IT Organization

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

Culture clash between centralized and decentralized IT is common on campuses today. Understanding what motivates one team to pursue risky solutions and another to pursue reserved solutions helps us work together and appreciate our differences. Using S-curves, this presentation will illustrate why cultures are different among various campus populations.

In 2007, ECAR conducted a study of help desk management tools and practices in higher education information technology. This session looks at the study's findings as they reflect the help desk's role in addressing the emergence of new IT environments and the changing expectations of the client base.

Going from a group of advisory committees with no relationship structure to a formal governance structure with decision rights requires a significant amount of work. This presentation will cover the process and results of creating the recommended structure at the University of Houston from 2006 to 2007.

Skidmore's CTO wanted to create a professional development experience for the IT organization that focused on "organizational effectiveness." In response, we created a simulation of an external IT review and asked IT staff to take a hard look at the issues facing the IT organization at the fictitious Highhopes College.

Simulating an external department review at the imaginary Highhopes College gave IT staff at Skidmore College a very real opportunity for professional development.

Thirteen CIOs/Vice-Presidents discuss various aspects of the blending of responsibilities that has led to a current “identity crisis” in higher education information technology and to the organizational confusion over the role of centralized and decentralized IT services.

Nancy Tribbensee's review of Information Security: A Legal, Business, and Technical Handbook, notes that is is a concise, nontechnical overview of the concepts, regulatory requirements, and challenges facing information security.