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In This Issue
Trust, but Verify
9/30/2004
In the IT game of Who Do You Trust? We may need more than a hope and a prayer.
However you feel about Ronald Reagan, there is no question that he truly was
a Great Communicator. Reagan (and his handlers) could create or turn a sound
bite into a phrase that would linger long beyond the moment. You may recall
that in 1987, Reagan, citing an old Russian proverb, told Soviet Premier Mikhail
Gorbachev that the foundation for the new
US-Soviet relationship surrounding arms control would be “trust, but verify”
(doveryay, no proveryay). In fact, Reagan’s comment to Gorbachev
has found life well beyond the context of the 1980s US-Russian discussions on
arms control: Google cites more than 16,000 references to “trust, but
verify.”
Interestingly, in recent months I have been hearing that Reaganesque “trust,
but verify” theme, as senior campus officials discuss IT issues affecting
their institutions. For example, “trust, but verify” was clearly
the message that Miami University (OH) President James Garland
offered to the 200 campus IT officials from Ohio colleges and universities who
convened on his campus for the April 2004 Ohio Higher Education Computing Council
(OHECC) conference. In his welcoming statement to the OHECC audience, Garland,
a physicist by training, described himself as a “fan of good technology.”
But, the best technology, Garland observed, “is that which you don’t
notice, unless it is to admire its elegance or effectiveness. Unfortunately,”
he added, “we’re still noticing computers—and not for their
elegance or effectiveness.”
Who Can We Trust?
Speaking about his presidential colleagues and directly to the OHCCE audience, Garland noted that a key challenge confronting senior campus officials is, “Who do we trust about IT needs?” Noting that presidents and provosts “often lack the technical knowledge to evaluate proposals,” he stated that it is senior IT people who must translate technology options and vendor proposals into real and effective campus solutions. Garland’s public statement ech'es the growing number of private conversations (rants?) about IT issues on campus and in higher education.
What, precisely, has fostered the “trust, but verify” mentality among college presidents, provosts, and trustees, not to mention many faculty?
1—Tech consumes big bucks. Perhaps the most obvious factor is that colleges spend lots of money on technology: hardware, software, tech people, administrative systems, course management systems, digital content, campus Web sites, and more. Moreover, the decentralized nature of much of campus IT spending means that most colleges and universities probably need a small team of forensic accountants to unearth exactly how much campus money is actually spent on information technology.
That said, there are some general indicators for campus IT spending: data from the Campus Computing Project (www.campuscomputing.net
Recommended Reading
- Wikis Get Users Talking at MIT, Johns Hopkins
In many ways, college campuses are an obvious implementation for a wiki tool. The decentralized nature of the technology and its ability to allow a wide range of individuals or groups to contribute ideas into a single area through Web browsers make wikis simple and compelling for higher education uses.
- College Coaches Use Webcams To Stay in Touch with Recruits
College coaches are turning to webcams as a way to stay in touch with potential recruits to bypass new National Collegiate Athletic Association restrictions that forbid in-person visits to high school campuses during the spring evaluation period, according to a report from AP.
- Firms To Benchmark Higher Ed Online Operations
Education consultancy Eduventures has teamed up with The Campus Computing Project to kick off a new study focusing on online operations in higher education.
- New Dartmouth Dorm Cluster Broadcasts Energy Usage to Students
Dartmouth College's recently completed McLaughlin Cluster residence halls have been recognized by the United States Green Building Council for its environmental sustainability, winning Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ( LEED ) gold certifications. The recognition makes the fifth LEED certification for Dartmouth buildings in four months. LEED certifications were recently awarded to two other residence halls as well as two academic facilities.
- Smart Brings Down Widescreen Whiteboard Price for Educators
Smart Technologies announced this week that it's dropping the price on its widescreen Smart Board 690 interactive whiteboard for educators. The 690, at 94 inches, is Smart's largest interactive whiteboard.
- VBA To Return to Mac; Office 2008 SP1 Released
Microsoft Tuesday released Service Pack 1 for Office 2008 for Mac, the first major update to what the company called its most successful Mac Office launch in 19 years (in terms of sales volume). In a surprise move, Microsoft's Mac Business Unit also announced that it plans to bring Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) back to the Mac platform with the next major release.
