The winner of the 1994 CAUSE Award for Exemplary Leadership and Information Technology Excellence offers his view of information technology, resources, and management. Engineering principles are applied to information technology issues, such as access versus security and client/server versus mainframe systems. College/university information…

The Harvard University (Massachusetts) central computing and development offices collaborated to develop a prototype client/server fund-raising system that allows personnel to easily and quickly access and share prospect information. Its successful development is attributed to use of some traditional project management principles and practices.…

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…

The status and direction of computerized information systems in French universities are examined, including research, instructional, and management applications. Recommended action at institutional, regional, and national levels include development of policy for use and development of computer resources, definition of appropriate roles, policy on…

Issues discussed among college and university chief information officers (CIOs) in their constituent group at the 1995 CAUSE national conference are reviewed, including future challenges in information resource management, development of new partnership types, the administrator's role in a rapidly changing environment, and effective administrative…

This article argues that while small colleges appear to be poorly positioned to be technology leaders, they have opportunities to distinguish themselves through focused applications of information technology resources in support of their missions. Costs, risks, and benefits of taking a leadership role in technology are discussed. (Author/MSE)

The University of Massachusetts has adopted user data groups (groups of information users whose function is to address data issues rather than applications or operations) to help develop an institutional culture supportive of more advanced information technology. The university is treated as a corporation and its five campuses as divisions. (MSE)

The University of California at Los Angeles has implemented an innovative computing system based on radical postaudit and distributed security concepts. Rather than automate standard manual processes, the university decided to eliminate all preapproval processes and decentralize access controls. Results include significant cost savings, faster…

An institutionwide strategic planning effort at Central Michigan University, in response to a need for rapid and significant changes in its information technology infrastructure, is outlined. The effort resulted in a matrix governance structure for information technology that acknowledges the value of both distributed support and a strong central…

In response to a need to develop services for poorly-served or unserved potential clients and to provide staff development, Pepperdine University (California) created a program of specialized service provision, using individual staff contacts to provide regular communication and planning assistance to clients. Program design, staff training, and…

As economic realities drive colleges and universities to reassess financial strategies for managing information technology investments, many will have to develop a new game plan, requiring: collaboration among academic, financial, and technical leaders; rejuvenation of the collective conventional wisdom; shift to life-cycle budgeting; emphasis on…

Babson College (Massachusetts) responded to expanded campus computer use and resulting demand for support services by developing service delivery tailored to user groups' needs. Resources devoted to this effort have grown dramatically, and include help desk and dispatch support, program of technology specialists, evening support to residence…

Issues identified as important to the future of information resources management and use in higher education include information policy in a networked environment, distributed computing, integrating information resources and college planning, benchmarking information technology, integrated digital libraries, technology integration in teaching,…

Examines how beliefs and concerns of academic medicine's diverse professional cultures affect management of information technology. Two scenarios, one dealing with standardization of desktop personal computers and the other with publication of syllabi on an institutional intranet, form the basis for an exercise in which four prototypical members…

Current and developing issues in college and university computing are delineated, including next generation networks, achieving widespread integration of technology into teaching and learning, meeting high demand, the virtual university, information policy in a networked environment, replacement of administrative systems, information resources…