The University Office of Information Technology :: Education Data Information Essays

The University Office of Information Technology Introduction In this paper I report on the history, mission, organization, finances, evaluation strategies, and current issues of a university’s office of information technology. I will use the term â€Å"office of information technology† throughout the paper. This term needs to be defined here because it is very general and each university seems to have a unique definition for it. Within this paper, office of information technology will refer to those areas of the university whose primary mission is to serve the information technology needs of the institution. Information technology needs include â€Å"that collection of technologies that enables data and knowledge to be stored and exchanged, assessed, displayed and communicated, and in some cases, synthesized and created.† (Iowa State University, 2000, p. 2). In other words, the computer hardware and software, communications hardware (phone and network) and software, media-related instructional technologies, and the organization needed to support this information technology infrastructure. These services touch the entire university and all its faculty, staff, and students. As with any administrative unit on campus, the organization of that unit will depend on the context in which it is set. Another term that I will use loosely in regard to the office of information technology is the university. While all institutions of higher education rely on information technology as a basic service to provide products to their clientele, I will try to keep my discussion and analysis confined to the concept of Kerr’s â€Å"multiversity†, or research university satisfying multiple goals. This is not to diminish the role of the office of information technology at smaller universities and colleges but only to focus this discussion. One area within a university that is often lumped into the â€Å"information† infrastructure is the library. While my definition does not include the library within the office of information technology, the technology used for many of its services is included. Lastly, I would like to preface the ideas presented within this paper through the perspective of Weick’s (1976) theory of loosely coupled systems. As discussed throughout, the office of information technology is a unit on campus that is intertwined with all other areas in some manner. Thus it must go beyond the â€Å"niche† perspective of individual units and departments and engage itself directly in the politics of the university as a loosely coupled system. As the reader will see, this has affected the history, mission, and organization of the office of information technology and is embedded in many of its