Adrian Sannier, Arizona State’s university technology officer believes, to the depth of his being, that it is.  And he expressed his powerful thought leadership position regarding what the shift is all about and what to do about it in his presentation at Campus Technology’s July 2008 conference.  In an incredibly informative and colorful keynote speech, he laid out six components of the new paradigm that he believes must be elucidated, embraced and executed.  Component #1 is the most controversial but, perhaps, most essential because it enables the other five.  Component #1 “liberates the resources” as Adrian says, to do the rest.

You just have to hear it to appreciate the intensity of his conviction regarding the need for change in how information technology is managed in higher education!  Here is the link to listen to Adrian’s presentation – 73 minutes of transformative and energizing thinking about what the future can hold for institutions that embrace change!  Adrian paints a clear vision of the path that can lead to enhanced learning and educational value through a restructuring of the technology environment – in keeping with a strategy that separates “the core” from “the context.” 

Much more cost effective strategies exist today for maintaining “the context,” – meaning the software applications that have become mere commodities that are essential but not differentiating – than are currently being utilized by the majority of universities.  When they are employed, budgets can be reallocated to take advantage of the host of “core” technologies that facilitate collaboration, informed decision-making for stakeholders, and learning…with the agility to embrace the new and upgraded technologies as they continue to emerge onto the scene.

In this new era of modern technology, Higher Education is in the midst of rapid change in response to environmental, social, economic, technological and political transformations occurring worldwide. As a result, institutions of Higher Education are facing ever more numerous operational challenges. In order to survive these challenges, Higher Education needs new institutional strategies and decision-making processes. For a Higher Education institution to prosper and perform efficiently, all levels of campus staff and administration must collaborate to create a wave of change by implementing Business Intelligence to manage and monitor campus performance. Going one step higher, a digital dashboard provides a view of campus performance that can be directly mapped to campus vision and mission.

So to all Higher Education institutions out there, please take this opportunity to re-strategize your campus performance management in order to gain or maintain a competitive edge!