.durhamlit.org (www.rtpnet.org/dclc)
  • www.wakeares.org (www.rtpnet.org/wakeares)
  • www.rars.org (www.rtpnet.org/rars)
  • www.fhnanews.com (www.rtpnet.org/fhna)
  • www.thehumorcollection.org (www.rtpnet.org/humor)
  • www.pflagtriangle.org (www.rtpnet.org/pflag)
  • www.annatwaterschool.org (www.rtpnet.org/atwater)
  • www.cisoc-nc.org (www.rtpnet.org/cisoc)
  • www.thechapelofthecross.org (www.rtpnet.org/cofthec)

Financial Report

     Assets entering 2001:                                $6,890.04

     Income in 2001: 
           650.00  Donations
           104.00  Fees & Charges
         6,645.00  Membership fees
           620.00  Class Fees
         7,765.00  Regional Conference
         1,470.00  RTPnet/TACT Conference
         1,000.00  Grant (travel for CTCNet conference)
                                                         $18,254.00

     Expenses in 2001:
         2,321.56  Birchwood Learning Center
         1,297.48  Hargraves Technology Center
         6,249.44  VISTA program
         6,066.24  Regional Conference
         1,452.64  RTPnet/TACT Conference
         2,002.31  Travel
           378.50  Miscellaneous 
                                                         $19,768.17

     Assets entering 2002:                                $5,375.87

Board

  • Board Membership Changes

    • In May, Dan Eddleman resigned as Treasurer and from the Board. The RTPnet Board sent Dan a Certificate of Appreciation as Volunteer of the Year 2001 in recognition of his service as Treasurer from 1995 to 2001.

    • At the Annual Meeting (May 10) Bob Sams was elected to the vacant position.

    • In September, Errol Casey resigned from the Board to allow more time for his family.

  • Board Meetings:

    • May 10 (annual elections)

      • There was considerable discussion regarding Birchwood Learning Center. The BLC Board of Directors is no longer active, BLC funds ran out in March, and RTPnet picked up paying the BLC manager $320 per month in addition to the $100 per month phone and Internet bills. RTPnet does not have the funds to continue to support BLC and will cease support in July. [Followup: Lisa Richmond is no longer paid for her service to BLC. She and Judy Hallman worked with the Birchwood Home Owners Association and that organization has taken over paying the operating expenses for BLC. The BLC bank account was closed and what little money was left was turned over to the Birchwood Home Owners Association.]

      • Mike Rulison has prepared a file of business cards to be used as a template by Board members.

      • RTPnet became a member of QuinStreet, enrolled for some of their products and put a few of their products on one page to see how it works, http://www.rtpnet.org/bus/businesses/quinstreet.shtml. While the QuinStreet page has the potential to bring in income, it has not produced any income yet.

      • Robert Sams was elected to the Board and Hallman, Hutchins, Nissan, and Rulison were re-elected. Rulison was elected Treasurer. Rulison and Hallman are now authorized to sign checks.

      • Hallman reported that of the 117 RTPnet members: 
             45 joined in 1997
     31 joined in 1998
     11 joined in 1999
     26 joined in 2000
      4 joined in 2001

    • July 23

      Discussed mission, finances, Birchwood Learning Center, Help Desk, and membership.

  • Board Membership

    • Robert R. Gotwals Jr <gotwals@shodor.org>
      Term: March 2000 - February 2002

    • Judith H. Hallman <hallman@rtpnet.org>
      Executive Director and Vice President, Term: March 2001 - February 2003

    • William R. Hutchins <hutch@RTPnet.org>
      Term: March 2001 - February 2003

    • Sarah Kogut <sjkogut@aol.com>
      Secretary, Term: March 2000 - February 2002

    • Amnon Nissan <amnon@deltaforce.net>
      President, Term: March 2001 - February 2003

    • Michael v.E. Rulison <mrulison@unity.ncsu.edu>
      Term: March 2001 - February 2003

    • Robert Sams <triaes@bellsouth.net>
      Term: March 2001 - February 2003

    • Jerry Winegarden <jbw@duke.edu>>
      Term: March 2000 - February 2002

    • One vacancy

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Last modified: 2005 Aug 29 -- JHH