Putting the I back into Information Technology

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Putting the I back into Information
Technology
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Information Technology Today

• Why do we need I.T.?
• Raw Computing Power
• Ubiquitous Communication
• Process Automation - Efficiencies
• Information
• How efficient is the Institution at using data?
• Do we know where our information is?
• Do people have access to information when they
  need?
• How accurate is the information that is used for
  decision making?

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Information Overload

• Putting the I back in Information Technology
• Data rich, information poor
• Decision making based on intuition and anecdotal
  information
• Inefficient and duplicative effort accessing
  information

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Current Status

• Colleges and Academic Departments are left to
  their own devices and budgets to manage their
  information
• In general, access to information is not readily
  available to everyone but has to be provisioned
  through third party experts
• Numerous shadow systems, including Access
  databases, Excel spreadsheets prevail
• Too much effort and resources expended to obtain
  information

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Why?

• How information is managed determines the
  institutions ability to make decisions,
  collaborate, and to use information strategically
  
• Information is an institutional asset and access
  to correct and timely information by anyone,
  anytime and anywhere is critical to the
  institutions planning and decision making
  capabilities and critical for the effective
  support of the Universitys core processes
  teaching, learning, and research

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What Information?

• Directory Information
• Financial information budgets, expenditures.
• Catalog
• Students course info, extra curricular
  activities, demographics
• Maps, Buildings, Rooms,
• Events Athletic, Cultural, pedagogical, social
  by location, audience, date, type
• Faculty profiles
• Human Resources Demographics, skill inventory,
  benefits, Job postings,
• Video clips
• E-learning Syllabi, course content, library
  information

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How?

• Information is an Institutional Asset and needs
  to be managed as such
• The Volume of potential applications and
  audiences has created new information needs and
  options
• IT departments need to develop a strategy for
  Information Management

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Information Strategies

• Identify your go-to person
• identifying someone to take ownership of the
  project
• Perform a knowledge audit
• Cataloging existing information stored in the
  Data Warehouse, departmental data bases,
  institutional research.
• Identifying non published knowledge resources,
  including subject-matter experts, information
  embedded in database repositories, and so forth
• Conducting an inventory of information already
  provided to the organization through standard or
  ad hoc reports or on web pages

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Information Strategies

• Identify internal audiences
• Senior management.
• Admission staff
• Student services and technical support.
• Human resources.
• Institutional Research
• Alumni/ Development.
• General staff/faculty for internal communications
  and business strategy.

• Identify external audiences
• Prospective Students.
• Alumni, Donors.
• Participants in athletic, cultural events.
• Parents
• Journalists and analysts.
• Government, state and local.

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Information Strategies

• Tie audience needs to Universitys objectives
• Increased ability to attract and recruit
  students.
• Reduce reliance on paper and third party
  information providers
• Provide an informed context for decision making.
• Provide information when needed

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Information Strategies

• Identify communication vehicles
• Extranets for parents, alumni, friends.
• An integrated enterprise portal that combines and
  personalizes Internet, intranet, and extranet
  assets.
• Bulletin boards, newsgroups, and user groups.
• Shared databases and reporting tools.
• E-mail and other electronic distribution.

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Summary

• The benefits of an information Strategy
• Clear Focused understanding what needs to be
  accomplished
• Priorities
• Return on Investment
• The Value of Information