April 11, 2005
The Business Of Higher Education Some people in higher education might wonder why I attend the two big InformationWeek conferences in the spring and fall. We in higher education are not the dominant players at this conference, unlike Educause or Syllabus. The conference is more a big company conference with major-tier vendors, so why attend? I attend because I need perspective. I need to see information technology from more than just a higher education point of view. I have learned a ton at these conferences, and they are well worth my time and money. The speakers might not be focused on higher education issues per se, but as more and more universities and colleges move from a typical "nonprofit" paradigm to a business "for-profit" model, it pays to listen to business leaders discuss their issues and learn from them. The issues that drive business, namely the bottom line, also drive higher education. If you don't believe me, just ask your president or provost if they worry about balancing their budget and the answer is a resounding YES. Getting the rest of the institution to think in businesslike terms can be challenging. Many people who have years of service at a particular school or university frequently bristle at the thought of running their cherished institute like a business. It seems harsh, or cold, un-natural even. The school should be focused on learning, not on making money. Some even think that schools shouldn't make money. The truth is, schools need money, they need to watch the bottom line, and they need to stay in business. We might not have a typical balance sheet, income statement, or cash flow that Fortune 500 companies have, but the same pressures exist. We have competition, we have products that we produce (students with degrees), we have manufacturing (classes)--it's just not as easy for some people to see. This conference gives me the chance to view my role from another angle, to get a fresh view of how information can be used, can be leveraged, can be an asset that makes my institution better able to continue and grow for the next 125 years. I can take the techniques that UPS or FedEx use in their IT departments, scale them down to my size, and reap similar rewards. There is place for Higher Education at the InformationWeek Spring and Fall conferences. Maybe in five or 10 years, we'll return the favor and share our insights with the business world. John Bruggeman Posted by
at April 11, 2005 04:38 PM
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