Higher Ed 101: Filling a Void in IT Professional Development Presented by: Dr. Leslie Hitch & Beth-Anne Dancause Northeastern University

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Background Why we need Higher Ed 101: Organizational impact on customer relations Budgetary pressures Leadership continuity This model is transferable and can be adopted by your organization

Course Objectives To understand core differences between corporate and higher education organizational structures To learn the roles & interconnections between individuals and departments within the University To examine, from as many perspectives as possible, how information technology helps and sometimes hinders the day to day workings of higher ed To consider societal pressures affecting higher ed and the role IT may play in augmenting those pressures. To give participants familiarity and understanding of commonly used higher education terminology.

The Evolution of the Course In the beginning… 2 days with homework as a pilot Focused on faculty & staff experience As it evolved… Half a day session Includes student experience Incorporates administrative systems Mandatory for all IT staff

Condensed Higher Ed 101 AGENDA Review of objectives Lecture- History of Higher Education Pin the Name on the Org Chart Lecture- Role of President, Provost, Trustees Lecture- Staff Lecture- Day in the Life of a Student Classroom Discussion & Questions

Everybody Else Reports to Everybody Else Traditional Corporate Org Chart

Traditional Higher Ed Org Chart

Themes in Academia 1)Shared Governance 2) Academic Freedom (AAUP) 3) Tenure & Promotion

Pin the Tail on the Org Chart Objective: What offices report to each area of the University? What systems/services does IT provide for these offices? Outcome: An understanding of interrelated areas Understanding of internal silos

What’s the Role of the President, Provost & Trustees? TRUSTEES Oversee university strategy, business and financial decisions… PRESIDENT Chief Executive Officer and reports to Board of Trustees… Increase the University’s national and international reach… PROVOST Reports to the President and is a member of the Cabinet… The Provost’s responsibilities include providing leadership for the university’s academic programs, policy development, library, personnel….

The Staff Perspective How do administrative systems fit into the higher education philosophy? Does “shared governance” apply to administrative systems? Example: Graduate Recruitment

Why does this matter to me? Thoughts from the Crowd… “The subject matter definitely will help me cope with frustrating situations and will probably help me get more ideas through the pipeline.” - Applications Developer “The first exercise made me realize how much my vision is restricted to the departments I work with and not the university as a whole.” - Senior Database Administrator

Back to School What percentage of students own their own computers**? A: 52% B: 70% C: 87% What percentage of students use the Internet more than the Library*? A: 23% B: 73% C: 90% What percentage of students have a laptop**? A: 10% B: 24% C: 36% What IT services does this impact? How does this change the way we teach our students? How many hours per week do students spend online*? A: 3 B: 7 C: 11 How is supporting a laptop different than supporting a desktop? How many students are impacted by a 1 hour outage of Internet service?

A Day in the LIFE of a Student Gotta figure out what to wear- check the weather on weather.com and browse the headlines on boston.com… 8:15 Head over to the Help Desk in panic mode. They help me scan my disk and recover the file just in time to print and make it to class! 8:45 11:00 Fire up my wireless laptop and check my to see where my group is meeting. I IM my roommate Sue to find out where she wants to eat. 10:25 11:00AM Prof. Thomas shows us a streaming video from cnn.com of a press conference on Oracle’s takeover attempt of PeopleSoft. His notes will be online tonight.

A Day in the LIFE of a Student 11:00 Group work- we break up the assignment into pieces and each agree to post our contribution to Yahoo!Groups by Sunday. 1:00 Downtime- I swing by my room. Send my professor an asking for clarification on our assignment. Log onto the portal to see events. 2:00 Chat with mom on IM to get the gossip on my sister. Cue up the new Britney Spears song from iTunes. Check my Palm to see what readings are due. 7:00 I almost forgot- the last day to register is today! Log onto the portal and take a quick look at the class schedule- see a cool class so I make an appointment to see my advisor tomorrow.

When Things Go Wrong- Andrew Our WorldTheir World Oct. 27 IDF Outage: West Village B Hardware Failure 1 Hr 3 Minutes

With Apologies to Letterman Changing demographics New enrollment patterns Security For-profit education Technological revolution Globalization Scientific research Rapid tuition increases Accountability Money 10 top things affecting higher education

Did You Pass the Course? What are the 3 major themes in higher education? Is the President or Chancellor the same as a CEO? Is “getting tenure” contagious? (trick question) If the VP can tell the IT staff what to do, why can’t the VP of IT dictate what kind of computer everyone must use? How are students using technology & how does this affect IT? How does IT affect the traditional roles & responsibilities at a university?

Questions? For further information about this presentation, please contact: Dr. Leslie P. Hitch Director, Academic Technology Services Northeastern University 360 Huntington Avenue 403 Richards Hall Boston, MA