Associated Colleges of Illinois

www.successinhighneedschools.org

“We’ve worked with other Web developers and IT specialists, and Palantir has provided us with a much better experience.”
— Cindy Diehl Yang, Executive Vice President for Programs and External Relations

The Associated Colleges of Illinois (ACI) is a group of 24 private colleges and universities, rooted in the liberal arts tradition, that leverages the expertise of its statewide network to provide underserved students with new educational opportunities. ACI accomplishes this goal through scalable and sustainable programs that recruit, prepare, and retain teachers in high-need schools and help low-income students prepare for and graduate from college. ACI’s Center for Success in High-Need Schools seeks to close the achievement gap between low-income K-12 students and their more affluent peers by providing a key element for success: excellent and diverse teachers.

To support the Center’s mission, Palantir created a Web presence that can grow with ACI: an informational Center site, a subsite for the Center’s online journal, and a subsite for ACI’s Diversity at the Blackboard initiative, which supports recruitment of men and minorities to new careers in teaching. Palantir started with a subsite first. In house-building terms, we built the deck before we built the house, adding the house — and a new façade — when ACI was ready. “We appreciated Palantir’s ability to roll with the punches,” says Executive Vice President Cindy Diehl Yang.

ACI’s first priority was the journal subsite, which features browser-based administration of articles and topics, a registration schema requiring viewers to log in prior to viewing articles, and online submission of articles. Palantir moved on to the Center’s main Web site, where registered users can post graphics and download materials while site administrators control content management privileges. A sitewide search engine allows users to access content quickly. The events module announces happenings on the home page and provides for online registration of teacher programs. ACI manages both sites directly through an easy-to-use administrative console. Last, Palantir created a subsite and separate administrative interface for Diversity at the Blackboard using design templates that complement, but remain distinct from, the Center’s design.

Palantir accomplished all this with our Community Platform, a flexible, modular software package that upgrades and customizes Web sites easily and cost-effectively. By repurposing and adapting technology developed during other Palantir projects for ACI’s specific needs, we saved time and resources. At Palantir, we believe in innovation — but not in reinventing the wheel.