Information Technology
Services in Community Colleges:
Strengths, Opportunities, and
Challenges
Eden Dahlstrom, Senior Research Analyst, EDUCAUSE
Pam Arroway, Senior Statistician, EDUCAUSE
Susan Grajek, Vice President for Data, Research & Analytics, EDUCAUSE
Joy Hatch, Vice Chancellor for Technology, Virginia Community College System
©2012 EDUCAUSE
1
Data from these
sources were used
to create the CC
report card.
EDUCAUSE
2
Secondary Data Analysis:
Data Sources
 Core Data Service (CDS) survey, 2011
 133 community colleges responded to CDS
 www.educause.edu/cds
 ECAR National Study of Undergraduate Students and
Information Technology, 2011
 1,122 community college students from 398 different
institutions
 www.educause.edu/ecar
3
Questions to Ask
1. What do you know about the technologies your
students own and how well IT services are
meeting their needs?
2. What support do you currently provide to help
faculty use technology in teaching?
3. How many students, faculty, and staff does each
IT support FTE service? What is your IT cost per
FTE?
4. Does your institution’s strategic plan include IT?
Do faculty and students have a voice in IT
planning?
4
Questions to Ask
5. Do you have a program to minimize IT energy
consumption, and, if so, how comprehensive
is this program?
6. How safe are your data centers?
7. Do you have a disaster recovery plan, and, if
so, when was the last time it was rehearsed?
8. Do you participate in CDS and the student
technology surveys to give your institution
access to benchmarking data about IT?
5
IT Service Areas
Governance
Sustainability
Teaching and Learning
Resource Allocation
Managing Risk
Management
6
Governance
Governance
Sustainability
Teaching and Learning
Resource Allocation
Managing Risk
Management
7
Institutional Strategic Plan Includes IT
Community Colleges
All Other Higher Education
No
14%
Yes
86%
No
27%
Yes
73%
2011 CDS: M1Q13 (q112)
8
More Likely to Involve Senior
Executives in IT Governance
100%
Community Colleges
89%
All Other U.S. Higher Education
78%
80%
68%
60%
46%
45%
40%
21%
20%
0%
President's cabinet/senior
executive oversight*
Faculty advisory committee*
Student advisory committee*
* significant at the .01 level
2011 CDS: M1Q15 (q114)
9
Governance: Community Colleges
Have Their Acts Together
Governance
Sustainability
Teaching and Learning
Resource Allocation
Managing Risk
Management
10
Sustainability
Governance
Sustainability
Teaching and Learning
Resource Allocation
Managing Risk
Management
11
Progress by Community Colleges
FREQUENT
Frequent
Moderately
Common
Deployed by
Some
Rarely
Considered
MODERATELY COMMON
• Central IT program to minimize energy
consumption
• Campus-wide desktop consumption
program to minimize energy
consumption
DEPLOYED BY SOME
• Institutional sustainability policy/plan
• Signatory to the ACUPCC
• Central IT facilities/equipment
located to reduce energy costs
• Institutional policy on carbon
neutrality
RARELY CONSIDERED
• Central IT facilities/equipment located
to reduce carbon footprint
• GHG (greenhouse gas) baseline
survey
• Submetering of power for data centers
• Contribution of central IT to GHG
separately reported
Leading Higher Education Efforts to
Minimize Energy Consumption
All Other U.S. Higher Ed.
Central IT program to minimize its energy consumption
Community Colleges
Central IT to min.
energy consumption*
Campus-wide program to minimize energy
consumption of desktop technology
35%
45%
Campus program to
min. energy
consumption
Institutional policy or plan for sustainability
34%
43%
0%
20%
*significant at the .05 level
Institution is a signatory to the ACUPCC
Central IT facilities or equipment located or relocated
to reduce energy costs
Central IT facilities or equipment located or relocated
to reduce institution's carbon footprint
Institutional policy on carbon neutrality
Institutional
Type Averages
GHG (greenhouse gas) baseline survey
DR
MA
Submetering of power for data centers operated by
central IT
BA LA
BA other
AA
Contribution of central IT to GHG separately reported
0%
2011 CDS – M1Q17 (q116)
20%
40%
60%
80%
The break in the bar represents the U.S. higher education median.
100%
13
40%
60%
Sustainability: Making Progress
Governance
Sustainability
Teaching and Learning
Resource Allocation
Managing Risk
Management
14
Teaching and Learning
Governance
Sustainability
Teaching and Learning
Resource Allocation
Managing Risk
Management
15
Device Ownership and Use
Technology
Ownership
Technology
8
7
6
5
2
10
4
3
2011 SS – Q1 – device ownership
12
Other
Students
1
Wi-Fi**
65%
71%
2
Laptop/netbook**
80%
92%
3
Smartphone
54%
54%
4
USB Thbdrive**
66%
74%
5
Digital Camera
57%
55%
6
Printer
81%
82%
7
Desktop Comp.**
64%
46%
8
iPod**
47%
71%
9
iPad
7%
8%
10
Handheld Gaming
Device
39%
38%
11
E-Reader
11%
12%
12
DVD Player**
79%
72%
…they prefer small, mobile ones.
Types of Computers
Differ
CC
Students
2
6
11
* = significant diff. at .05 level
** = significant diff. at .01 level
1
©2012 EDUCAUSE
©2012 EDUCAUSE
Students own an average of 11
devices asked about
9
Significant differences persist for
all age categories and students
from households earning less16
than
16
$100,000 per year.
Nearly All Students Own a Computer,
But Community College Students
Aren’t as Mobile-Capable
Any Computer
Ownership
CC Students
No
3%
Yes
97%
Mobile Computing Device*
Ownership
Other Students
No
1%
CC Students
No
17%
Yes
99%
Yes
83%
Other Students
No
5%
Yes
95%
* Includes laptops, netbooks, and tablets
2011 SS – Q1 – device ownership
17
… and so, Community Colleges Meet
Their Students’ Needs
80%
Community Colleges
All Other U.S. Higher Ed.
60%
58%
44%
40%
37%
36%
36%
29%
21%
20%
20%
0%
Lab/cluster workstations
Kiosk workstations
Laptops or tablets
Workstations in
available for checkout or classrooms available for
loan
open use when classes
are not scheduled
2011 CDS – M2Q8 – q158
18
Maslow's Law Applies to IT:
Students Value the Basics for Academics
All Other U.S. Higher Ed.
Community Colleges
Online forums or bulletin boards**
Text message
Wikis**
E-books or e-textbooks
CMS/LMS**
Spreadsheets
Presentation software**
College/university library website*
E-mail**
Word processing**
* significant at the .05 level
** significant at the .01 level
Not at1 all
Valuable
2
3
2011 SS – Q7 – activities valued
4
5
Extremely
Valuable
19
Community
college
instructors
excel in
using
technology
their
students
value…
©2012 EDUCAUSE
20
… and IT services their students value
IT Services Students Wished Their
Instructors Used More Often
E-mail**
E-books or e-textbooks**
CMS/LMS**
Presentation software*
Online chats, chat events, webinars
Online forums or bulletin boards**
Text message*
All Other U.S. Higher Ed.
College/university library website*
Community Colleges
Freely available course content beyond your campus*
Web-based videos*
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
* significant at the .05 level
** significant at the .01 level
2011 SS – Q8 – wish list
21
Community College Students Give Institutions
Higher Marks for Some Technology
All Other U.S. Higher Ed.
Community Colleges
Offering online course registration
Making grades available online
Making financial aid information available online
Making transcripts available online
Offering library resources online
Offering textbooks for sale online
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Percentage of Students Rating Service “Good” or “Excellent”
2011 SS – Q16 – online services
22
Community Colleges Are More Likely to
Provide Many Teaching and Learning
Technology Services
All Other U.S. Higher Ed.
Community Colleges
Faculty individual training in use of educational tech upon request
LMS training and support for faculty
Course/learning management system operation
Faculty group training in use of educational tech
Special support services for distance education
Instructional technologistsinstructional designers assist faculty…
Activities and opportunities for experience sharing
Instructional designers help faculty develop courses and course…
Designated instructional tech center available to all faculty
Intensive support for faculty who are heavy users of tech
Special facilities for distance education
Faculty teaching/excellence center provides expertise on IT
Special grants or awards for innovative use of tech
Student tech assistants available to help faculty
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
Percentage of Institutions Providing Service
2011 CDS – M3Q1 – Q174
100%
23
Community Colleges Outpace Others in
Deployment of Learning Technologies
and Practices
All Other U.S. Higher Ed.
Community Colleges
E-learning (wholly online courses)
Distance ed: Local instructor
Hybrid courses
Document management tools
Information literacy requirement
Distance ed: Local students
Interactive learning
Collaboration tools
Learning objects
Facebook
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Percentage of Institutions That Have Deployed This Broadly
2011 CDS – M3Q4 – Q177
24
Students Prefer Online Learning Options,
and Community Colleges Deliver
Preferred Learning
Environment
CC Students
11%
68%
Other Students
6%
21%
No online components
Some online components
Completely online
20%
74%
Students Have Taken
an Online Course
Institution Offers
Entirely Online Courses
CC Students
11%
89%
CC Students
Other Students
Yes
No
27%
30%
41%
70%
73%
2011 SS – Q18, 18c, 18d – online learning
Other Students
59%
25
Teaching and Learning:
Go to the head of the class!
Governance
Sustainability
Teaching and Learning
Resource Allocation
Managing Risk
Management
26
Resource Allocation
Governance
Sustainability
Teaching and Learning
Resource Allocation
Managing Risk
Management
27
Most of the Variability in IT Expenditures
“Explained” by Institutional Size
Starting at
about 800
FTEs and
$250K,
expenditures
increases by
about
$645/FTE.
Millions
2011 IT Funding versus Total FTEs
$80
$70
Central IT Funding
$60
$50
AA
$40
Aamean
DR priv
Drprivmean
$30
BA Priv/LA
Bapriv/LA mean
$20
$10
$0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Thousands
Total FTEs
This model
explains 74%
of the
variability.
28
A Simplified Look at IT Resource
Allocation Per FTE
29
Resource Allocation: Closest to the
Mission
Governance
Sustainability
Teaching and Learning
Resource Allocation
Managing Risk
Management
30
Managing Risk
Governance
Sustainability
Teaching and Learning
Resource Allocation
Managing Risk
Management
31
Lagging in Many Security Areas
Member of a federation such as InCommon and support inter-domain…
Tokens implemented (broadly or sparsely)
Firewalls deployed by or on behalf of individual departments
Two-factor authentication implemented (broadly or sparsely)
Smart Cards implemented (broadly or sparsely)
Conduct proactive scans to detect known security exposures in all…
Requirement that personal firewall product be turned on when…
Require all personally owned computers to be expeditiously patched or…
All Other U.S. Higher Ed.
PKI implemented (broadly or sparsely)
Require all institutionally owned portable devices to be encrypted
Community Colleges
Security assessments are required prior to contracting for hosted services
Electronic signatures implemented (broadly or sparsely)
Risk assessments on Instructional systems and data
Personal firewall product deployed on workstations
Conduct proactive scans to detect known security exposures in all…
Security system includes an intrusion detection system.
Require end-user authentication for all institutionally-provided wireless…
Have a separate authentication process for guest access to wireless
Firewalls around certain high-security servers or networks
Require end-user authentication for wired access from all workstations
Enterprise directory
IT security personnel have authority and ability to disable a network port…
Risk Assessments in Central IT systems and infrastructure
Require all critical systems to be expeditiously patched or updated
0%
2011 CDS – M7Q7-9 (q233-236)
20%
40%
60%
80%
32 100%
Restoring Power and Disaster
Recovery Plans
Disaster Recovery
Plans
Secondary
Power Source
Comm. Colleges
Comm. Colleges
Other Institutions
Other Institutions
No
8%
No
28%
No
18%
No
34%
Yes
66%
Yes
72%
Yes
82%
Yes
92%
Disaster Recovery
Plans Was Recently Tested
Comm. Colleges
Other Institutions
Yes
21%
No
79%
Yes
23%
No
77%
33
2011 CDS – M5Q1, Q7 - (q200, q208)
Managing Risk: Vulnerable
Governance
Sustainability
Teaching and Learning
Resource Allocation
Managing Risk
Management
34
Management
Governance
Sustainability
Teaching and Learning
Resource Allocation
Managing Risk
Management
35
Outsourcing Still Uncommon, But
Community Colleges Lead in Most Areas
E-mail for students
Learning/course management system
Library management system**
Help desk**
Distance education
Info. sys/ERP, transaction sys. operation**
All Other U.S. Higher Ed.
Info. sys,/ERP, app development**
Community Colleges
Print services**
Info. sys./ERP, project mgmt. implementation**
Telephone services
* significant at the .05 level
** significant at the .01 level
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
2011 CDS – M1Q51 (q146)
50%
60%
36
Community Colleges Not Likely to
Use Service Level Agreements
100%
90%
Percentage of Institutions
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
BA priv
AA
MA priv
BA pub
MA pub
DR priv
DR pub
37
Majority of Community Colleges
Charge a Student Technology Fee
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
AA
DR public
BA public
MA public
MA private
BA private
DR private
38
Community Colleges Serve More Students
per IT Support Staff Than Others
900
850
800
700
626
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Community Colleges
2011 CDS – M1Q28 (q124)
All Other U.S. Higher Ed.
Includes help desk, desktop computing, user support,
training, computer store, and “other” support services staff.
39
Management: A Positive Review
Governance
Sustainability
Teaching and Learning
Resource Allocation
Managing Risk
Management
40
ECAR Recommends
• IT Governance
– Include IT in institutional strategic plans, have
representation on the president’s cabinet or higher,
and include faculty and student representatives in the
IT advisory process.
• IT Sustainability
– Continue to be leaders in sustainability practices that
involve central IT programs to minimize energy
consumption; work toward improving sustainability
practices in other areas, such as establishment of
policies on carbon neutrality and submetering of
power for data centers.
41
ECAR Recommends
• IT Teaching and Learning
– Recognize that fewer community college students
own mobile devices and assess your institution’s
efforts to meet student needs for computer access.
– Identify the technology that students value for their
academic success, make that technology available,
and support faculty use of that technology.
– Assess the status and availability of student-facing
services, applications, and websites and be prepared
to meet students’ evolving expectations for access
– Continue to be leaders in the domain of distance
education; pinpoint areas in which there is room to
improve through regular benchmarking.
42
ECAR Recommends
• IT Resource Allocation
– Consider how your institution measures up to the
overall average of $645 in IT expenditures per total
FTE, and consider whether your institution is under or
over this mark by design or by chance.
• IT Risk
– Consider how well data are protected at your
institution, whether there is a current and achievable
disaster recovery plan in place, and the frequency of
testing that plan.
• Management
– Consider opportunities to outsource IT functions and
services with external suppliers.
43
Eden Dahlstrom
edahlstrom@educause.edu
44