At thousands of schools and universities, years of economic troubles have led to repeated budget cuts. The reductions typically fall disproportionately on maintenance departments, where cuts are viewed as less critical than those that directly affect classroom instruction. And so nearly every facility manager at an education institution faces a…

The Association Supporting Computer Users in Education (ASCUE) initiated a refereed track for paper submissions to the conference in 2008. In fact, at the 2008 business meeting, the membership approved three different presentation tracks: refereed with 3 blind reviews for each paper, session with paper where the author submits a paper but it is…

An introduction to the use of computers for educational administrative purposes is offered in this book, which presents basic systems methodologies which can be used for selecting and designing computer applications. Traditional systems analysis techniques are used to illustrate the design of microcomputer applications at the school and district…

Using data to track and manage student enrollment is steadily becoming a standard practice on both two-year and four-year campuses. Data mining enables colleges to create predictive models for identifying behaviors that put students at risk for dropping out, flag students who engage in these behaviors, and help identify practices that work in…

Data integration is one of the single most challenging tasks any district can face. Fortunately for school districts throughout the country with data scattered in disparate systems, an open specification known as the Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF) is mitigating that challenge. SIF has emerged as a cornerstone of K-12 data warehousing,…

This paper is a report on the findings of a study conducted on the implementation of a portfolio system at the University of Kentucky. Interviews were conducted with faculty members and university supervisors about the use of a portfolio management tool that had been implemented in the teacher education program. Factors such as small program size…

A decision support system (DSS) is an interactive computerized system capable of providing direct, personal support for complex managerial decisions. This paper reviews DDSs and their general capabilities, describes potential benefits to school administrators, presents DDS applications in several school districts, and discusses implementation…

The experiences of Seattle Pacific University as it changed from closed-shop to end-user computing are described. Once departments got over the initial shock of servicing the many nitty-gritty job requests formerly handled within computer services, they began to like the new system. (MLW)

To mine a large store of school data, a new technology (variously termed data warehousing, data marts, online analytical processing, and executive information systems) is emerging. Data warehousing helps school districts extract and restructure desired data from automated systems and create new databases designed to enhance analytical and…

The employment of administrative tools for effective management is evaluated in this article. Using an administrative tool like a Palm[R] handheld computer and appropriate software can make the difference. For anyone running a single school or an entire district, managing data is the key to maintaining an efficient organization. Many…

A description of how image database technology was used to develop two prototypes for academic and administrative applications at Yale University, one using a video data base integration and the other using document-scanning data base technology, is presented. Technical underpinnings for the creation of data bases are described. (Author/MLW)

In the spring of 1986 Indiana State University converted to the Series Z software of Information Associates, an IBM mainframe, and Information Builders' FOCUS fourth-generation language. The beginning of the planning stage to product selection, training, and implementation is described. (Author/MLW)

Papers from the 1990 CAUSE conference on information technology in higher education are presented. They are organized according to the conference's eight concurrent tracks in the general areas of policy and planning, management, organization, and support services, as well as in the specialized areas of communications, hardware/software strategies,…

A computerized fund-raising office relies on two software capabilities: word-processing software (to create, edit, store, and print text) and database software (to store, organize, and sort large numbers of facts). These capabilities handle: mass-producing personalized letters, maintaining records of gifts and acknowledgments, and generating lists…

School districts need a strategic, comprehensive, electronic data processing resources plan that would include the following major elements: (1) systems; (2) hardware; (3) software; (4) staffing; (5) control; and (6) projected budgets. (MLF)