This article was published in CAUSE/EFFECT journal, Volume 21 Number 3 1998. The copyright is shared by EDUCAUSE and the author. See http://www.educause.edu/copyright for additional copyright information.
At the 1998 Seminars on Academic Computing,1 Program Chair Mark Resmer in his introductory remarks quipped that it isn�t often we have the opportunity to hear from "two governors and a knight." He was referring to SAC�s good fortune in having Sir John S. Daniel, vice-chancellor of the U.K. Open University, deliver the conference�s keynote address, with Colorado Governor Roy Romer and Utah Governor Michael Leavitt also on hand for a post-presentation Q&A session. CAUSE/EFFECT capitalized on this opportunity to bring some of the thoughtful dialogue from that meeting to our readers through an interview conducted by Polley Ann McClure, newly elected chair of the EDUCAUSE Board of Directors.Sir John Daniel is enjoying increasing and well-deserved recognition in the U.S. as the author of Mega-Universities and Knowledge Media: Technology Strategies for Higher Education (see page 18 for a review of this title). As co-founders of the Western Governors University, Leavitt and Romer also have an intense interest in the potential of information technology to enable colleges and universities to deliver education in new ways, unfettered by space and time constraints, and consequently to new audiences--especially those who are unable to have a residential campus experience.
McClure�s insightful interview questions elicited some equally insightful answers from these leaders, all of whom believe that it is imperative that colleges and universities take a hard look at their missions and roles in an increasingly global and age-independent education marketplace. For many, they say, this isn�t just a question of innovation but a matter of survival.
Two other articles in this issue relate to this imperative and, in fact, both provide some very practical advice at the institutional level. Blustain, Goldstein, and Lozier offer a useful framework for assessing an institution�s potential position in the distance education marketplace, identifying barriers to entry, creating a business plan to take advantage of new opportunities, and charting a sound course to compete. Authors Berge and Schrum advocate taking an integrated approach to planning for and implementing a distance education program to ensure that it will be part of the overall fabric of the institution, rather than a marginal add-on.
With the consolidation of CAUSE and Educom, CAUSE/EFFECT has become a publication of EDUCAUSE. While we will continue to be a practitioner�s journal whose primary mission is to provide a forum for sharing campus experiences and issues related to managing and using information resources, we also recognize the importance of covering issues that challenge higher education as a whole. Thus the "Current Issues" articles we bring you will address not only campus information resources policy and practice issues, but national and international policy issues as well. See Polley McClure�s article on why such policy issues matter for an overview of some of the ongoing and emerging higher education issues we�ll be following in the coming months.
As EDUCAUSE continues to articulate future strategies and programmatic directions, a key area targeted for attention is association publications. Building on the excellence of our predecessor organizations in this area, we want to continue to provide our members the information you need to do your job well and to understand the broader higher education context within which you do that job. To that end, within the next few months EDUCAUSE will be disseminating a survey to a sample of readers to gather feedback about our current publications and how you prefer to receive them and other member products and services. If you are among those who receive this survey, please take the time to complete it! Of course, we will share the results of the survey with you, as well as any potential changes that may occur in response to your feedback.
While periodic formal surveying is a valuable activity, don�t forget that you can share comments and suggestions with us at any time ([email protected]). So let us hear from you!
Julia A. Rudy, CAUSE/EFFECT Editor