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Special Series: Technology >> Part 1: Strategy/Mission/Vision
5/5/2005
Six Conditions to High Technology Management
Condition I: Technology is a given. Whether to invest is no longer the issue. It is the rare institution that has not made a substantial IT investment. The chart [BELOW] displays the impact investments in technology have had on higher education between 1988 and 1996. Note that ³equipment² encompasses all purchases treated as capital (depreciated), and so includes technological equipment as well as desks and furniture. (Source: Table 356, Additions to physical plan value of degree-granting institutions, by type of addition and control of institution (millions of dollars); Digest of Education Statistics, National Center for Education Statistics, 2002; nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d02/index.asp.)
That the gap between equipment and building additions grew for the period (except around 1993 when the stock market declined) suggests a departure from the expected consistent growth relationship between equipment and building additions, and an increase in higher education¹s investment in technological equipment.
Condition II: Effectiveness and efficiency criteria must be set and met. Efficiency can be defined as the per-unit (e.g., student or some other quantifiable measure) operational costs (e.g., staff, maintenance, depreciation) associated with a technology service. Effectiveness refers to the fit between the technology service and strategic goals. IT systems cannot be deemed effective and efficient merely because the central processing unit has been plugged in. Recall the sweeping replacement of typewriters with word processors in the 1980s: Managers assumed a unit-per-unit swap—i.e., one CPU for each typewriter—and failed to anticipate the additional and ongoing cost of software, printers, cables, monitors, surge protectors, and user training until the bills were on their desks and the typewriters already in the dumpsters.
Once the initial and ongoing monetary investment in technology is figured, leaders must ensure the IT service will support academic processes, administrative processes, and communications—each division representing a complex piece of a larger strategic puzzle. Is the technology service reducing cost per student ratios, and is it reliably delivering results that meet the strategic goals of the college?
Condition III: Technology must serve the ultimate user: the institution. Spreading technology around campus will not automatically yield operational efficiency or strategic value. Upon its installation, a computer will not serve any purpose beyond that of its immediate user. Without a strategy guiding their purchase, implementation, and use, computers can become toys, or vehicles for empire building or day trading, or they may simply collect dust for lack of defined uses and savvy users.
An article in Business Officer, the official publication of the National Association of College and University Business Officials (
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