This article discusses a survey tool, known as TechQual+, which gives IT leaders a quick and easy way to gauge their departments' performance on campus and learn what matters to their constituents, including faculty, students, and staff. The idea of an IT survey tool that can be used across higher education has its skeptics, who feel that colleges…

In this article, the authors present the 2012 Campus Technology Innovators. These IT leaders have deployed extraordinary technology solutions to meet campus challenges. The authors also recognize the vendors and products involved in making these innovative projects a success. The 10 winners are: (1) University of Arizona (Student Systems and…

The news these days is filled with headlines lamenting the high cost of college. Tuition and board at top schools now exceed $50,000 per year. Upon graduation, the average student is $25,250 in the red, according to a report from the Project on Student Debt, while the total of the nation's college debt now exceeds $1 trillion. So what exactly is…

A decade has passed since author, game designer, and educational thought leader Marc Prensky heralded the arrival of a new generation of students whose immersion in information technology distinguished them in fundamental ways from previous generations. Because they had spent their entire lives "surrounded by and using computers, videogames,…

Air-traffic controller might be a relaxing second career for anyone who's coordinated IT operations at a large research university. Just ask administrators at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. As at most big universities, IT operations on the academic side are decentralized on a major scale. When a faculty member in one of Michigan's 19…

The role of the chief information officer (CIO) in higher education has expanded over time as technology has worked its way into people's daily lives, altering forever the way they work and learn, and becoming ubiquitous on campuses. IT is now critical to the business of education, and the CIO has stretched his or her influence to span key…

The for-profit sector of higher education has generated some disturbing headlines recently. Widely publicized charges of predatory recruiting practices have prompted new regulations and provided fuel for scorching criticism of the entire business model. But while the spotlight is focused on what for-profits are doing wrong, are people overlooking…

Institutions already cater to the technology needs of students. According to the 2008 Campus Computing survey, 60 percent of colleges and universities offer pervasive or near-pervasive wireless; computers are as ubiquitous as water bottles; course management systems have become one-stop shops for class content; few classrooms lack projectors; and…

Across the nation, student enrollment is exploding, while budgets are being slashed to the bone. A March 2010 report by the League for Innovation and the Campus Computing Project says it all: "Still Doing More With Less." In a survey of 128 community college campus presidents and district chancellors for the report, 94 percent of respondents said…

With colleges and universities struggling to minimize the effects of the troubled economy, it certainly isn't an easy time to be a CIO. This article presents an interview with a panel of higher education IT leaders about best practices for steering IT through economic crisis. Panelists included Jan Biros, associate VP for instructional technology…

At Santa Clara University (SCU), Vice Provost for Information Services and CIO Ron Danielson led the design and construction of the campus's 194,251-square-foot Harrington Learning Commons, Sobrato Technology Center, and Orradre Library, a single building opened in March 2008. Danielson and his team were responsible for describing design goals,…

Ever since the first customer relationship management (CRM) tools found their way onto North American campuses around 2002, higher education administrators have cringed at the mention of the word "customer," preferring to substitute "constituent" for the more sales-driven term. Yet, with competition for qualified candidates…

To say the American economy is in a precarious mode would be the understatement of the century. Banks have foundered, American industry is looking for federal bailouts, and belts are tightening everywhere. Not surprisingly, higher education officials at private institutions are wondering which students will be able to afford ever-escalating…

Since his retirement in 2005, UC-Berkeley's Associate Vice Chancellor and CIO Emeritus and current ECAR fellow John (Jack) McCredie has devoted much of his professional energy to studying and writing/speaking about IT governance and leadership in higher education. In his role at UC-Berkeley, he was responsible for leading central IT support for…

The basics of authentication are straightforward. One can prove his or her identity in three ways: (1) something one "has" (for example, a key or a birth certificate); (2) something one "knows" (such as a password); or (3) something one "is" (such as one's fingerprints, used in biometric technologies). In the world of computers and networks, the…