Technology is an increasingly important element of everything that colleges do, yet it remains a distinct and separate function at too many schools. Jeff visited the Educause Conference, focused on tech in higher ed, to chat with college leaders about how they are leveraging IT on their campuses. They discuss best practices in bridging the tech-academic divide, the role of data in decision making, how IT departments can support efforts to improve the value proposition of higher ed, and more. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group and the Gates Foundation.

Chapters

0:00 - Intro

5:49 - IT Then and Now

9:02 - The Disconnect Between Tech and Academic Teams 

11:56 - Using Data Strategically 

16:01 - Data-Driven v. Data-Informed Decision Making 

24:02 - Public-Private Partnerships 

31:50 - Communicating Across the Tech and Academic Sides  

34:57 - Getting Started in Online Education 

37:16 - Improving Perceptions of Higher Ed 

42:31 - The Future of Tech in Higher Ed