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Dean Gary Matkin of UC Irvine Serves Third Term as Treasurer of OpenCourseWare Consortium

The OCW Consortium is a recognized leader fostering the growth of the OpenCourseWare (OCW) movement - envisioning a world where institutions, educators and self-learners are given the opportunities to participate in an international movement to increase open access to knowledge. The Consortium promotes the open sharing of knowledge by enabling learners-anywhere in the world, no matter who or where they are—to view and use University-level course materials and resources through the Web-for free. Members of the Consortium have published more than 15,000 courses under open licenses, helping grow the open educational resources movement worldwide.

"OCW is rapidly growing and the world's hunger for learning resources will continue to drive the demand for more higher education institutions, governments and businesses worldwide to participate in the movement," said Matkin. "I am proud to be a part of the OCW Consortium as it continues to provide support for entities across the globe and the resources necessary to build OCW platforms."

In Matkin's role as treasurer, he will oversee the OCW Consortium budget and ensure that the organization has enough funds to carry out their stated aims and objectives. In addition to managing the organizations budget, he will report the organization's financial status to the board and oversee the distribution of resources and investments of the Consortium and assure that appropriate financial controls are in place.

"Dean Matkin's leadership role in the OCW movement combined with his continuing education financial management background provides the Consortium with a key contribution to our management of our operations," said Mary Lou Forward, executive director of the OCW Consortium. "Gary's commitment to the strength of the organization and the movement is continuously demonstrated through his service to the Consortium."

Matkin is responsible for initiating and guiding the University's OpenCourseWare initiative. UC Irvine was the first University of California campus and first West Coast university to join the Consortium. Under Matkin's direction, the University has published more than 66 complete courses, 120 video lectures and over 1,000 learning assets from some of UCI's most prominent faculty members on its OCW Web site-allowing learners and educators throughout the world to access some of UC Irvine's curriculum.

Prior to becoming UCI's dean of continuing education in March 2000, Matkin was associate dean at UC Berkeley extension, where he was chief academic officer and responsible for the UC Extension distance learning program, including its rapidly expanding online education initiative. Matkin began his career in continuing education in 1973. He holds a doctorate in higher education, a master's degree in business administration from UC Berkeley, and a bachelor of science degree from the University of San Francisco. Matkin is a certified public accountant and the author of Effective Budgeting in Continuing Education (1985), Technology Transfer and the University (1990), and Using Financial Information in Continuing Education: Accepted Methods and New Approaches (1997). He resides in Irvine, Calif., with his wife, Maya.

ABOUT UC IRVINE'S OPENCOURSEWARE INITIATIVE: The University of California, Irvine was the first University of California campus-and West Coast University—to join the OCW Consortium. UC Irvine's membership in the OCW Consortium is consistent with its public- and land-grant missions and its desire to play a significant role in contributing to the social welfare of the state, the nation and the world. Open educational resources (OER) showcase the University's high quality education and makes courses and course materials free for everyone in the world. UC Irvine's OCW is a large-scale, Web-based resource that houses educational assets that are discoverable, searchable, modifiable, and, best of all, free and easily available. Through the OCW Movement, UC Irvine provides university-quality courses and learning assets to populations of self learners that are underserved and in many cases, unable to participate in formal education at a university. This site also offers access to UC Irvine's online continuing education offerings. For more information about UC Irvine's OCW initiative, visit http://ocw.uci.edu/ or e-mail ocw@unx.uci.edu.

ABOUT UC IRVINE EXTENSION: As the continuing education arm of UCI, UC Irvine Extension is dedicated to providing a university-level learning experience for students, offering thousands of exciting courses and programs to local, regional, and global constituencies via online curriculum, as well as through on campus classes. UC Irvine Extension offers a rich array of academic and community programs to support a diverse audience, from a wide selection of academic programs to numerous campus activities. For more information, please visit www.extension.uci.edu or fan the school at www.facebook.com/UCIExtension.

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE: Founded in 1965, UCI is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Led by Chancellor Michael Drake since 2005, UCI is among the most dynamic campuses in the University of California system, with nearly 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students, 1,100 faculty and 9,000 staff. Orange County's largest employer, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $4.2 billion. For more UCI news, visit www.today.uci.edu.

for University of California, Irvine
Vivian Chan-Slater, 714-573-0899 ext.235
vivian@echomediapr.com