National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Selects WorldCom for Web Hosting Services
CLINTON, Miss., November 5, 2001 – WorldCom (NASDAQ: WCOM), the leading global business data and Internet communications provider, today announced that the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) has selected WorldCom to provide managed Web hosting solutions.
Created in 1987, NBPTS is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization with a mission to strengthen the teaching profession and to improve student learning. The National Board accomplishes its goals by establishing high and rigorous standards for accomplished teachers, providing a national voluntary system to assess and certify teachers who meet these standards, advocating related education reforms to integrate National Board Certification® in American education, and to capitalize on the expertise of National Board Certified Teachers.
In November, thousands of teachers across the United States are expected to visit the National Board's Web site (www.nbpts.org) when the organization posts the names of teachers who have achieved National Board Certification for the 2000-2001 academic year. National Board Certification is the highest possible credential available in the teaching profession. By outsourcing its Web hosting needs to WorldCom, NBPTS will be able to reliably respond to spikes in Web site visits as well as launch new Internet initiatives in a more streamlined and cost-effective environment.
"We chose WorldCom because the company offers the strongest in the essentials - technical knowledge, reliability and scalability," says NBPTS Chief Technology Officer Floyd Matsuda. "As we continue to outsource more and more of our online initiatives, it is important to have a strong, stable relationship with a provider like WorldCom."
WorldCom will provide NBPTS with advanced Web site security, back-up, reporting, administration, hosting management and monitoring – with the support of its high-end managed Web and application hosting affiliate Digex (NASDAQ: DIGX) – backed by industry-leading performance guarantees, and the unmatched reach and performance of WorldCom's global IP network and state-of-the-art Internet data centers.
"Like NBPTS, WorldCom is focused on excellence," said Ron McMurtrie, vice president of WorldCom Global e-Services. "Outsourcing its Web operations management to WorldCom allows NBPTS to concentrate on its mission to improve the quality of education in America."
About NBPTS
The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan and nongovernmental organization governed by a 63-member board of directors, the majority of whom are classroom teachers. Created in 1987, the National Board's mission is to advance the quality of teaching and learning by: maintaining high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do, providing a national voluntary system certifying teachers who meet these standards, and advocating related education reforms to integrate National Board Certification in American education and to capitalize on the expertise of National Board Certified Teachers. There are currently 9,532 National Board Certified Teachers in the United States. For more information about the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, please visit www.nbpts.org or call 1.800.22TEACH.
About WorldCom Group
WorldCom Group (NASDAQ: WCOM) is a preeminent global communications provider for the digital generation, operating in more than 65 countries with annualized revenues of more than $20 billion. WorldCom provides the innovative technologies and services that are the foundation for business in the 21st century. For more information go to http://www.worldcom.com.
