January, 2007

The Edutech Report - January, 2007 - Full Issue PDF
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Systems, Changes, and Challenges
By Thomas Warger
The software applications needed today to carry out the administrative functions of colleges and universities continue to grow more numerous without sign of letup. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems remain the core of administrative information technology but are not necessarily the area where the strongest growth occurs. Administrators who thought the end of ERP installation would bring decreases in new software expenditures and reductions in staff positions for programming and development have been disappointed.

Quotes of the Month
Interactive media participation gap; the downside of iPod use for instructional purposes

NEWSBRIEFS
FIPSE Support of Course Redesign with Technology; MacArthur Foundation Supports Teachng with Technology

The Right Kind of Assistance
By Linda Fleit
One of the major issues for CIOs is to provide the right kind and quality of assistance to the rest of the campus. Typically, needs for services as well as existing skill sets will vary widely among users, as will expectations of what will or should be provided by the CIO and the central IT department (as opposed to being provided by the user department or others). This can cause considerable contention, with endless arguments about who should provide which kind of services and at what cost.

Edutech Responds
Four-year replacement cycle; staffing trends for administrative database support units; determining IT priorities