February 2006

Edutech Responds
Equiping classrooms for computer projection, providing repair service for printers, how to avoid being blindsided by facutly projects

The Edutech Report - February, 2006 - Full Issue
…

Nine Danger Signs for an IT Department
By Thomas Warger
Mission statements and public policies for information technology support are useful and certainly necessary for ensuring good service, but they are hardly sufficient guides for keeping that service on track. Most colleges and universities use a combination of user surveys, self-study, and committee oversight to assess how well the IT service organizations on campus are performing. These evaluative tools focus the critique of services in ways that downplay matters of public perception, institutional impact, and the interaction of providers and users of the services. Context is important but tends to get stripped away in many of the tools we use to evaluate IT services. As a result, our picture of the social dynamics of these services is sketchy, “cultural” factors are lost, and some indicators are even misread entirely.

Quotes of the Month
Technology and liberal arts, public perceptions of libraries

Newsbriefs
Michigan Requiers an Online Course for HS Graduation; Quiz: Are You a Top-Tier Leader?

Challenges and Opportunities
By Linda Fleit
CIOs in higher education face the same challenges and opportunities, that corporte CIOS face but with a unique emphasis. Among these challenges and opportunities: collaboration, governance and funding, IT sourcing, performance measures, growing talent, and customer service.