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October 20, 2004, at 4:45 p.m.
University Events Room
Glickman Family Library, 7th floor
Portland USM Campus (map)

At the beginning of the fall semester, 2002, every 7th grade student across the state of Maine was provided with a laptop that she or he could use in school and take home. In fall 2003 the program was extended to the 8th grade and there was a proposal to extend the program to the 9th grade in fall 2004 which is being partially implemented. The program, known as the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI), was approved during a time of budgetary surplus and is being implemented while the state budget is dramatically declining. The MLTI, often referred to as the "laptop initiative," offers many lessons in management of technology that has many parallels that often occur in industry. Some significant illustrative parallels it gives include:

· How technology projects may receive when benefits are difficult to
quantify.
· How the exiting of a project champion impacts the project.
· How people and politics play in a socio-technical model of information systems.

Dr.'s Suleiman and Voyer have written a case entitled: When project champion exits: The Maine Learning Technology Initiative. The case is intended for graduate classes that discuss management of technology and has been used in the University of Southern Maine's MBA program.

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Dr. James Suleiman is an Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems at USM. He started at USM in fall 2002 and teaches Database, Programming, Telecommunications, Introduction to Management Information Systems and the MBA course in Information Systems Management. Previously he worked as a consultant for Cap Gemini, Ernst & Young in their Telecommunications, Media and Networks division. Prior to that (in reverse chronological order) he has held positions with University of Colorado - Colorado Springs, St. Louis University, University of Georgia and IBM. His main research focus is in the areas of virtual teams and IS education. In 2004, Dr. Suleiman received The USM Faculty Senate Award for Teaching Excellence. Dr. Suleiman is married to Natasha and they have two children, Evangelia and Andrew. He enjoys rugby, hiking, skiing and travelling.

The colloquium is sponsored by the L.L. Bean/Lee Surace Endowed Chair in Accounting.

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USM Professor Jeffrey Gramlich was appointed the first L.L. Bean/Lee Surace Chair in Accounting in the USM School of Business in 2003. His appointment was made possible by a $1 million gift from L.L. Bean, Inc., its board chair, Leon Gorman, his wife Lisa, Jim and Maureen Gorman, and Tom Gorman, who established the chair in memory of L.L. Bean CFO Lee Surace '73, '81, who died in March of 2001. Surace was chair of the USM School of Business' Advisory Council and was a frequent guest lecturer.

The USM School of Business is accredited by the prestigious AACSB International. For students seeking the finest education and companies seeking the highest caliber talent, partnership, and educational opportunities, AACSB International accreditation is one of the most important affirmations of sustained quality in the word. For more information about School of Business programs, call 780-4020.