Over the past two decades, the rapid evolution and integration of technology in higher education has changed the work that information technology leaders do on campus. More than ever before, IT professionals can now collect and analyze data to develop new insights on educational approaches, tools, and programs, to track and improve them over time.
Jack Suess, vice president for information technology, has observed the roles and goals of IT shift notably over the course of his career. In an essay on the higher ed news site The EvoLLLution, he writes, “during the 1995-2005 period, our information technology organization went from being focused on making certain basic technology functions work acceptably to one that required that we use IT as a strategic enabler.”
Suess suggests that IT officers at universities must work closely with current and emerging leaders on campus to support the broader goals of the institution. In this way, IT leaders serve as trusted advisors and relationship builders, and help articulate how the specific needs of departments align with larger strategic goals. “The IT leader then can translate how technology creates options and possibilities for the institution and how it can be utilized to maximum benefit,” Suess said.
A recent article in The Baltimore Sun describes how universities analyze data, such as grades, demographics, and swipe card use, to identify students who are at risk for dropping out, and to predict success and failures rates.
John Fritz, assistant vice president of instructional technology, found that students with A, B and C averages used Blackboard (an online assignment, discussion and grading platform) 40 percent more than students with D and F averages. He worked with Blackboard to develop the “Check My Activity” tool, which allows students to compare their Blackboard use and activity with their peers, anonymously. Students who utilized the tool are 1.5 to nearly 3 times more likely to earn at least a C, Fritz found through the research.
Read the full stories in The EvoLLLution and The Baltimore Sun.
Image: John Fritz. Photo by Marlayna Demond ‘11 for UMBC.