Information Technology in Higher Education: Assessing its Impact and Planning for the Future. - Review - book review

Matrix: The Magazine for Leaders in Education, June, 2000 by Jennifer C. Patterson

Information Technology in Higher Education: Assessing its Impact and Planning for the Future. Richard N. Katz and Julia A. Rudy, Editors. (Jossey-Bass 1999)

Reviewed by Jennifer C. Patterson

Perhaps the most difficult part of creating and managing information technology on a college campus is dealing with the rate of change. Innovations come along so quickly that colleges are forced to move at an unimaginable pace just to keep up. The concept of stopping to assess progress and plan for the future seems impossible, but this is essential. Fortunately, Jossey-Bass Publishers, in cooperation with EDUCAUSE, have released an engaging book that is complete enough to answer many administrators' questions and short enough to be read in what precious free time remains.

The volume is divided into five chapters that demonstrate the need for organizing and assessing a campus IT infrastructure. The book begins with a helpful chapter on IT planning and funding, which explores how to integrate an IT department and infrastructure into a campus. While making it clear that this is not an easy or inexpensive process, the chapter details many ways to avoid possible pitfalls, such as forgotten considerations and damaged morale.

Two additional chapters discuss the need for conducting a periodic assessment of an institution's IT services. The discussions center on the need for assessing the various parts of the infrastructure while being mindful of politics and policy. These two chapters serve as bookends that frame two very helpful case studies of assessments that were conducted at Indiana University and Virginia Tech, projects that can serve as models for administrators who plan to conduct their own assessments.

Overall, the reader is left with an understanding of the importance of building an IT department and infrastructure with great care and deliberation. Although it is tempting to develop an operation piecemeal, reacting to needs as they arise, this book makes clear the importance of being proactive. From the delicacy of dealing with touchy faculty and staff morale, to the need to stop occasionally to assess the institution's progress, this volume is an extremely readable introduction to creating and maintaining an efficient and effective IT operation.