Cornell University

Todd Kreuger, CIO, Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University

To facilitate sustainable success amid the various obstacles in higher education's IT landscape, IT departments must play a key role in driving innovation, transformation, and differentiation within each constituency group on campus. Many such groups embrace technology as the vehicle for organizational success; the key is finding the right technology. Identifying and implementing the appropriate technical solution requires collaboration, fueled by trust, to steer the project to the appropriate end result.

Unfortunately, many projects end up miles away from what the customer needs due to collaboration and trust issues. In some unfortunate cases, such projects — with their

Building Productive and Collaborative Relationships at the Speed of Trust

Building Productive and Collaborative Relationships at the

Todd Kreuger, CIO, Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University

To facilitate sustainable success amid the various obstacles in higher education's IT landscape, IT departments must play a key role in driving innovation, transformation, and differentiation within each constituency group on campus. Many such groups embrace technology as the vehicle for organizational success; the key is finding the right technology. Identifying and implementing the appropriate technical solution requires collaboration,

The Ongoing Challenge

The Ongoing Challenge

With the explosive growth in information technology,¹ IT leaders have had to scramble to keep pace, and in many cases, they are still in the midst of "catching up." Given the fact that institutions are grappling with numerous security concerns and challenges, it's safe to say that information security has also been obscured to varying degrees over the years.² We believe that significant institutional vulnerabilities, combined with escalating security problems, require institutional leaders to respond more vigorously.

This belief is backed up by the EDUCAUSE annual look at the top IT issues in higher education. The relationship and balance between information security and IT priorities has made the

Achieving the (Often Delicate)

Achieving the (Often Delicate) Balance between Technology and Information Security

onald L. Vaughn, President of the University of Tampa since January 1995 and holder of the Max H. Hollingsworth Chair of American Enterprise, previously served as Coordinator of the Department of Marketing, Director of the MBA program, Dean of the College of Business and Graduate Studies, and Co-Chief Academic Officer. Tammy Clark is Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at the University of Tampa.

Higher education leaders today face mounting pressure to compete for dwindling numbers of college applicants, account for learning outcomes, embrace technology innovation and disruption, and make key decisions regarding whether to move enterprise applications and infrastructure to the cloud. In the midst of this, there is an equally compelling need to ensure that the balance between information technology and information security is continually adjusted to provide adequate protection for the

A Tuition-Free College Degree

Shai Reshef is Founder and President of University of the People.

I would like to share with you a new model of higher education—a model that, once expanded, can enhance the collective intelligence of millions of creative and motivated individuals who otherwise would be left behind. Look at the world. Pick a place and focus on it. You will find people chasing higher education. Let's meet some of them.

Embracing Failure to Spur Success: A New Collaborative Innovation Model

Kim A. Wilcox is Chancellor of the University of California, Riverside. Edward J. Ray is President of Oregon State University.

On college and university campuses across the United States, we're surrounded by a resource that leads to discovery, innovation, and growth—yet we don't embrace it at the leadership level. That resource? Failure.

Ten Reasons to Tackle the Top 10 IT Issues

Diana G. Oblinger is President and CEO of EDUCAUSE.

The focus of this first issue in the 50th volume of EDUCAUSE Review is the EDUCAUSE Top 10 IT Issues, 2015. These issues represent the critical concerns for our profession. They are complex challenges, encompassing multifaceted human, technological, and organizational issues that can often take years to address. In "Top 10 IT Issues, 2015: Inflection Point," EDUCAUSE Vice President Susan Grajek and the EDUCAUSE IT Issues Panel describe this year's top issues and offer advice for tackling each.

Reset and Reimagine

Diana G. Oblinger is President and CEO of EDUCAUSE.

While reinforcing the value of higher education as a provider of a quality education for work, life, and citizenship, the authors in this issue ofEDUCAUSE Review have reset and reimagined many of the elements of today's colleges and universities. This process begins with the audience. Paul LeBlanc, President of Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), suggests that we should decide "which 'higher education' we have in mind and what problem we want it to solve." Today's new business models are designed for the tens of thousands of learners who need more quality education in less time.

Collaboration, Partnership, and Student Success

Diana G. Oblinger (doblinger@educause.edu) is President and CEO of EDUCAUSE.

Collaboration and partnership are terms we use often in higher education. We believe that working together is the right thing to do. It is mutually beneficial and mutuallyreinforcing.In "Innovating Together: Collaboration as a Driving Force to Improve Student Success," Bridget Burns, Michael M. Crow, and Mark P. Becker discuss the benefits of collaboration and partnership: "Developing a successful model for collaborative innovation—for innovating together

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

University of Wisconsin–Madison MOOCs are a campus-wide effort. The authors wish to thank the MOOC faculty and course design team members, consisting of instructional designers, librarians, data custodians, evaluators, and communication experts. We also want to thank our campus Educational Innovation co-leads, advisory board, and point people, who offered wise advice along the way. And special thanks to Lika Balenovich, Ron Cramer, Michael Fay, Greg Konop, Dean

An Updated "Wisconsin Idea"

An Updated "Wisconsin Idea"

The notion of extending UW–Madison's educational mission beyond campus borders is nothing new. For over a hundred years, we've called it the Wisconsin Idea: connecting the work done at the university to people all around the state.⁹ The phase-two MOOCs are simply the latest iteration of the Wisconsin Idea, appealing to resident hunters, theater fans, and foodies, among other lifelong learners. Along with engaging a global audience, the MOOCs will ideally inform decision making at the local level and give people around the state a sense of ownership in the university. The message is that the university is here to engage with communities, facilitate a discussion of their concerns, and serve as an economic engine for Wisconsin.

Cultivating Relationships

Cultivating Relationships

Other universities have had success with meet-ups connected to their MOOCs, such as the University of Pennsylvania and its popular "Modern & Contemporary American Poetry."⁷ The new part of UW–Madison's approach, however, is combining MOOCs with this kind of targeted statewide engagement.

Though the six MOOCs in phase two are all designed and scheduled, the related events have yet to take shape for the last four courses. We're planning them as we go, based on the

New Approaches to Assessment

In conjunction with "The Land Ethic Reclaimed," a two-day Baraboo event that brings together hunters and chefs is co-sponsored by theWisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Aldo Leopold Foundation, a state conservation group. It features a hunt that pairs beginners with experienced hunters; workshops on using retriever dogs and learning outdoor survival skills; a demonstration of safe butchering; and a feast of venison and pheasant prepared by chefs. An independent bookstore will be on hand to sell cookbooks on locally sourced dishes, and several activities will be designed for families. UW–Madison faculty will also speak, placing the event in the context of conservation.

Who Didn't Show Up

•  We learned what kinds okfjdf participants we can attract with little more than the promotion provided by Coursera. They are the highly educated, older people who are strongly represented in MOOCs nationwide.⁴ The average age was 34, and 74 percent had at least a bachelor's degree.

Knowing Our Audience

Knowing Our Audience

UW–Madison's phase-one MOOCs gave faculty members a chance to explore new ways of teaching, research, and outreach, supported by a project team that could provide strategic planning, online course development, and evaluation. This initial offering consisted of four courses: "Video Games and Learning," "Markets with Frictions," "Human Evolution: Past and Future," and "Globalizing Higher Education and Research for the 'Knowledge Economy.'"

The MOOCs were faculty-centered, following a traditional

MOOCs for Wisconsin and the World

A new MOOC initiative from the University of Wisconsin–Madison ties the topics to communities in the state of Wisconsin and gives residents an opportunity to meet in person.Sarah C. Mangelsdorf, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs; Jeffrey S. Russell, Vice Provost for Lifelong Learning and Dean, Division of Continuing Studies; Linda A. Jorn, Associate Vice Provost of Learning Technologies and Division of Information Technology (DoIT) Director of Academic Technology; and Joshua H. Morrill, Evaluator, University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Matthew Pittinsky

Matthew Pittinsky

Matthew Pittinsky, a pioneer in education technology, is more than an entrepreneur; he is a sociologist of education. In 1997 he co-founded Blackboard Inc., serving first as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and then Executive Chairman. Today, Blackboard is considered by most industry analysts to be a leading provider of online education systems around the world.

Outside of the United States

Outside of the United States

 there are some interesting models from institutions that have begun to tackle the problem of electronic standards for extending their transcripts in a very protective way. Not surprisingly, many of these are in countries that have ministries of education, which can help lead innovation across an entire country.

For example, the trend in the United Kingdom has been to move away from the degree classification system toward a GPA system and to begin communicating more information—not just courses

Credentialing in Higher Education: Current

Credentialing in Higher Education: Current Challenges and Innovative Trends

Although colleges and universities are the beneficiaries of a growing credential society, they communicate only a fraction of the educational experience that happens on their campuses. Higher education must find ways to credential better—with more information and in more accessible ways—using the transformative technology we now have available.Matthew Pittinsky is CEO of Parchment and Assistant Research Professor, School of Social and Family Dynamics, at Arizona State University.