Dive Brief:
- Debra Connick, the vice chancellor of technology, research and information systems for California Community Colleges said in a recent interview with Ed Tech Magazine she hopes the system can improve the accessibility of its IT systems.
- Connick said proper data governance could help ensure the proper administrators have the information they need to make clear and informed decisions, but she stressed the importance of maintaining human processes and approaches to digital safety, saying people are just as essential as security tech in keeping college data secured.
- Connick also cited the utility of data systems to help keep costs reasonable and reduce the amount of unnecessary credits students take. She also espoused the benefits of initializing and growing the use of a centralized learning management system that can support robust communication between educators, students and administrators.
Dive Insight:
Connick's call for ensuring communication between different parties at the institution, including between administrators mirrors calls from CIOs, IT staff and students to be more involved in IT concerns and discussions on campus. CIOs report they are better able to institute positive changes on campus when they report to the college president, and when administrators are informed and interested in their work. At UC Berkeley, the IT team is partially staffed by students, which offers an innovative means to offer applicable work experience while supporting faculty and student buy-in on IT matters, particularly in regards to campus security.
Increasing the dialogue surrounding the responsibility everyone has in ensuring that a campus data system is fully secure will help administrators better understand the work their IT teams do, even when they are not necessarily well-versed in the terminology and specific practices in which a CIO might communicate institutional needs. Additionally, if IT teams feel that students, faculty and administrators take data security seriously and understand best practices and the consequences of inaction, they may feel more confident and supported in taking a proactive approach to IT security innovation, instead of constantly being concerned on how faulty practices by campus staff or students might endanger the institution's system.