Documents Contributed by ECAR and Key Findings

This document presents the key findings of the ECAR study,Process and Politics: IT Governance in Higher Education.This 2008 ECAR research study examines the extent of participation in IT governance by campus leaders and constituents; the use of IT governance mechanisms such as IT steering committees, project review, and performance measurement; and practices associated with good IT governance outcomes. The report is based on a literature review, consultation with practicing CIOs experienced in IT governance, and a web-based survey that was distributed to institutional representatives (mostly senior IT leaders) at 1,648 EDUCAUSE member institutions in June and July 2007. We received 438 responses (a 26.6 percent response rate to the survey). In addition, we received 216 responses from 59 institutions to a quantitative web-based survey for participants in IT governance who work outside of central IT. In addition to reporting the findings from these quantitative tools, this study includes feedback from interviews with 28 senior IT leaders from a mix of institutions.

This document presents the key findings of the ECAR study, Service on the Front Line: The IT Help Desk in Higher Education. This 2007 ECAR research study explores the information technology (IT) help desk as a complex enterprise operating within a dynamic environment that includes the goals and culture of the central IT organization, the resources and services of the help desk, service level agreements between help desks and their clients, practices for evaluating and improving help desk services, and the perceived success of the help desk organization. Findings are related to the principles and practices of IT service management literature. This study is based on a literature review to identify issues and establish the research questions, consultation with selected higher education chief information officers, a quantitative survey of IT administrators at 454 colleges and universities in the EDUCAUSE database, qualitative interviews with 36 executives at 24 institutions, and four case studies about help desk and service management practices at a total of five higher education institutions.

This document presents the key findings of The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2007. This 2007 ECAR research study is a longitudinal extension of the 2004, 2005, and 2006 ECAR studies of students and information technology. The study, which reports noticeable changes from previous years, is based on quantitative data from a spring 2007 survey and interviews with 27,846 freshman, senior, and community college students at 103 higher education institutions. It focuses on what kinds of information technologies these students use, own, and experience; their technology behaviors, preferences, and skills; how IT impacts their experiences in their courses; and their perceptions of the role of IT in the academic experience.

This document presents the key findings from the 2007 ECAR study, IT Collaboration: Multi-Institutional Partnerships to Develop, Manage, and Operate IT Resources. The study explores multi-institutional collaboration in terms of the types of information technology (IT) collaborations in higher education and the practices associated with positive outcomes. It is based on a literature review to identify issues and develop research questions; a screening survey of 586 colleges and universities to distinguish collaborators from non-collaborators; a follow-up survey tailored for 157 institutions presently engaged in at least one form of collaboration and a separate follow-up survey tailored for 113 institutions that have elected not to participate in IT collaborations; qualitative interviews with IT leaders from 30 institutions including both collaborators and non-collaborators; consultation with a select group of chief information officers who are extensively engaged in collaboration; and two in-depth case studies that look at how collaborators form, manage, and sustain their ventures.

This document presents the key findings of the 2007 ECAR study, Shelter from the Storm: IT and Business Continuity in Higher Education. The study looks at IT unit readiness to foster and support the functioning of colleges and universities that are challenged by disruption. Responding to a well-documented increase of interest in business continuity and disaster recovery issues among higher education chief information officers (CIOs), ECAR designed the study to inform executives about how institutions approach continuity issues and to identify practices that are associated with good business continuity outcomes.

This document presents the key findings of The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2006. A longitudinal extension of the 2004 and 2005 ECAR studies of students and information technology, this 2006 study is based on quantitative data from nearly 29,000 freshman and senior students at 96 higher education institutions. It focuses on what kinds of information technologies today's students are using, with what levels of skill they are using them, how IT use contributes to the undergraduate experience, and what value the use of IT adds in terms of learning.

This document presents the key findings of the ECAR study, Safeguarding the Tower: IT Security in Higher Education 2006. When ECAR studied IT security in 2003, we discovered that despite efforts to develop a secure IT infrastructure in higher education, uneven management awareness and a culture that equated good IT security with the curtailment of academic freedom constrained IT security options and choices. The results of this 2006 study of IT security in higher education demonstrate that there has been a sea change in less than three years. This study not only assesses the current condition of IT security practice, but documents changes in practice over time among a constant set of respondents. Among 492 total survey respondents, fully 204 institutions responded to both the 2003 and the 2005 surveys. Extraordinary changes in both hard and soft security measures were reported. Nearly one-third of responding institutions now have a chief information security officer, and more than 60 percent of the 2005 respondents have a centralized IT security function.

This ECAR Key Findings explores the practices and perspectives of IT organizations that support the academic research enterprise. To collect, analyze, and distribute information across an expanding range academic disciplines and geographic locations, research efforts rely heavily on IT infrastructure, people, and a broad range of IT services. Ever-larger data sets are being collected and shared, simulations and visualization are becoming routine tools, and the co-evolution of science and computing increasingly requires scientists to have solid grounding in information management.

These Key Findings describe the major discoveries of the ECAR research study called "Identity Management in Higher Education: A Baseline Study". This ECAR research study illuminates findings from a survey of identity management practices in higher education. In addition to exploring the adoption of identity management technologies, the study examines the importance institutions place on the benefits of identity management and their ability to deliver those benefits; the motivations that drive institutions to adopt identity management and the challenges they face; the policies and plans being prepared to support identity management; how identity management projects are organized and what resources and staff are dedicated to them; and the factors that influence good outcomes in identity management investment and capability. The study is based on a literature review, consultation with a select group of individuals representing organizations involved in identity management, survey responses from 403 higher education institutions, and qualitative interviews with 36 executives and IT personnel from 24 institutions. A corporate edition is available here.

These Key Findings describe the major discoveries of the ECAR research study called "Academic Analytics: The Uses of Management Information and Technology in Higher Education". Since the 1980s, higher education has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on administrative technologies to improve access to information. Institutions implemented new enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, data marts, data warehouses, and technologies to improve reporting. This study analyzes the outcomes at more than 380 higher education institutions. It looks at what the chosen strategies have accomplished, in what ways institutions use the data they collect, whether institutions are investing more resources in tools that enable them to collect and manipulate management information, and the degree to which information and analysis are being used to support institutional decision making.