2020 IT Organization, Staffing, and Financing

This module contains questions about central IT organization, staffing, and financing. This module is required for all participants.

In responding to the survey questions in this module, unless specified otherwise, please enter data that describe your IT environment during the prior fiscal year (FY2019–20). Prior fiscal year is defined as the most recent fiscal year ending before July 1, 2020.

NOTES:

Throughout the survey, "central IT" refers to the centralized information technology services and support organization reporting to the highest-ranking information technology administrator/officer in the institution.
For CDS participants from central offices of multicampus systems and community college districts, "institution" refers to the central office only, not the entire multicampus entity. For all other participants, "institution" refers to the individual college or university (typically referred to as a "campus").
Please refer to the CDS glossary for definitions of other terms in the survey.

1. In which month and year did your institution's prior fiscal year end?

NOTES:

Prior fiscal year is defined as the most recent fiscal year ending before July 1, 2020.
In the United States, most higher education fiscal years end in May, June, or August.

( ) July 2019
( ) August 2019
( ) September 2019
( ) October 2019
( ) November 2019
( ) December 2019
( ) January 2020
( ) February 2020
( ) March 2020
( ) April 2020
( ) May 2020
( ) June 2020
( ) Other (please specify) ________________________________________________

2. Which month and year marks the end of your institution's current fiscal year?

NOTE:

Current fiscal year is defined as the complete fiscal year ending before July 1, 2021.

( ) July 2020
( ) August 2020
( ) September 2020
( ) October 2020
( ) November 2020
( ) December 2020
( ) January 2021
( ) February 2021
( ) March 2021
( ) April 2021
( ) May 2021
( ) June 2021
( ) Other (please specify) ________________________________________________

3. Please enter the total amount of funds that central IT spent during the prior fiscal year (USD).

NOTES:

Please exclude all depreciation or amortization expenses.
Prior fiscal year is defined as the most recent fiscal year ending before July 1, 2020.
Please also indicate any anticipated changes in spending for the current fiscal year as compared to the prior fiscal year.

	Expenditures	Anticipated changes in spending
	Prior fiscal year expenditures total (USD)	Plan to increase spending	Plan to keep spending as is	Plan to decrease spending	Unsure of plans
Prior fiscal year expenditures		( )	( )	( )	( )

4. Out of the total central IT expenditures reported in question 3, what amounts were spent in the following areas (USD)?

NOTES:

Please exclude all depreciation or amortization expenses.
Prior fiscal year is defined as the most recent fiscal year ending before July 1, 2020.
If central IT spent no funds in an area below, enter "0." Otherwise, enter your amount spent and select "accurate" if you are confident in the number you've entered. If you are able to estimate a dollar amount but feel it could be inaccurate by about 10%, please indicate this by checking "loose estimate." If your institution has spending in an area but you are unable to estimate a dollar amount, select "unable to estimate."
Please also indicate any anticipated changes in spending for the current fiscal year as compared to the prior fiscal year.
While these categories are mutually exclusive, the total of your estimates below does NOT need to sum to the "prior fiscal year expenditures" figure in question 3.
Student employee FTE data are requested in the staffing section of the survey. Please include compensation for all student employees, regardless of funding source.

	Expenditures	Accuracy of estimate			Anticipated changes in spending
	Prior fiscal year expenditures (in USD)	Accurate	Loose estimate	Unable to estimate	Plan to increase spending	Plan to keep spending as is	Plan to decrease spending	Unsure of plans
Central IT capital spending		( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )
Central IT one-time expenses		( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )
Central IT operating spending		( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )
Compensation (including salaries and fringe benefits) for all central IT staff and students (regardless of source of funding)		( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )
Central IT staff professional development (training, education, and training-related travel)		( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )

5. For the following IT domain areas, please enter the total amount of funds that central IT spent during the prior fiscal year (USD).

NOTES:

Please exclude all depreciation or amortization expenses.
Prior fiscal year is defined as the most recent fiscal year ending before July 1, 2020.
Unlike previous versions of the CDS survey, please do not include staff compensation or benefits in the amounts listed for each of these domains.
If central IT spent no funds in an area below, enter "0." Otherwise, enter your amount spent and select "accurate" if you are confident in the number you've entered. If you are able to estimate a dollar amount but feel it could be inaccurate by about 10%, please indicate this by checking "loose estimate." If your institution has spending in an area but you are unable to estimate a dollar amount, select "unable to estimate."
Please also indicate any anticipated changes in spending for the current fiscal year as compared to the prior fiscal year.
We will be moving away from IT domains and toward the 2019 IT Service Catalog in future versions of CDS. To help you prepare for these questions, optional portions of this survey ask for funding and staffing information for some of these services.

	Expenditures	Accuracy of estimate			Anticipated changes in spending
	Prior fiscal year expenditures (USD)	Accurate	Loose estimate	Unable to estimate	Plan to increase spending	Plan to keep spending as is	Plan to decrease spending	Unsure of plans
Administration and management of IT		( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )
Information security		( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )
Research computing services		( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )

6. Please enter the total amount of funds that central IT is expected to spend, or has budgeted to spend, for the current fiscal year (USD).

NOTES:

Please exclude all depreciation or amortization expenses.
Current fiscal year is defined as the complete fiscal year ending before July 1, 2021.

Current fiscal year budget (USD):______________________________________

7. Out of the total budget reported in question 6, what amounts are budgeted for the following areas for the current fiscal year (USD)?

NOTES:

Please exclude all depreciation or amortization expenses.
Current fiscal year is defined as the complete fiscal year ending before July 1, 2021.
If central IT does not plan to spend in an area below, enter "0." Otherwise, enter your budgeted amount and select "accurate" if you are confident in the number you've entered. If you are able to estimate a dollar amount but feel it could be inaccurate by about 10%, please indicate this by checking "loose estimate." If your institution has planned spending in an area but you are unable to estimate a dollar amount, select "unable to estimate."
While these categories are mutually exclusive, the total of your estimates below does NOT need to sum to the "current fiscal year budget" figure in question 6.

	Budget	Accuracy of estimate
	Current fiscal year budget (USD)	Accurate	Loose estimate	Unable to estimate
Central IT capital spending		( )	( )	( )
Central IT one-time expenses		( )	( )	( )
Central IT operating spending		( )	( )	( )
Compensation (including salaries and fringe benefits) for all central IT staff and students (regardless of source of funding)		( )	( )	( )
Central IT staff professional development (training, education, and training-related travel)		( )	( )	( )

8. For the following IT domain areas, please enter the total amount of funds that central IT has budgeted to spend for the current fiscal year (USD).

NOTES:

Please exclude all depreciation or amortization expenses.
Current fiscal year is defined as the complete fiscal year ending before July 1, 2021.
Unlike previous versions of the CDS survey, please do not include staff compensation or benefits in the amounts listed for each of these domains.
If central IT does not plan to spend in an area below, enter "0." Otherwise, enter your budgeted amount and select "accurate" if you are confident in the number you've entered. If you are able to estimate a dollar amount but feel it could be inaccurate by about 10%, please indicate this by checking "loose estimate." If your institution has planned spending in an area, but you are unable to estimate a dollar amount, select "unable to estimate."
We will be moving away from IT domains and towards the 2019 IT Service Catalog in future versions of CDS. To help you prepare for these questions, optional portions of this survey ask for funding and staffing information for some of these services.

	Budget	Accuracy of estimate
	Current fiscal year budget (USD)	Accurate	Loose estimate	Unable to estimate
Administration and management of IT		( )	( )	( )
Information security		( )	( )	( )
Research computing services		( )	( )	( )

9. Please enter the total amount of funds that distributed IT spent during the prior fiscal year (USD).

NOTES:

Please exclude all depreciation or amortization expenses.
Prior fiscal year is defined as the most recent fiscal year ending before July 1, 2020.
If IT at your institution is mostly or completely centralized (75–100% centralized), meaning there is very little or no distributed IT spending, enter "0." Otherwise, enter your amount spent and select "accurate" if you are confident in the number you've entered. If you are able to estimate a dollar amount but feel it could be inaccurate by about 10%, please indicate this by checking "loose estimate." If your institution has distributed IT spending but you are unable to estimate a dollar amount, select "unable to estimate."
Please also indicate any anticipated changes in spending for the current fiscal year as compared to the prior fiscal year.
Recommendations for measuring the cost of distributed IT were developed by ECAR Working Groups and are published in Calculating the Costs of Distributed IT Staff and Applications.

	Expenditures	Accuracy of estimate			Anticipated changes in spending
	Prior fiscal year expenditures (USD)	Accurate	Loose estimate	Unable to estimate	Plan to increase spending	Plan to keep spending as is	Plan to decrease spending	Unsure of plans
IT expenditures outside central IT		( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )

10. Please enter the total amount of distributed IT expenditures budgeted for the current fiscal year (USD).

NOTES:

Please exclude all depreciation or amortization expenses.
Current fiscal year is defined as the complete fiscal year ending before July 1, 2021.
If IT at your institution is mostly or completely centralized (75–100% centralized), meaning there is very little or no distributed IT spending, enter "0." Otherwise, enter your budgeted amount and select "accurate" if you are confident in the number you've entered. If you are able to estimate a dollar amount but feel it could be inaccurate by about 10%, please indicate this by checking "loose estimate." If your institution has planned distributed IT spending but you are unable to estimate a dollar amount, select "unable to estimate."
Recommendations for measuring the cost of distributed IT were developed by ECAR Working Groups and are published in Calculating the Costs of Distributed IT Staff and Applications.

	Budget	Accuracy of estimate
	Current fiscal year budget (USD)	Accurate	Loose estimate	Unable to estimate
IT expenditures budgeted outside central IT		( )	( )	( )

11a. Broadly consider the differences in your institution's IT budget from the prior fiscal year to the current fiscal year. To what extent has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted your institution's IT budget?

[ ] Factors related to COVID-19 have not impacted our budget.
[ ] Factors related to COVID-19 have temporarily (for the current fiscal year only) impacted our budget.
[ ] Factors related to COVID-19 have permanently (for the current fiscal year and the foreseeable future) impacted our budget.
[ ] Unsure or unable to estimate impact on budget

11b. Please use this space to describe any COVID-19 related budget issues not covered in the previous question that you feel add context to the responses you provided throughout the financial section. (optional)

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

The following question is new to the CDS survey this year. It is optional, but we encourage you to complete it. These are data points we hope to collect as required information in following years. Where applicable, definitions of terms are linked in this survey. At the end of this section, you will be able to provide some brief feedback on the question.

12a. For the following categories, please enter the total amount of funds that central IT spent during the prior fiscal year (USD). (optional)

NOTES:

Please exclude all depreciation or amortization expenses.
Prior fiscal year is defined as the most recent fiscal year ending before July 1, 2020.
If central IT spent no funds in an area below, enter "0." Otherwise, enter your amount spent and select "accurate" if you are confident in the number you've entered. If you are able to estimate a dollar amount but feel it could be inaccurate by about 10%, please indicate this by checking "loose estimate." If your institution has spending in an area but you are unable to estimate a dollar amount, select "unable to estimate."
Please also indicate any anticipated changes in spending for the current fiscal year as compared to the prior fiscal year.

	Expenditures	Accuracy of estimate			Anticipated changes in spending
	Prior fiscal year expenditures (USD)	Accurate	Loose estimate	Unable to estimate	Plan to increase spending	Plan to keep spending as is	Plan to decrease spending	Unsure of plans
Memberships and subscriptions (e.g., Gartner, EAB, EDUCAUSE, etc.)		( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )
SaaS spending, including contracts		( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )
On-premise software spending, including contracts		( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )

12b. Please provide any comments about question 12a. Specifically, we'd like to know how useful you find the question to be for peer benchmarking, how difficult or easy it is to answer, and whether any additional guidance would be helpful in writing your response. (optional)

13. How many full-time equivalent (FTE) staff and students were employed in central IT on April 1 of the prior fiscal year?

NOTES:

Student numbers should be entered in FTEs. This may be different from the total number of student workers in central IT. For example, 4 students working 10 hours a week each would count as 1 FTE. The following methods may be used to calculate this number:
- If you know the total number of student worker hours allocated to central IT during the fiscal year, divide that number by 2,080 (number of hours per year, based on a 40-hour work week).
- If you know the total number of dollars used for student workers, divide that number by the average hourly wage and then divide the result by 2,080.
Please include fixed-term employees.
In order to include student workers employed during the academic year alongside staff, we're using April 1 of the prior fiscal year as a reference date for this question.
Please also indicate any anticipated changes in staffing for the current fiscal year as compared to the prior fiscal year.

	FTE	Anticipated changes in staffing
	FTE amount	Plan to increase staff	No planned changes	Plan to decrease staff	Unsure of plan
Central IT staff FTE		( )	( )	( )	( )
Central IT student employee FTE		( )	( )	( )	( )

14. Of those central IT FTEs specified in question 13 (excluding students), how many were employed in each of the following domain areas on April 1 of the prior fiscal year?

NOTES:

The total FTEs in the rows below do not need to total to the number of staff FTE listed in question 13.
Please also indicate any anticipated changes in staffing for the current fiscal year as compared to the prior fiscal year.
If central IT does not have staff in an area below, enter "0." Otherwise, enter the number of FTE for each area. If you are able to estimate FTE staff but feel it could be inaccurate by about 10%, please indicate this by checking "loose estimate." If your institution has FTE staff in an area but you are unable to estimate the amount, select "unable to estimate."
In order to include student workers employed during the academic year alongside staff, we're using April 1 of the prior fiscal year as a reference date for this question.

	Staff	Accuracy of estimate			Anticipated changes in staffing
	Central IT staff FTE	Accurate	Loose estimate	Unable to estimate	Plan to increase staff	No planned changes	Plan to decrease staff	Unsure of plan
Administration and management of IT		( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )
Information security		( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )
Research computing services		( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )

15a. Consider the changes in your institution's staffing levels as noted in questions 13 and 14 on the previous pages. To what extent has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted your institution's staffing?

[ ] Factors related to COVID-19 did not have a noticeable impact on our staffing.
[ ] Factors related to COVID-19 have temporarily (for the current fiscal year only) impacted our staffing decisions.
[ ] Factors related to COVID-19 have permanently (for the current fiscal year and the foreseeable future) impacted our staffing decisions.
[ ] Unsure or unable to estimate impact on staffing

15b. Please use this space to describe any staffing issues related to COVID-19 not covered in the previous question that you feel add context to the responses you provided throughout the staffing section. (optional)

16. Please specify the number of FTE staff and FTE students that held distributed IT roles on April 1 of the prior fiscal year.

NOTES:

Student numbers should be entered in FTEs. This may be different from the total number of student workers in central IT. For example, 4 students working 10 hours a week each would count as 1 FTE. The following methods may be used to calculate this number:
- If you know the total number of student worker hours allocated to central IT during the fiscal year, divide that number by 2,080 (number of hours per year based on a 40-hour work week).
- If you know the total number of dollars used for student workers, divide that number by the average hourly wage and then divide the result by 2,080.
Please include fixed-term employees.
In order to include student workers employed during the academic year alongside staff, we're using April 1 of the prior fiscal year as a reference date for this question.
If IT at your institution is mostly or completely centralized (75-100% centralized), meaning there is very little or no distributed IT, enter "0." Otherwise, enter the number of FTE. If you are able to estimate FTE staff but feel it could be inaccurate by about 10%, please indicate this by checking "loose estimate." If your institution has distributed IT FTE but you are unable to estimate the amount, select "unable to estimate."
Recommendations for measuring the cost of distributed IT were developed by ECAR Working Groups and are published in Calculating the Costs of Distributed IT Staff and Applications.

	FTE	Accuracy of estimate
	Distributed IT FTE	Accurate	Loose estimate	Unable to estimate
IT staff FTE outside central IT		( )	( )	( )
IT student employee FTE outside central IT		( )	( )	( )

Please answer the following questions regarding staffing and hiring practices as they apply to the prior fiscal year.

The following questions are new to the CDS survey this year. They are optional, but we encourage you to complete them. These are data points we hope to collect as required information in following years. Where applicable, definitions of terms are linked in this survey. At the end of this section, you will be able to provide some brief feedback on the utility of the questions, how difficult or easy they were to answer, and any additional clarification or guidance you may need to provide an accurate response.

17. Of those central IT FTEs specified in question 13 (excluding students), how many were employed in each of the following roles on April 1 of the prior fiscal year? (optional)

NOTES:

The total FTEs in the rows below do not need to total to the number of staff FTE listed in question 13.
Please also indicate any anticipated changes in staffing for the current fiscal year as compared to the prior fiscal year.
If central IT does not have staff in an area below, enter "0." Otherwise, enter the number of FTE for each area. If you are able to estimate FTE staff but feel it could be inaccurate by about 10%, please indicate this by checking "loose estimate." If your institution has FTE staff in an area but you are unable to estimate the amount, select "unable to estimate."
In order to include student workers employed during the academic year alongside staff, we're using April 1 of the prior fiscal year as a reference date for this question.

	FTE	Accuracy of estimate			Anticipated changes in staffing
	Central IT staff FTE	Accurate	Loose estimate	Unable to estimate	Plan to increase staff	No planned changes	Plans to decrease staff	Unsure of plans
Database administrator		( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )
Business analyst		( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )
Data scientist		( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )

18. Within central IT staff, did a freeze on any of the following take place in the prior fiscal year? (optional)

NOTE:

If your institution has not offered one of the categories below, such as cost of living increases, please select "no."

	Yes	No	Unsure
Filling vacant positions	( )	( )	( )
Promotions	( )	( )	( )
Salary raises	( )	( )	( )
Cost of living increases	( )	( )	( )
Job reclassifications	( )	( )	( )

19. Within central IT staff, is a freeze on any of the following in effect in the current fiscal year? (optional)

NOTE:

If your institution has not offered one of the categories below, such as cost of living increases, please select "no."

	Yes	No	Unsure
Filling vacant positions	( )	( )	( )
Promotions	( )	( )	( )
Salary raises	( )	( )	( )
Cost of living increases	( )	( )	( )
Job reclassifications	( )	( )	( )

20. Approximately how many newly created positions (FTE) were added to central IT during the prior fiscal year? (optional)

________________________________________________________________

21. Approximately how many positions (FTE) were eliminated (e.g., via layoffs, restructuring, transfer to another unit outside of central IT) from central IT during the prior fiscal year? (optional)

________________________________________________________________

22. Approximately how many positions (FTE) were hired from underrepresented groups during the prior fiscal year? (optional)

________________________________________________________________

23. Please provide any comments about questions 17-22. Specifically, we'd like to know how useful you find the questions to be for peer benchmarking, how difficult or easy they are to answer, and whether any additional guidance would be helpful in writing your response. (optional)

We will be moving away from IT domains and toward the 2019 IT Service Catalog in future versions of CDS. This section asks for funding and staffing information for some of these services. Please reference our guidance on how to best estimate service areas in relation to IT domains.

24a. For each of the IT services listed below, please answer the questions for those services that are primarily provided by central IT at your institution. (optional)

NOTES:

Please exclude all depreciation or amortization expenses.
Prior fiscal year is defined as the most recent fiscal year ending before July 1, 2020.
If central IT spent no funds on a service below, enter "0." Otherwise, enter your amount spent and select "accurate" if you are confident in the number you've entered. If you are able to estimate a dollar amount but feel it could be inaccurate by about 10%, please indicate this by checking "loose estimate." If your institution has spending in an area but you are unable to estimate a dollar amount, select "unable to estimate."
Please do not include staff compensation or benefits in the spending amounts listed for each of these services.
Student numbers should be entered in FTEs. This may be different from the total number of student workers in central IT. For example, 4 students working 10 hours a week each would count as 1 FTE. The following methods may be used to calculate this number:
- If you know the total number of student worker hours allocated to central IT during the fiscal year, divide that number by 2,080 (number of hours per year based on a 40-hour work week).
- If you know the total number of dollars used for student workers, divide that number by the average hourly wage and then divide the result by 2080.
Please include fixed-term employees.
In order to include student workers employed during the academic year alongside staff, we're using April 1 of the prior fiscal year as a reference date for this question.

	Level of outsourcing						Spending	Staff	Student Employees	Accuracy of estimate
	0–10% outsourced	10–25% outsourced	25–50% outsourced	50–75% outsourced	75–100% outsourced	Unsure	Prior fiscal year expenditures total (USD)	Central IT staff FTE employed on April 1 of the prior fiscal year?	Central IT student employee FTE on April 1 of the prior fiscal year?	Accurate	Loose estimate	Unable to estimate
IT service delivery and support	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )				( )	( )	( )
Desktop and mobile device support	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )				( )	( )	( )
Academic technology and support	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )				( )	( )	( )
Learning management	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )				( )	( )	( )
Instructional technology and design	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )				( )	( )	( )
Conferencing and telephones	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )				( )	( )	( )
Network and connectivity management	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )				( )	( )	( )
Database management	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )				( )	( )	( )
Data center services	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )				( )	( )	( )
Server and storage management	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )	( )				( )	( )	( )

24b. Please provide any comments about question 24a. Specifically, we'd like to know how useful you find the questions to be for peer benchmarking, how difficult or easy they are to answer, and whether any additional guidance would be helpful in writing your response. (optional)

25. Please provide, in a paragraph or two, any background information about IT organization, staffing, and financing in your institution that could be useful to other CDS participants who may be using your data in their benchmarking. Examples: "We hired a consultant to redesign our funding model" or "In the past year we migrated student e-mail to a cloud service." (optional)

26. Please provide the name and email address of the person to contact regarding your institution's responses to this survey. (optional)

27. EDUCAUSE welcomes your feedback on this survey module. Please let us know of any technologies, innovations, or challenges important to your institution that are not addressed or are inadequately addressed in this year's survey. We'd also like to know if any questions in this module are not relevant to your institution. How else could this module of the CDS survey be improved? (optional)

28. How many people participated in preparing and completing the answers to the questions in this module? (optional)

( ) 1<
( ) 2 - 4
( ) 5+

29. Approximately how much time did you spend on the following? (optional)

	Number of hours
Acquiring and processing question data prior to entering data into the survey
Entering data into the survey

30. How easy was it for you to complete this module? Please take into consideration the amount of time it took, the ease of gathering information needed to answer the questions, the ease of identifying people at your institution to supply the answers, the clarity of the questions, etc. (optional)

( ) Very difficult
( ) Difficult
( ) Somewhat difficult
( ) Somewhat easy
( ) Easy
( ) Very easy