Dive Brief:
- New systems of data analytics can equip college campuses to set and reach goals for student achievement, operational efficiency, and financial stability, Ed Tech: Focus on Higher Ed reported — but the first step in harnessing these benefits is understanding concepts of implementation and execution.
- A risk that campuses face is the integration of analytics in partial rollouts, which can create 'haves and have-nots' among students and faculty, and gleaning best practices from peer institutions and vendors is a good way of preventing this kind of digital divide.
- Institutional culture and campus governance are also critical areas to consider before a major tech rollout, as faculty, staff and students will have to buy into the new systems and their potential benefits.
Dive Insight:
Considering the right vendor and the right product for a campus are the major areas of focus for any president or CIO seeking to bring new technology to an academic enterprise. Can the vendor provide on-demand consultation for training and implementation issues? Is a vendor honest and willing to tell you which elements are a good fit for campus infrastructure and which are not needed for the academic or service provision objectives?
A well-resourced IT department can properly advise campus leaders on these issues, but it requires the initial presidential or board insight to require a committee-level assessment of campus tech strengths, weaknesses and opportunities to begin that process of advisement.