By Nancy Hays

The theme of this special issue of EQ, “Tackling the Economic Downturn,” aligns with the theme of the July/August EDUCAUSE Review, “Beyond the Economic Downturn.” Where the Review authors sketch out their visions of strategic shifts in higher education’s use of and investment in technology, the EQ authors provide practical advice on dealing with tight budgets for the indefinite future and making the most of available options.

Four articles address cost strategies specifically:

• Stuart Lee and Kate Lindsay explain how a mass scanning project shifted costs to the community while increasing submissions to the Great War Archive.
• George Claffey suggests looking through a new lens to achieve cost savings, with membership in a like-minded consortium providing immediate leverage for smaller schools in particular.
• Fred Miller shares ways to cut the IT budget strategically and warns what not to cut to avoid damage.
• Wayne Brown talks with Gerry Bayne of EDUCAUSE about the challenges and rewards of changing jobs during difficult financial times.

Five articles explain best practices for implementing IT projects while keeping an eye on the bottom line:

• Brian Stewart and Dave Hrenewich created a costing modelto help campuses understand the real costs involved in IT projects. They include an interactive Excel version of their model for readers to experiment with and advice on modifying it.
• Timothy Carroll explains the lessons learned from implementing an ERP system, including ways to keep costs under control throughout the process.
• Thomas Trappler tackles the realities of open-source softwareas a solution, laying out the pros and cons and what to look out for.
• Jon Rickman, Roger Von Holzen, Paul Klute, and Teri Tobin share their lessons learned from implementing an e-textbook initiative. Their goals were to reduce student costs of buying traditional texts, explore the pedagogical potential of e-texts, and investigate which options would work best for their campus.
• Eric Schoedel describes using gigabit wireless to connect temporary off-campus facilities with the main campus during a construction project while saving budget funds, achieving security and reliability goals, and meeting a tight deadline.

Also in this issue, Pierre-Yves Burgi discusses the challenges in setting up cross-institutional virtual campuses in Switzerland, while Anne Arendt and Nathan Gerber explain dispersed web content management on their campus. In their provocative Opinion pieces, Marty Klubeck tackles metrics for trying times; Sharon Blanton warns about IT cuts and regulatory compliance; Albert DeSimone suggests rethinking the IT core; Jim Jorstad shares ideas for educational technology; and Patricia Baia has an idea for obtaining professional development when it has been cut from the budget. And finally, don’t forget our regular columns: Wendell Brase and Mark Askren on Sustainability; Colin Currie on Openness; Lanny Arvan on Framing Questions; and the Career Counseloranswering questions about problems on campus.

As a last note, many thanks to Chad Gaines for allowing us to create quick tips from his article “Making the Most of Technology You Already Have,” which appears in the Opinions for this issue.

Nobody expects easy solutions to the economic downturn. But this special issue of EQ will, we hope, give you new ideas for tackling some of the resulting budgetary problems for IT in higher education.

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