Colleges and universities must build and maintain a robust, comprehensive technology infrastructure to provide needed services today and in the future. Significant financial, technical, and human resource challenges inhibit achievement of this infrastructure. Rider University (New Jersey) solved the problem by forming a partnership with Bell…

Seeking alternative revenue sources, the University of Hartford (Connecticut) established a fee-based electronic information service for off-campus clients. After two years of pilot projects, market research, product identification and redesign, diverse marketing strategies, and financial investment, the service was not yielding anticipated…

At Eastern Washington University, strong executive leadership in a planning process incorporating a microcomputer-based model has begun to enable integration of campus planning and budgeting. The computer model offers departmental planners a sophisticated tool for analyzing alternative strategies over a number of years. (MSE)

The University of Virginia's Computing Survival Skills program, begun in 1997, addresses the ongoing technology training needs of departmental staff. An overview is provided of the program's first year, including background, content, materials, certification, benefits, results, success, and future plans. Tips for designing a training program are…

Issues surrounding the cost of Internet usage to individuals and institutions are addressed, including who currently pays for Internet use in colleges and universities, long-distance costs, how policy is set for institutional use, cost of transition to a larger system, and difficult issues to be faced in system expansion. (MSE)

A key issue in redesigning college and university business processes is whether new processes should be enabled by information systems that focus on them or share highly integrated data and common methods with older processes. An approach used at the University of Saskatchewan (Canada) that entailed reorganization, reorientation, and retooling is…

Advancements in information technology have caused many colleges and universities to reconsider the organization of the units providing information services. Ranging from joint planning exercises to full vertical mergers, changes in organizational structure are powerful tools administrators can use to integrate and effectively manage information…

To provide effective leadership and assure project success, policy makers should understand two major pitfalls in pursuing purchased administrative systems solutions. First is the failure to organize for successful project implementation and monitoring, including organizing for contract negotiation; second is the failure to develop an effective…

For liberal arts colleges, an alternative method of planning for information technology is to seek nontechnology priorities for which information technology can be justified. Drew University (New Jersey) and Hartwick College (New York) have used this opportunistic approach successfully, in different ways. (MSE)

A methodology to assist decision making about the relative priorities of alternative projects developed at the University of Western Ontario is described. The method identifies the principal options for information systems development and permits application of executive judgment to the strategic importance of competing projects. (Author/MSE)

A discussion of Executive Information Systems, the newest decision-support computer application for organizations, argues that this approach could profoundly change how colleges and universities are managed. Using graphics, icons, and mainframe data retrieval software, middle management can handle large quantities of information. Proven design…

The experience of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in adopting a cost-recovery strategy for systems development is described, providing information of use to all managers. Issues addressed include establishing revenue goals, marketing and promotion, contracting with clients, and time accounting and billing. (Author/MSE)

In a six-month period, the University of Alberta (Canada) campus computing services department formulated a strategic plan, and downsized and reorganized to meet financial constraints and respond to changing technology, especially distributed computing. The new department is organized to react more effectively to trends in technology and user…

This article describes the Departmental Computing Coordinators program implemented at Loyola University (Chicago) to manage and support computing activities at the departmental level. The basis of the program is a standard position accountability included in job descriptions of departmental employees who hold computing responsibilities. (Author)

Discusses the information technology (IT) staff shortage in higher education, and encourages collaboration between human-resource and information-technology professionals both on college campuses and at the professional-association level. Outlines some human resource development activities currently under consideration within two professional…