Dive Brief:
- A recent report found evidence to suggest small liberal arts colleges are by and large in solid financial shape, and according to Inside Higher Ed, small schools that substantively include campus technology administrators, including CIOs, in decision-making processes regarding the institution's future may reap the rewards, as every future innovation and decision at these schools is likely to have a technological element.
- The author cautions against the urge to make online programs into an autonomous arm of the institution, saying face-to-face instruction will likely continue to be the bread and butter for these institutions. If the programs are entirely separated, it will make it all the more difficult to glean lessons from online learning to improve in-person classroom work, and vice versa.
- Colleges and universities which invest in hiring instructional designers and centers of teaching and learning may see more sustained growth and revenue, the author hypothesizes. Offering on-site expertise in using tech tools to advance learning, as well as creating a space in which educators can collaborate on innovative teaching strategies, may suggest an institution's broader commitment to supporting the advancement of educator's approaches.
Dive Insight:
The author's hypotheses as to why smaller liberal arts colleges and universities placed a focus on taking advantage of advanced technology and investing in staff and resources to integrate it into the institution, but it also stressed that such advancements must be embarked upon in tandem with conventional in-person instruction, not as a means to do away with those conventional practices entirely. The approach mirrors advocates like Dr. Naomi Baron, who stressed in a recent Education Dive interview the importance of continuing to utilize print materials in instances where it makes more sense for student learning, even if the conventional wisdom on the part of administrators is that print materials will be more costly than a digital-only investment.
Chief Information Officers must often contend with dual calls for innovative practices and cost efficiency while struggling with tight budgets, and many CIOs have stressed the need for strong lines of communication with college administrators. One CIO noted in an Education Dive interview it was particularly beneficial to be able to report directly to the college president, but many CIOs said college provosts and vice presidents also need to understand the importance of IT departments, realizing they do more than simply keep campus network systems online at the institution. If CIOs and IT departments are viewed through the prism of maintenance rather than innovation and ingenuity, it may be all the more difficult for small liberal arts universities with limited budgets to maintain some technological edge when competing with online-only programs.