Technology is paramount in higher education. But as institutions face unprecedented challenges like shifting student and staff expectations, tightening budgets, new compliance regulations, and more, how can campus leaders ensure a positive return on their technology investments (which are rarely small)? How can campus leaders stay ahead when systems and applications continue to evolve?
This topic was covered in a webinar hosted by The Chronicle of Higher Education with panelists from the University of Maryland and Rutgers University. Along with Sam Burgio, President & COO of Jenzabar, the panel of experts offered insights and best practices for institutional leaders to consider as they evaluate campus technology. Below, we’ve summarized some of the biggest takeaways.
You can watch the full webinar here.
Look Beyond Dollars Saved
For many, the term “return on investment” automatically conjures financial imagery. And while the bottom line and positive monetary yield is important for almost every investment, ROI goes much further in higher education. For institutions, expensive technology may be a justifiable cost when it improves student experiences, streamlines processes, reduces workloads, and leads to better campus-life balances.
This duality of ROI was brought up in the webinar, as the experts agreed that it’s critical for institutions to make financial investments that commit to addressing higher education’s common mission of driving student success. So, while swapping out one technology for a similar platform that is less expensive could lead to better-looking numbers in a spreadsheet, doing so could have disastrous repercussions associated with onboarding, staff training, or increased friction for students.
When calculating the return on higher education technology investments, decision-makers must incorporate system usability, user experiences, long-term roadmaps, and more. A technology’s return can reach far beyond the dollars and cents.
Monitor Context Clues
Data is a vital component of higher education today, as analyzing information can give decision-makers more insights into how to accelerate operations, change student success metrics, improve spending, and so on. But data can also provide limitations if the whole picture is not accounted for.
In the webinar, the panelists brought up the 2020 pandemic as an example, saying that the rapid switch to fully online learning environments meant institutions needed to embrace new technologies quickly if they wanted to keep students engaged and enrolled. Are the systems that were onboarded during the pandemic still warranted?
Some may say yes, while others will disagree. But regardless of one’s answer, the fact remains that student expectations regarding technology use on campus have evolved—and those demands continue to grow. Today’s learners expect technology to be integrated into their learning experiences, and they will rarely revert to times before certain solutions, like lecture-capture software for example, were commonplace.
Watch for Hidden Costs
Due to the way different departments or academic programs function, technology redundancies are somewhat common in higher education. And while some of those redundancies are required, it’s important for campus leaders to understand where repetitions occur, as having unnecessary overlap can introduce hidden costs and impede possible returns on investment.
A common redundancy on campus is communication platforms. Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, Zoom—many of these systems have similar functionality, but each of them come with licensing fees for large-scale deployments. As a result, the return on these investments is slightly diminished with each overlapping application. The webinar’s panelists suggested that institutions create and manage an inventory of systems to better understand where overlaps occur and where certain cuts or consolidations can be made.
Have a Change Management Plan
Adding, replacing, or removing technology is common on any institutional IT roadmap. It’s important to have a plan for communicating those changes across campus, as sudden developments can lead to poor experiences for both students and staff.
During the webinar, the panelists suggested that campus leaders tell users early and often about technology changes and explain the rationale behind making those decisions, including if they are for operational or financial reasons. They also proposed tailoring communications to different user groups, especially to power users that frequently use certain systems or applications.
Additionally, campus leaders should provide enhanced support when technologies are being changed, as doing so will lead to better onboarding and fewer long-term issues.
Technology has the power to drastically change institutional processes and experiences. To maximize the return on a technology’s investment (both financially and operationally), institutions should work with vendors that treat them like more than clients. With the right technology partner, institutions can collaborate during the discovery process to align on shared goals and outcomes and ensure new systems achieve objectives without creating unnecessary challenges.
You can watch the webinar in its entirety here.
