Project Management and Articles, Papers, and Reports

This ECAR research bulletin provides an overview of project management offices in higher education in terms of the motivation for establishing one, the problems they are designed to solve, their organizational structure and services, where they report, and lessons learned from the experiences of five institutions of higher education: Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, and Syracuse University.

Citation for this work: Clark, Andrew J. "Nurturing Project Management in Higher Education IT" (Research Bulletin, Issue 16). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

Using a collaborative model for developing IT projects delivered high-quality results with collateral benefits to the organization .

Appropriate policies and protocols can convert the often adversarial department-IT relationship into a partnership of shared goals

This research bulletin explores the methodology used by the Georgia State University Information Systems and Technology division to manage large, cross-divisional IT projects and track all IT staff time. The bulletin shares the data collection methodology and Georgia State's findings and describes a time-recording model for IT projects that can be applied at other colleges and universities.

Citation for this work: Alberts, Randall, and Karen D. Oates. “Measuring IT Staff Time at Georgia State University” (Research Bulletin, Issue 4). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

IT portfolio management at the University of Nebraska is being used to address accountability in the broadest sense: strategic decision-making, project analysis, and performance-based reporting. The practice helps decision makers objectively determine which IT projects or systems should move forward and which ones must wait, when to involve others in the decision-making process, and which resources can help managers reach the best decisions. This research bulletin describes how IT portfolio management is structured and employed at the University of Nebraska.

As both of the reviewers note, these two books are both geared toward providing suggestions and strategies to the IT manager. The first review on The Visible Ops Handbook: Starting ITIL in 4 Practical Steps, notes that this book is an invaluable guide to IT change management. The second review is on Student Information Systems: A Guide to Implementation Success, which discusses how to navigate the implentation process of a student information system (SIS).

This research bulletin is the work of a strategic project team participating in the IT Leaders Program, a leadership development initiative facilitated by MOR Associates of Watertown, Massachusetts. It strives to answer the question, What must a central IT organization in an academic environment do to increase its value to its clients and its institution? It is not a cookbook for how to create a successful IT organization but rather a discussion of considerations for increasing value.

A four-directional guide to reaching goals and focusing achievement can help an IT department tackle change successfully and reach performance excellence.

This article discusses the importance of engaging stakeholders in developing a set of guidelines for decision-making which can be utilized over the life cycle of a learning space design project.