Current Issues in Higher Education Information Technology Copyright 1993 CAUSE From _CAUSE/EFFECT_ Volume 16, Number 1, Spring 1993. Permission to copy or disseminate all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for commercial advantage, the CAUSE copyright and its date appear,and notice is given that copying is by permission of CAUSE, the association for managing and using information resources in higher education. To disseminate otherwise, or to republish, requires written permission.For further information, contact CAUSE, 4840 Pearl East Circle, Suite 302E, Boulder, CO 80301, 303-449-4430, e-mail info@CAUSE.colorado.edu CURRENT ISSUES IN HIGHER EDUCATION INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ABSTRACT: The CAUSE Current Issues Committee has responsibility for identifying current or developing issues and trends of importance to the future of information technology in higher education. From this process come articles in CAUSE/EFFECT, conference sessions and themes, CAUSE professional papers, and association initiatives. Here is a summary of the major issues identified by the committee at their meeting last December at CAUSE92 in Dallas. Issue: People and Technology The attention of information technology professionals has typically been focused on the technology itself-- the hardware, software, and related technical management issues. However, to fully reap the benefits of information technology, we must now turn our focus to people. Our institutions need new strategies for human resources--just as we have "reengineered" our campuses technologically, we must also "re-purpose" our people and "reculture" our organizations. More adequate personnel development plans need to be developed; career paths need to be strengthened; staffing needs must be addressed from an institutional perspective with institutional goals in mind; organizational structures and processes must be revisited as well; and the campus community must be educated and trained for our IT investment to be truly leveraged. Issue: Communications Paradigm How can higher education set an example for our nation's use and development of a networking infrastructure? Traditionally, such communications infrastructures have been largely proprietary (e.g., the Bell operating companies). Higher education's implementation of communications and information networks has followed a public or open communications model. What strategies have been developed, or what strategies should be developed to be more effective in influencing the development of a national networking infrastructure? Issue: Client-Server Architecture We are finding that the move to client-server architecture is coupled with difficult management issues. Client-server systems pose important problems for security and management, and also challenge traditional computing services roles. How do we guarantee the integrity of institutional data that may be stored in end-user offices? How do these applications potentially change the roles of administrative department staff vs. data center development staff? What is the real cost of support, software, and management; do these costs really offset the hardware economies? Issue: The Need for a National Information Technology Briefing The new administration in Washington, DC, presents an unprecedented opportunity for the development of a national agenda for information technology. The "information age" will provide many and significant opportunities; IT has and will continue to change the way we work. What are these changes? How does and how can IT play a role? How can we educate the general public about these transformations? In addition, presidents and chancellors are looking to professional associations such as CAUSE to be spokespersons on IT issues. A national briefing on information technology, led by CAUSE, would be an important means of communicating with and educating the spectrum of individuals and institutions who will experience these transformations. Issue: Information, Not Computers and Networks The growing integration of voice, print, film, and electronic information media has shifted the emphasis of technology services from "computing" services to "information" services. One example of this evolution is the campus-wide information system--on many campuses the term "information systems" has taken on a much broader definition than simply administrative systems. What are the implications for traditional organizational structures and reporting lines? Where do our libraries fit as part of an integrated information delivery system? How does the activity of "telecomputing" differ from teleconferencing or integrating multimedia computing into the educational program? Issue: The Vanishing Vendor Colleges and universities have long depended on having a reliable and lasting relationship with hardware and software vendors. This is particularly true with software management systems (financial management, administrative software systems, library automation, etc.), where important economies were achieved and dependable development assured through a reliance on commercial packages. How will this change in these volatile times, when many companies are suffering financial losses, being taken over, or simply going out of business? Can we still depend on vendors? What recourse is available? Should we return to the era of self-developed and self-maintained software? Are there things we should be doing now in anticipation of the possibility that an important vendor we are using may sometime disappear? If you have ideas to contribute to the development of these topics, please get in touch with committee chair Rick Detweiler, or CAUSE/EFFECT editor Julia Rudy (staff liaison to the committee), or any committee member. If you would like to direct a message to the entire committee, send e-mail to: issues@cause.colorado.edu. ************************************************************************ 1993 CAUSE CURRENT ISSUES COMMITTEE Richard A.Detweiler, Chair President Hartwick College 607-431-4990 detweilerr@hartwick.edu Charles Blunt Associate Vice Chancellor, IT SUNY Central Administration 518-443-5550 bluntcr@snycenva.bitnet Kenneth C. Blythe Director, Office of Administrative Systems The Pennsylvania State University 814-863-0958 kcb1@ms.psu.edu Conrad Dietz Executive Director Computing & Information Systems Illinois State University 309-438-3758 cpdietz@ilstu.bitnet Charles O. Hardy Vice President for Administrative and Fiscal Affairs Stephen F. Austin State University 409-568-2203 f_hardyco@ccsvax.sfasu.edu Stephen J. King Associate Director Office for Information Technology Harvard University 617-495-3389 sjking@harvarda.harvard.edu Polley A. McClure Vice President and CIO and Professor of Environmental Science University of Virginia 804-982-2249 mcclure@virginia.edu William O. Sherman Dean, Graduate Studies and Research Central Connecticut State University 203-827-7440 sherman@ccsua.ctstateu.edu Martin A. Smith Assistant Vice President for Information Management University of Massachusetts 413-545-3540 m.smith@dpc.umassp.edu John F. Sundstrom Director of Information Technology Grand Valley State University 616-895-2035 sundstru@gvsu.edu Richard P. West Associate Vice President Information Systems and Administrative Services University of California Office of the President 510-987-0407 issrpw@uccvma.ucop.edu Anne Woodsworth Dean, Palmer School Long Island University 516-299-2855 woodswor@vax86.liunet.edu ************************************************************************