University Business - September 2010 - (Page 60)

View from the Summit HIS YEAR’S EDUCOMM CONFERENCE in Las Vegas saw the launch of the EduComm Institute’s CIO-CFO Summit. e one-day event, sponsored by GovConnection in partnership with Cisco, preceded EduComm’s opening reception and keynote at the Mirage. roughout the afternoon, a select group of CIOs and CFOs from public and private, two- and four-year institutions around the country listened as industry experts examined the vital role of information technology in how the campus of the not-too-distant future will operate. e program was organized around the theme of “ e Borderless Network” with presentations centering on changing expectations and new challenges to higher education. Service Demands Nicole Engelbert, senior analyst for Datamonitor, examined the connection between changing student demands and how communications and services are delivered on campus. “Five or 10 years from now, higher education may very well look extraordinarily diﬀerent from what it does now,” she said. “And the institutions that gamble and win on how that change is likely to be will navigate it very well. ose that wait and sit back 60 | September 2010 T The EduComm Institute’s inaugural CIO-CFO Summit offered a look into the future and how higher education might get there. and hope for the best will ﬁnd themselves in very diﬃcult positions a decade from now.” Driving that change in large part is the sour economy. e ﬁnancial crisis is hitting the boiling point with endowment losses last year reaching 18.7 percent. “We’ve seen some gains, but the pain will continue to linger,” Engelbert said. “What does that mean for how higher education is paid for? It sounds like a horror story, but it may actually provide an opportunity to think about the ﬁnancial model for higher education in a new and diﬀerent way.” e great, long-term danger is that public support for higher education continues to decline as state and federal budgets are slashed. “ at means the cost of higher ed for the student continues to spiral upwards,” she said. “But the ironic part is that demand continues to grow and is even soaring at many institutions.” e student demographic has also changed dramatically, with the nontraditional student market becoming more prominent than ever. Many of them hold jobs and support families in addition to attending school, so their personal investment is much higher. “Because these individuals have a much higher opportunity cost to attend your institution, they are going to expect more from a service perspective,” Engelbert said. “Is your institution ready for their expectations?” universitybusiness.com http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - September 2010

University Business - September 2010
Contents
Editor's Note
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Behind the News
Viewpoint
Financial Aid
Sense of Place
Internet Technology
Approaching Admissions Today
Three to Degree
Have College Brands Delivered on Their Promise?
Honoring Efficiency
EduComm 2010 Roundup
View from the Summit
Independent Outlook
What's New
End Note

University Business - September 2010