Institutional Management

How environmentally friendly is your college or university? Well, it all depends on whom you ask.

As higher education has become more conscious of issues such as sustainability, a number of independent assessments have arisen from both nonprofit and for-profit sources. For better or for worse, they all have different methods of evaluation and serve disparate audiences — and many of these assessments rely on self-reporting. As these green ratings have proliferated, many college officials have said they would prefer a national standard. And some experts think a new environmental rating being created may become one.

In an environment of rapid technological development and increasing accountability, institutions need to poise themselves for adaptability while containing costs. Saint Xavier University formed an internal work group, advancing information management (AIM), to examine ways to leverage existing technology and align enrollment initiatives with institutional processes while advancing the institution's vision and mission.

Several levels of information are required to run a healthy institution. Executives need to gauge progress on strategic objectives. Midlevel managers need to develop tactics. Many people require daily transactional information. We will address both the organizational and technical requirements needed to partner with each level of decision makers.

Today in many circles the mention of knowledge management conjures up fears of complex IT systems (often equated with failure) or a new initiative (often associated with vague requirements). How do you develop a knowledge management program that incorporates the essence of organizational learning and knowledge sharing without new tools or systems? The Johnson Space Center has embarked on such a quest to define a program that leverages the wealth of knowledge of 50 years of human space flight not only for today's workforce but also for generations to come.

At the University of Illinois, a partnership exists between progressive deans and administrators and the Decision Support unit to "prove the benefits" of dashboard technology as part of the enterprise business intelligence architecture. Learn how a program framework encourages effective collaboration across and within academic and technology teams.

Enterprise architecture can translate vision into effective enterprise change. In a recent survey, 20 percent of CIOs were planning a new enterprise architecture group. This session will discuss the formation of variations, interaction styles and the placement of EA in the organization, and a new EA peer group in academia.

The University of Wisconsin–Madison has developed a process for the life cycle of institutional IT policy that emphasizes the involvement of governance bodies, functional offices, campus departments, and technologists. This session will present the process and how it was developed to fit the institutional culture.

This meeting will focus on planning, coordinating, facilitating, and providing technology services for state higher education systems. Identification and exploration of areas in which collaboration adds value, reduces costs, and encourages cooperation will be central to the discussion. Directors or managers of IT for state systems or coalitions of colleges, coordinators of statewide networks, and system-level IT users such as directors of distance learning coalitions should plan to participate.

The author discusses the dichotomy between pursuing innovative research and the funding and administration of it.