EDUCAUSE | Documents Contributed by ECAR and Advanced Networking

Advanced Networking Services: Current Issues in Higher Education

gdobbin — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:40:56 -0500

This research bulletin explores the advanced networking issues and investments that colleges and universities that aspire to support their faculty and students in leading edge research and education activities must face in the near future. It is drawn from the work of the Advanced Networking Services Work Group at the University of California, which was charged with evaluating the current state of UC’s networking infrastructure, identifying best practices in global networking activities, and making recommendations to position UC for competitive advantage. The author served as chair of the Work Group.

Citation for this work: McCredie, Jack. “Advanced Network Services: Current Issues in Higher Education” (Research Bulletin, Issue 9). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

Developing and Extending a Cyberinfrastructure Model

gdobbin — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 08:34:45 -0600

This research bulletin explores how to develop, deploy, and extend cyberinfrastructure assets within higher education—both within and across institutions. As research becomes increasingly computational, data-intensive, and interdisciplinary, innovative approaches for functional cyberinfrastructure models become ever more important. This bulletin describes a model that was developed at one institution and then deployed across institutions, with the goal of addressing issues as diverse as the need for simulation systems rather than wet labs, insufficient computational research support to help an institution compete for top-notch faculty, and astronomical spikes in power and cooling demands.

Citation for this work: Alvarez, Rosio. “Developing and Extending a Cyberinfrastructure Model” (Research Bulletin, Issue 5). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

IT Governance: Solid Structures and Practical Politics

ckeller — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:31:10 -0600

Presentation at the Sixth Annual ECAR Symposium, December 5-7, 2007, in Boca Raton, Florida. Higher education IT organizations have become increasingly aware of the need for governance processes that sit above day-to-day management and address strategic alignment and the political realities of satisfying IT's many constituencies. But how should -and do- higher education institutions govern IT? This presentation uses the results of an ECAR study of IT governance to frame an interactive session on how to mix good structural governance practices with practical politics.

How to Cite This Work: Yanosky, Ronald, and John W. McCredie. "IT Governance: Solid Structures and Practical Politics." Presentation at the ECAR Symposium, Boca Raton, FL, December 5-7, 2007, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

IT Engagement in Research: A View of Medical School Practice - Corporate Edition

ckeller — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:55:01 -0600

This ECAR research study was designed in collaboration with the Association of American Medical Colleges to analyze the practices and perspectives of IT organizations that support the academic research enterprise in medical schools and colleges. As the potential of biotechnology, proteomics, informatics, computational genomics, and other IT-intensive disciplines continue to offer breakthroughs in medicine, research in these fields requires greater and higher-level technology resources for infrastructure as well as IT support and services. The study is based on the results of a web-based survey sent to 125 medical schools and colleges in the United States, as well as qualitative interviews with leaders at 10 institutions. Respondents to the survey were predominantly chief information officers or other top administrators from 50 medical institutions, yielding a response rate of 39.7 percent. The findings contained in this report echo the results of the ECAR 2006 study, IT Engagement in Research: A Baseline Study, illustrating that the role and importance of IT in research is growing, while funding and budget decisions remain difficult. A non-profit edition is available here.

Citation for This Work: Nelson, Mark R. IT Engagement in Research: A View of Medical School Practice (Research Study, Vol. 1). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

IT Engagement in Research: A View of Medical School Practice Roadmap

ckeller — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:27:19 -0600

This ECAR roadmap synthesizes the important issues and recommended actions drawn from the 2008 study, IT Engagement in Research: A View of Medical School Practice, by Mark R. Nelson. This ECAR research study was designed in collaboration with the Association of American Medical Colleges to analyze the practices and perspectives of IT organizations that support the academic research enterprise in medical schools and colleges. As the potential of biotechnology, proteomics, informatics, computational genomics, and other IT-intensive disciplines continue to offer breakthroughs in medicine, research in these fields requires greater and higher-level technology resources for infrastructure as well as IT support and services. The study is based on the results of a January 2007 web-based survey sent to 125 medical schools and colleges in the United States, as well as qualitative interviews with leaders at 10 institutions.

How to Cite This Work: Albrecht, Bob, and Judith A. Pirani. "IT Engagement in Research: A View of Medical School Practice Roadmap" (Roadmap). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2005, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

IT Engagement in Research: A View of Medical School Practice

ckeller — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:11:35 -0600

Citation for This Work: Nelson, Mark R. IT Engagement in Research: A View of Medical School Practice (Research Study, Vol. 1). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

Cyberinfrastructure Resources and Practices: Survey Questionnaire

ckeller — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 10:37:25 -0600

This November 2007 survey is a critical component of the EDUCAUSE Center on Applied Research (ECAR) study of cyberinfrastructure in higher education. It seeks to understand the perspectives of information technology leaders and others currently working in universities and colleges. This study updates and expands our communities' understanding of how leading-edge information technology resources for research, scholarship, creative activity, and teaching and learning are utilized, provided, supported, and funded. This study is being conducted through the collaboration of many parties including the Council of Australian University Directors of Information Technology (CAUDIT), the European University Information Systems organization (EUNIS), the EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research (ECAR), and the EDUCAUSE Net@EDU Campus Cyberinfrastructure (CCI) working group.

How To Cite This Work: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research. "Cyberinfrastructure Resources and Practices: Survey Questionnaire" (Survey Instrument). Boulder, CO: ECAR, 2007, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

Post-9/11 Emergency Response and Business Continuity Changes at Pace University and New York University

drupal — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 12:38:17 -0500

This case study investigates how two major New York City universities, Pace University and New York University, changed their business continuity, disaster recovery, and emergency response thinking and practices after experiencing a major emergency. Researchers conducted this in-depth case study to complement the 2007 ECAR study, Shelter from the Storm: IT and Business Continuity in Higher Education, which provides higher education with empirical information about where its business continuity vulnerabilities, plans, and practices stand in relation to surveyed institutions, and what factors are associated with success in planning for the delivery of information technology–dependent business services following a spectrum of potential service disruptions. Senior IT administrators at 340 colleges and universities completed the quantitative survey that informed the study.

Seizing the Moment: A New Model for Disaster Recovery at Florida State University

drupal — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:26:40 -0500

Researchers conducted this in-depth case study to complement the 2007 ECAR study, Shelter from the Storm: IT and Business Continuity in Higher Education, which provides higher education with empirical information about where its business continuity vulnerabilities, plans, and practices stand in relation to surveyed institutions, and what factors are associated with success in planning for the delivery of information technology-dependent business services following a spectrum of potential service disruptions. Senior IT administrators at 340 colleges and universities completed the quantitative survey that informed the study. This case study examines how one institution, Florida State University, uses high-speed networking to deliver disaster recovery and business continuity services from a remote site.

Shared Responsibility for Business Continuity: The Team Approach at UCLA

drupal — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:32:55 -0500

This case study examines how risk assessment and business impact analysis initiatives emerged and are moving to completion at UCLA, one of the largest and technologically most complex institutions in US higher education. Researchers conducted this in-depth case study to complement the 2007 ECAR study, Shelter from the Storm: IT and Business Continuity in Higher Education, which provides higher education with empirical information about where its business continuity vulnerabilities, plans, and practices stand in relation to surveyed institutions, and what factors are associated with success in planning for the delivery of information technology-dependent business services following a spectrum of potential service disruptions. Senior IT administrators at 340 colleges and universities completed the quantitative survey that informed the study.