Educause has published its annual "Top-Ten IT Issues" of concern to technology leaders in higher education. It's not a surprise that the focus among CIOs these days is on bread and butter issues such as security, infrastructure, and identity/access management. And the ERP is the ERP and never goes away.
The biggest surprise is what's absent from the list: Where is Analytics?
Thomas Davenport and Jeanne Harris in Competing on Analytics (it should be on the reading list of every senior leader) define analytics as: "the extensive use of data, statistical and quantitative analysis, explanatory and predictive models, and fact-based management to drive decisions and actions." In a seminal research paper and an Educause Review article ("Academic Analytics"), John Campbell and Diana Oblinger have called our attention to the potential of academic analytics to solve one of our most important challenges: "Student retention and graduation may be improved through the use of tools such as analytics, which goes beyond descriptive statistics to apply methods including predictive modeling. Already used to create a competitive edge for major corporations, analytics promises new insights and perhaps new breakthroughs in student success."
Is Analytics not on the list because our business users are getting the data they need and our organizations are building their competitive strategies around data-driven insights? We know that's not the case. Or is it that organizations simply do not have the capacity for Analytics as IT struggles to keep basic infrastructure services on track while also juggling the myriad of application balls? I believe that that's more likely the case.
We need to heed Campbell and Oblinger's call that "IT and institutional leaders need to begin to understand analytics -- as well as the changes that may be required in data standards, tools, processes, organizations, policies, and institutional culture." Let's hope that Analytics makes the Top-Ten IT Issues list for next year.
My phenomenal running coach Katie Koski has started to post some video tutorials on You Tube ("Marathon Training with Katie Koski"). Even if you are not interested in running a marathon, the tutorial series provides great tips for all runners.
The first set is on "Core Training" but also check out Katie's introductory video, "Why We Run." Katie has promised to post more videos on her You Tube channel, so start subscribing and happy running!
It's been less than a year since we created a Portfolio Management Office from scratch at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Here is a brief report on our experience, appearing as an article ("Order from Chaos") in EDTECH Magazine.
It was great to catch up with Michael Feldstein (eLiterate Blog, Oracle's Principal Product Manager for Oracle's Academic Enterprise Solutions). Michael was attending the JA-SIGannual conference. I am very disappointed that I was not able to attend the conference even though it's in my backyard. JA-SIG is one of the great but not very well known success stories in higher education. The JA-SIG leadership needs to be commended for building a sustainable community that is making fundamental contributions to information technology in higher education. These aren't flashy folks but they are getting the job done.
Michael and I discussed a wide range of subjects at "Conference Room G" in Saint Paul. An area where we are likely to collaborate on, or at least get the discussion started, is student analytics. What would a reference architecture for Student Analytics look like? I described our nascent project in Action Analytics at Minnesota State Colleges & Universities. Michael and I then explored some architectural challenges in building a student analytics system, the central role of the LMS, and how this strategic space is likely to evolve in the next few years. Michael is a true thought leader and it was wonderful to bounce around ideas with him.
We did talk very briefly about the Blackboard lawsuit. What a huge and costly distraction it has been for all of us.
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