IT Trends in Higher Education

1. IT Trends in Higher Education Mark Luker ACE Fellows June 5, 2005

2. Purposes of CDS • Create a systematic network for data • Dispel myths and reduce hype • Create an awareness of variations • Create a basis for outcome analyses • Allow for informed comparisons • Provide assistance in planning efforts NOT an assessment tool !

3. A Service – Not a Survey • To help members plan • To assist members in seeking info • To provide a research basis • To enhance a culture of evidence

4. Some Features of the Survey • Web-based data collection • Re-issuance of data • 51 questions, with 267 data elements • Definitions in “fly-overs” • Glossary • Data integrity checks • Restricted access to the data • Rigorous “use agreement”

5. Some Features of the Service • Ability to identify specific participants • Available only to those who participated • Ability to create your own “peer groups” • Filters for Carnegie, size, control, etc. • Ability to sort data • Graphics & statistics • Trend data • Ratio analyses

6. Sample View of Summary

7. Sample Trend Analysis

8. Who participated? • 835 institutions in 2003 • An increase of 33% over 2002 • 57% Public / 43% Private • Carnegie Classes Nearly 60% of the EDUCAUSE membership DR 163 MA 228 BA 170 AA 145 Other 45 International 79

9. Some Observations • Participation was reflective of the EDUCAUSE membership • The value is in the breadth of participation • Support from the vendor community • Complementary with other efforts

10. Five Areas of Focus • IT Organization, Staffing & Planning • IT Financing & Management • Faculty & Student Computing • Networking & Security • Information Systems a flavor of the data . . .

11. The Scope of Central IT • Central IT usually includes: • Academic computing, enterprise info systems, desktop computing, identity management, learning technology, IT policy, IT security, multimedia, networks, student computing, R&D, telephone, web, … • Sometimes includes: • Computer store, distance education, library, mailroom, printer/copiers, research computing • Often shared with multiple providers

12. The Size of Central IT • FTE staff: • Min 1, max 652 • Mean 61, median 30 • Budget: • Min $75,000, max $107,000,000 • Mean $7,900,000, median $3,400,000 • Computers • Min 75, max 65,000

13. Other BA MA AA ALL DR 44.0% 48.5% 39.1% 44.7% Yes 56.9% 34.7% Percent of Top IT Administrators Who Are Members of the President’s Cabinet • Analysis of titles • 294 unique titles out of 822 • CIO in the title of 29.2%

14. BA MA AA ALL DR Mean 69% 64% 30% 77% 78% BA MA AA ALL DR Private 90% 78% 75% 43% 80% 54% 71% 64% 67% Public 30% Students Who Own Computers

15. BA MA AA ALL DR Mean 65% 85% 87% 91% 94% 90% 91% 65% 94% Median 98% Centralized vs. Decentralized Percentage of Central IT Personnel expenditures As a Percentage of Total Campus IT Personnel Expenses

16. Key Findings and Trends • More top level IT administrators have the term CIO embedded in their title • There has been an increase in the percentage of top IT administrators reporting to the president, with the biggest increase in AA schools from about 34% to 43% over the last year. • The % of top-level IT persons sitting on the president’s cabinet overall has remained constant over the last year at 44%, but a notably higher percentage (57%) of AA schools reported this.

17. Key Findings and Trends • More institutions reported computer replacement plans than last year, but with longer cycles. • 70% of the responding institutions reported having a plan and living up to the plan, an increase from last year. • There was an increase in the % that reported using external suppliers to run one or more of the various IT functions or services, from about 40% to 45%.

18. Key Findings and Trends • Providing e-mail access to all students increased 3% • Classrooms with wireless connectivity increased 2% • Classrooms with projection capability increased 5% • Classrooms with computers in them increased by 4% • The average percentage of students owning their own computers increased from 51% to nearly 64%. • The percentage of campuses that used a course management system for most or all of their classes increased significantly to 20%

19. Key Findings and Trends • There was a 10-13% increase in schools reporting tracking bandwidth utilization and bandwidth shaping by campus location, by direction, and by type of traffic. • The most common security practice is the expeditious patching / updating of critical systems, with 96% of all campuses reporting this practice (up from 82% last year). • Firewall usage and the extent of firewall deployment are up 16%.

20. Trend in the Making • More campuses this year included an auditor, member of the president’s cabinet, CFO, CAO, trustees, and state agency in developing policy for information security and privacy • Reflects serious new risks! • Professional bad-guys everywhere • Unrelenting attacks • Regular mistakes • Campus accountable for information losses! • CMS and network now mission critical

21. External Drivers • Higher Ed called a threat to national security • Our many computers and fast networks launch powerful Denial-of-Service attacks • We must fix the problem or … • See EDUCAUSE/Internet2 Task Force on Computer and Network Security • www.educause.edu/security

22. Hard Choices! • Security solutions involve the “professionalization” of system and network administration (in addition to better awareness, better policy, etc.) • But many campus IT staff may report to colleges, departments, labs, theaters, stores, etc., with: • little IT management or professional development • culture of decentralization • culture of turnover • culture of independence • Yet institution is responsible for the results • Compare with the adoption of physical security

23. Future Trend? • Voice and video services are moving to the network • Could dramatically improve our services at lower cost • Could streamline our operations • Campuses are going there now • Students and faculty can install and run these services • Students and faculty increasingly rely on their own personal devices for communications and information • Enormous variety • Challenges traditional plans • What are new roles of central IT?

24. Part of a Larger Picture • Voice over Internet Protocol breaks federal policies and corporate business models • Congress must address the changes • Potentially grave consequences for higher education • Higher Education Coalition: • ACE, AAU, AACC, AASCU, NAICU, NASULGC, UNCF, EDUCAUSE, Internet2, ACUTA, and NACUBO • Our voice in telecom reform • Future impact on CDS?

25. Core Data Service Summary Report • For non-participants • Aggregate Data • Ratio Analyses • Statistical analyses • Over 100 tables • A resource for all members

26. A Different Slice:Current Issues Committee • Top-ten issues that are: • Critical for strategic success • Will increase in significance • Greatest demand on leader’s time • Most expensive in FTE and $

27. And the winners are: • Funding • Security and ID Mgmt • ERP/Information Systems • Strategic Planning • Infrastructure Management • Faculty development and support • E-Learning • Governance, Organization • Enterprise Portals • Web Systems and Services

28. To Find Out More www.educause.edu/coredata