Tools, toys & training: meet the needs of your IT staff now by offering them the three T's and you may gain productivity, innovation and loyalty

Matrix: The Magazine for Leaders in Education, Oct, 2001 by Nicole Rivard

With the demise of dot-coms, the IT staffing crisis that plagued colleges and universities in recent years is no longer such a pressing issue. But don't be fooled. IT workers aren't going to be coming in droves to find employment in higher education simply because they are out of work. There may be more candidates, but to get the cream of the crop, colleges and universities still have to entice them.

The way to do that is to evaluate and improve upon what opportunities colleges and universities provided to IT workers during the crisis that their colleagues in the corporate world could not offer.

"What I think we have right now is an opportunity to be able to work on those employment environment conditions while the market is a little softer and to be able to come out of this in a stronger position," says Alan McCord, director of operations management, information technology division, University of Michigan.

Time is of the essence since nobody knows when another staffing crisis could rear its ugly head, and there are other pressing IT issues that will require a qualified staff.

"I would say that any institution that says, `Gee we no longer need to worry about this, a few years from now when the next real employment crunch comes along, they will be in a less competitive position than they are now," says McCord.

"It's kind of like living along the Mississippi River after the flood. If you don't build levies, next time you are probably going to get flooded again. It's a lot easier to build a levy when the water is down than when it's up to the second story windows."

According to a recent Educause survey, the three IT issues that emerged as strategically important and that demand great expenditure of resources were administrative systems/ERP, IT staffing and human resources management, and distance education.

"The use of technology as an infrastructure is definitely expanding on all campuses whether it is distance ed or in the classroom and that is what is fueling our need for additional technical people," says Nancy Yuochunas, director, application and project management services, Purdue University.

"We really could be in situations where, if our system went down, courses could not take place. Tying more and more to Web-based systems and the thought of having several hundred faculty members in a classroom at any one time unable to do anything is scary."

Another evolutionary change that poses some challenge for IT leaders is they are changing from a staff that historically had to deal with things to a staff that now deals more with the people.

"One of the areas where I think we need to find more resources is people who can work with faculty to incorporate technology into what they do. Not just people who can fix a problem with PowerPoint but someone who really can appreciate how one should bring PowerPoint into the classroom," says Bret Ingerman, chief technology officer, Skidmore College.

"My colleagues would say that we always dealt with people. Yes, we dealt with the people, but to fix their things."

Although it is easier for higher ed to recruit when the market is a little open, the situation doesn't change the staffing relationship or the issues that keep the staff at the university.

"Technical staff members want the three T's, tools, toys and training," he says. "They want to be able to have the right equipment to do the job, they want to be trained well and they want to have fun while they are doing their jobs."

A huge human resources issue right now in higher ed that leaders are struggling with is how to keep people engaged in activities that have meaning for them.

"Twenty years ago people were writing operating systems and e-mailing systems," says McCord. "They were generating new innovative products. Now it's more than likely they are installing packaged products. Some staff love it and some despise it."

Conveying to IT workers that your campus can offer them the working environment they want is essential to the recruitment process. Human resources departments in higher ed have been totally uncreative in the past, according to Judith Caruso, director, applications technology, division of information technology at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Rules for Recruitment

"Universities don't feel as though we have to sell ourselves," she says. "We turn away qualified undergrads every year so there is no reason to sell yourself or have a marketing instinct. If we use that same lack of instinct in recruiting staff, it's pretty tough. Why would anyone want to come and work here?"

Instead of boring job descriptions, they should reflect the higher ed environment, which provides an opportunity to explore many avenues in the use of technology.

"If you are in the corporate world, let's say at a bank, your business is pretty much defined," says Ingerman. "In higher ed, I could work with the registrar's office in the morning to take transcript information and degree audit information and make it available to students, and then in the afternoon work with a biologist on the best way to incorporate images from radio telescopes into a course Web site."