June, 2006

The Edutech Report - June, 2006 - Full Issue PDF
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Where Does IT Report?
By Thomas Warger
The most frequently asked IT management question remains the same one that has been asked for a long time: “Where does your chief information officer (CIO) report?” It arises every time the CIO position becomes vacant and next most often when one of the top three management positions—president, chief academic officer (CAO), or chief financial officer (CFO)—turns over. But mostly it is asked by CIOs who are tired of feeling that they are too far removed from core decision making and budget pie slicing at the institution they have long served. In that case—and thus most of the time—the desired answer is that reporting to the president is the best situation, the wave of the future, and the end of all problems. But these are all somewhat wishful thinking, dubious propositions, and they deserve closer scrutiny.

Quotes of the month
Information literacy, transformational change in higher ed

Newsbriefs
Top Ten IT Issues in Higher ED; No More Free iPods at Duke

The Enduring Truth of Large IT Projects
By Linda Fleit
Most CIOs have been involved in a large IT project that did not live up to its promise. It may have gone significantly over budget, taken much longer than expected, caused much more disruption and problems than it should have, or, most commonly in projects gone wrong, not produced the benefits that everyone wanted. Many lessons have been learned along the way and many sets of rules, guidelines, and standards have been formulated to avoid these kinds of situations in the future. Yet they continue to recur with alarming regularity.

Edutech Responds
ePortfolios, supporting students with disabilities, selecting a new ERP