Case Studies

This ECAR case study complements the 2008 ECAR study, Process and Politics: IT Governance in Higher Education, by Ronald Yanosky with Jack McCredie. ECAR undertook this case study of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to demonstrate how the underlying elements of a mature governance process facilitate the strategic development of information technology (IT) services. QUT has carried on a sustained program of IT governance development for almost a decade, in order to create a mature set of institutional supports, a layered advisory and decision-making structure that feeds innovation, and a network of involved governance participants, with the ultimate goal of developing a set of optimal IT services for the university. Characterized as "relationships underpinned by light-weight process frameworks in order to extract value from technology tools," QUT's IT governance structure relies on engaged people who drive the process as well as the project management and financial tools that assist with decision making.

This ECAR case study complements the 2008 ECAR study, Process and Politics: IT Governance in Higher Education, by Ronald Yanosky with Jack McCredie. ECAR undertook this case study of the University of California Berkeley to demonstrate how a large, decentralized research university approaches a complete rethinking of a campus information technology (IT) governance structure and the steps taken to initiate the transition to the new structure.

Citation for this work: Spicer, Donald Z., and Judith A. Pirani. "Reforming IT Governance at Berkeley: Introducing an Enterprise Perspective to a Decentralized Organization" (Case Study 3). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

This ECAR case study complements the 2008 ECAR study by Philip J. Goldstein, Leading the IT Workforce in Higher Education. Developing the IT Workforce at the University of South Australia describes both the commitment of the University of South Australia (UniSA) to its workforce and the information technology organization’s successful effort to create and foster a high-performing IT team. Since its formation in 1991, UniSA faced exceptionally stiff challenges in transforming itself from a technical institute and college of advanced education into a comprehensive research-oriented university. This evolution brought with it workforce misalignments in both the academic and professional staff. With its longstanding and explicit commitment to equity and a great deal of foresight, UniSA’s leaders have established the institution’s reputation as an employer committed to the well-being of academic and professional staff even in the face of major competition in the turbulent financial environment and the local employment market.

This ECAR case study complements the 2007 ECAR study by Mark C. Sheehan, Service on the Front Line: The IT Help Desk in Higher Education, which examines the state of higher education help desk organizations, services, tools, resources, and management practices and how these and assorted other measures are related to desirable help desk outcomes. ECAR undertook this case study of New York University to demonstrate how the framework of IT service management practices and functions known as the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) can strengthen service management practices in a complex higher education institution.

Citation for this work: Pirani, Judith A., Mark C. Sheehan, and Bob Albrecht. “ITIL at New York University: A Framework for Excellence” (Case Study 1). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

This case study complements the 2007 ECAR study by Mark C. Sheehan, Service on the Front Line: The IT Help Desk in Higher Education, which examines the state of higher education help desk organizations, services, tools, resources, and management practices and how these and assorted other measures are related to desirable help desk outcomes. ECAR undertook this case study of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to demonstrate how the central IT help desk can become an integrating support organization in the context of a large, decentralized university.

Citation for this work: Spicer, Donald Z., and Judith A. Pirani. "University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Integrating IT Support Institution-Wide" (Case Study 9). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2007, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

This case study complements the 2007 ECAR study by Mark C. Sheehan, Service on the Front Line: The IT Help Desk in Higher Education, which examines the state of higher education help desk organizations, services, tools, resources, and management practices and how these and assorted other measures are related to desirable help desk outcomes. ECAR undertook this case study of the University of Alberta to examine how its IT help desk uses online tools, and how the use of those tools impact the overall IT organization operations.

Citation for this work: Pirani, Judith A., and Donald Z. Spicer. "University of Alberta: Using Online Help Desk Tools to Enhance Client Service and Department Operations" (Case Study 8). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2007, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

This case study complements the 2007 ECAR study by Mark C. Sheehan, Service on the Front Line: The IT Help Desk in Higher Education, which examines the state of higher education help desk organizations, services, tools, resources, and management practices and how these and assorted other measures are related to desirable help desk outcomes. ECAR undertook this case study of Bowdoin College and Colgate University to demonstrate how the help desk can be used strategically as a revitalization tool and to assess its subsequent impact upon the IT organization and the institution at large.

Citation for this work: Albrecht, Bob, and Judith A. Pirani. "Bowdoin College and Colgate University: Using the Help Desk Strategically to Revitalize an IT Organization" (Case Study 7). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

This case study complements the 2007 ECAR study by Philip J. Goldstein, IT Collaboration: Multi-Institutional Partnerships to Develop, Manage, and Operate IT Resources. Researchers undertook this case study to understand the benefits of multi-institutional development of a ubiquitously needed IT service. By leveraging emerging technology, procurement opportunities, and internal resources, the University of California Office of the President and University of California, San Diego were able to develop a complex disaster recovery solution involving the joint hosting and comprehensive mirroring of each location’s mainframe and non-mainframe computing environments.

This case study complements the 2007 ECAR study by Philip J. Goldstein, IT Collaboration: Multi-Institutional Partnerships to Develop, Manage, and Operate IT Resources. Researchers undertook this case study to understand the methods and practices used to manage ongoing collaborative activity and how the Kuali group partners plan for the sustainability of their collaboration. The case study highlights the collaborative nature of the Kuali Project to meet its goal of building a suite of administrative software, rather than the project’s history, structure, or operations.

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.