EDUCAUSE | Communication

Emergency Communications

drupal — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 06:53:22 -0600

This group focuses on strategic issues and tactical challenges that affect IT communications in planning for, during mitigation of, and following an emergency in higher education. Discussion topics include telecommunication infrastructure and electronic services, campus coordination, the role of IT staff, campus drills, funding, security and safety, community awareness, vendors, and information and network policies. The group examines policies, best practices, and lessons learned.

IT Communications

drupal — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:02:44 -0600

This group addresses the challenge that IT professionals and organizations face in communicating strategically and clearly to user communities, to internal and external constituencies, to campus leadership, and within the IT organization itself. Topics for discussion are broad, ranging from best practices and lessons learned to feedback and/or deconstruction of communications written by participants.

Asynchronous and Synchronous E-Learning

ckeller — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:24:01 -0600

A study of asynchronous and synchronous e-learning methods discovered that each supports different purposes.

Campus Emergency Notification at UNC-Wilmington

drupal — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:19:15 -0600

This presentation will explore the challenges that UNC–Wilmington encountered in providing for the broadcast and communication of emergency notification alerts to the at-large campus community. Since the methods of delivery can be diverse (siren, cable broadcast, internet, e-messaging), collaboration across departments was necessary to create this well-rounded solution.

Breaking Through Technology Barriers: Creating an Effective IT Communications Program with a Limited Budget

drupal — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:11:02 -0500

IT organizations are challenged with communicating to various audiences (students, faculty, staff, parents, patients, board members, vendors, community). Discover how the University of Rochester, a decentralized environment, implemented an IT communication plan to address issues. Attendees will gain examples of tools and techniques that can be repurposed to meet their needs.

Crisis Communications: The Virginia Tech Response

drupal — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:08:48 -0500

Liberally paraphrasing the great American war general Dwight Eisenhower, in war, planning is everything; in battle, plans go out the window. Effective crisis communications demand significant planning. Once youre in a crisis event, instinctive reaction and reliance on experience take over. Come to this session to understand Virginia Techs crisis communications response to a tragedy for which no one can prepare.

Soft-Selling Tough Issues

drupal — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:01:27 -0500

LSU's IT communications and security officers joined forces to effectively educate campus populations about IT security threats and best practices.

The Survey Channel: Now Available in HD Delivery

drupal — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:19:50 -0500

ITS at Mississippi State University has created an efficient and secure online survey instrument used in the university's portal survey channel. The campus portal, onCampus, enables the instrument to be delivered to a precise target population in a secure, stable environment that produces quick, accurate responses.

Deciphering Social Networks

ckeller — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:18:37 -0500

Adoption and usage data regarding social networking trends by consumers has convinced many business and IT leadership teams that social network sites, and their technological underpinnings, can be viewed as viable usage models to satisfy the communication, information sharing, and collaboration needs of the enterprise. In addition, strategists believe that the technology that supports such sites should be considered a credible technological model to help guide internal deployments. Higher education institutions should be careful, however, that they don't blindly adopt solutions simply because they are popular at the moment. Strategists unfamiliar with the field of social networks beyond its technological aspects should pay attention to issues such as:

How culture influences awareness of, and engagement in, social networks
How social networks can be structured in different ways with, or without, technology as a mediation method
How relationship dynamics influence participation (e.g., politics)

Links to documents within this file might require secure access to restricted Web sites.

Burton Group (www.burtongroup.com) provides technically in-depth research and advisory services for colleges and universities, government agencies, and commercial enterprises. Burton Group's practical and unbiased research and advice helps technologists make smart IT infrastructure decisions in increasingly complex environments. Burton Group covers directories, identity management, application platforms, architecture, and network and telecom infrastructure topics. Like ECAR, Burton Group is an unbiased advocate for the user and more than 80% of Burton Group's clients are user organizations rather than suppliers. EDUCAUSE member institutions can become users of Burton Group research services through EDUCAUSE pricing. Burton Group is an ECAR partner and can be contacted by email at slesueur@burtongroup.com or by telephone (801-373-5767).

Outdoor Sirens, Low-Tech but Highly Effective, Bolster Colleges' Emergency Responses

ckeller — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:37:57 -0500

Colleges and universities around the country, ever more mindful of campus safety, are installing outdoor sirens. The systems can blast spoken messages or tone alerts of danger—and one of the preset messages on many of the public-address systems warns: "There is a shooter on campus. Seek shelter immediately."