Blind Ride on the Technology Highway

Matrix: The Magazine for Leaders in Education, June, 2000 by Philip R. Jr. Day

Late in the last century (the 1990s believe it or not), we spoke of the information highway as if we were riding on a high-speed autobahn feeling barely in control and having few exits. Some even joked about becoming the first accidents on the information highway.

Speaking as the chief executive officer of a very complex and diverse institution of higher education, I can say the challenge of mastering technology in higher education is no less formidable today despite our progress in making technological improvements. In the 1970s and early '80s, our highly centralized and controlling data-processing offices seemed to require endless resources in order to solve mystical technical problems and keep current with the oracular acquisitions of other institutions. In the late '80s and '90s, it was the vendors who assumed this role, again calling for ever-changing installations, upgrades, new platforms and hardware, reorientation and retraining--all of which were intended to keep us "state of the art." Now, if you're the leader of an institution, even a strong one, you've got to be asking, "Who's in charge here?" Obviously, you want to keep up with the times and you don't want to be missing key components of the technological revolution. On the other hand, you don't want to be beholden to a high-speed machine that seems at times to be out of control and which even becomes the subject of complaint and controversy.

My response to the situation is this: We presidents must learn to drive the vehicle of technology in the same manner as any of our other domains of responsibility. We are never fully in control as institutional leaders: We depend on administrators, teams, governance groups, and partnerships to manage the institution. In the same way, we must mobilize our various managerial resources to manage technology.

Some years ago, I read a little book titled Blind Man on a Freeway, in which William Moore, the author, described the multiple and extraordinarily challenging roles college administrators were called upon to play and how little their training prepared them for these roles. His point was that we as administrators have to learn much about what we do after we get on the job. My point is similar: Not only must we learn to manage the technology revolution but we must apply ourselves to the task just as we have had to master campus construction, balance budgets, and negotiate the labyrinths of litigation. Every one of us ought to devote some serious professional development to acquiring a fuller understanding of the information highway and discovering the levers of control. Only then might we expect the scales to fall from our eyes, take the wheel in our hands, and even enjoy the ride.

4 Ways to Mobilize

1 Strengthen contractual vendor relationships. Don't just sign purchase orders and license agreements. insist on contractual language that specifies 50:50 responsibilities, that establishes protections, and provides warranties before problems occur.

2 Utilize a consortium of institutions using similar technology products, creating the consortia if necessary. There is strength in numbers, improved knowledge, and qualitative contributions to be realized.

3 Develop partnerships with key vendors. Establish relationships that transcend business-as-usual by making the investment mutually beneficial and evolutionary.

4 Create internal structures that foster effective development and management of technology. Establish governance groups to manage policy development and coordination. Insist on technology plans that describe the uses and applications to be implemented, not just the hardware and software to be obtained. Empower users as agents of responsibility as well as planners and implementers.

Dr. Philip R. Day Jr. Chancellor City College of San Francisco