HUMANE
Heads
of University Management & Administration Network in Europe
SEMINAR
University of
Exeter
Friday 27th
to Saturday 28th September 2002
Information
and Communication Technology
ABSTRACTS
Session
1
High-speed Regional Networks - Creating Opportunities
Dr
Laurie Burbridge: (Former Director of
IT Services, University of Exeter)
This
paper describes the national and regional factors that led to the formation of the
new South West England Regional Network (SWERN). The original reasons for the development of the network are
discussed, together with the various problems which were encountered. We shall also describe the nature of the
resulting network and its place within the national high-performance network
for UK Universities (SuperJANET 4).[1]
The
paper then considers the advantages that the new network has brought to the
region and describes a number of new and exciting projects which have been made
possible by the presence of the new network.
These advantages were unexpected, and were not part of the original case
for setting up the network. Overall,
our argument is that the presence of a high-performance networking
infrastructure can bring real advantages to a region, outweighing[2]
by far any problems and difficulties.
Universities can play an important role in facilitating such
developments.
Particular
projects that have been made possible by the new network include the innovative
new Peninsula Medical School and a new University campus in Cornwall.[3] The paper will explain how these projects
were made possible by the new high-speed regional network.
Javier Sagi-Vela, UNIVERSIA (ES)
On
9 July 2000, the Santander Central Hispano Group,[4]
together with 34 Spanish Universities, the Conference of Chancellors of the
Spanish Universities and the Higher Council of Scientific Research, launched an
innovative Internet-based project, called the Universia portal (www.universia.net). For the first time, a
ground-breaking joint initiative between public and private universities and
the private sector, attempted to promote and disseminate the vast wealth of
information, knowledge and on-going research produced in the Spanish- and
Portuguese-speaking world. Barely a year and a half after its inception,
Universia has expanded into an unparalleled global project encompassing over
600 universities, with about seven million students in ten Ibero-American
countries. Moreover, Universia has become a case study for international
collaboration between higher education and the private sector.
Today,
Universia is rapidly becoming the point of reference for the rest of the higher
education world when exploiting the World Wide Web. Thanks to the commitment of
the Santander Central Hispano Group, one of the largest and most innovative
banks in the world, all the universities are joining forces. As part of the
support which the Bank has given to the universities, particularly over the
last four years, the Santander Central Hispano Group has devoted $60 million
globally to provide development funds for the Portal and to guarantee its
development for a minimum of three years.
This makes the universities essential partners of Universia. In each of
the ten countries where Universia is currently established, the universities
have become shareholders with active decision-making through its Board of
directors and specialist committees. Furthermore, all the dividends generated
by the Project will be distributed among the partner universities, while the
Bank is committed to re-investing 100% of its dividend share in the Portal. In
addition, most professionals working for Universia worldwide come from a
university or from other academic backgrounds. This mélange of knowledge,
experience and resources has made Universia a soundly-based project, sensitive
and responsive to the challenges and special situations faced by our
universities in today’s inter-related world.
Together
with the individual universities, the Universia portal is developing a
completely new infrastructure which lays the path towards a completely new way
of creating, exchanging and delivering services and products. Universia is bringing
the Hispanic world to the forefront of innovation and technological development
by uniting and complementing the dynamic ideas and projects of our
Ibero-American universities. Thus, Universia has provided an infrastructure
which makes it easier to decide on the best trade-offs, and generally to
facilitate the decision-making processes of partner universities.
Some
facts:
·
653 universities are
shareholders of Universia (7,500,000 students)
·
12,000,000 web page
“hits” per month
·
400 university
libraries
·
100 university
Presidents are members of the national Board of Directors
eLearning –
Factors for University Management & Administration
Tim
Hall: Director, Ulim-EMRC, University of Limerick.
What
is eLearning? It is an umbrella term for the use of ICT (Information and
Communication Technology) as the vehicle to deliver material to learners. There
are many types or “flavours”, ranging from simply giving students access to
lecture material over the internal network to providing entire courses, via the
Internet, to students engaged in distance-learning.
How are universities involved? Most have some level of eLearning implementation, ranging
from ad hoc use by individual staff to
formal, centrally-supported programmes, but most commonly ICT is used in a
hybrid on-campus form.
Should
eLearning be left to develop on its own, championed by the academics and IT
people? Maybe! However, there are resource implications and other pressures
which show this not to be the best
approach.
The
Information Society is eroding the conventional view of the University as the
place where knowledge is to be had. Ideas of lifelong learning are changing
society’s views on how and when people learn. Demographic and financial
pressures mean universities have to fight for students and funds. In addition
to these various external factors, eLearning is another element which cannot be
ignored.
Within
the university other factors are at play.
IT managers may predict that wider use of eLearning will clog up[5]
the computer network or require huge investment in ICT. Academics may see the
move to eLearning as a way of releasing more time for research. Students may
see eLearning as an alternative to boring lectures; they and their parents may
see it as the “in” thing[6]
and demand it.
What
is the real promise that eLearning holds for universities? Some possibilities
are:
·
more effective
teaching of large groups
·
potential for
individualisation of learning, particularly at post-graduate level
·
consistency in
educational quality
·
merging of on- and
off-campus learning
·
academics being seen
as mentors, not teachers.
Some possible routes to the
implementation of eLearning which might be initiated and supported by university
management are:
·
a virtual campus building as a metaphor,
·
supporting champions as exemplars,
·
an eLearning company approach
·
an eLearning support unit.
There are also other factors to take into
account. For example, most academics lack knowledge in ODL[7]
techniques, while students do not instinctively know how to use eLearning. Meanwhile, the development of one hour of
good eLearning takes about 110 hours, and needs very careful planning by a
team.
However, these are not the real
problems. Successful eLearning should
be carried on within a Learning Management System (LMS) which is integrated
into the central student record system (registration, student progression,
assessment, timetabling etc). Perhaps this seems a scary concept, but it is at
this level that a centralised approach is best taken.
eLearning
is here! Go slow on it at your own peril, because others won’t.[8] Meanwhile, just coming over the horizon is …
mLearning – but more on that at the seminar!
Session
4
The recent achievements of Italian universities in e-procurement fields:
Luigi
Pace, Consip S.p.a.[9]
Francesco
Savonitto, Head of Administration at the University of Udine
The presentation will describe the
Italian e-procurement business model, as applied to the public sector in
general and to the higher education system in particular. It will illustrate
the rationalisation of public spending and the extension, or broadening, of a
shared web-based system for purchasing.
The Italian Government is promoting the
development of E-Procurement models to rationalise the public expenditure for
goods and services. It is worthy of note that the government objective for the
year 2005 is to have at least half of the total expenditure for goods and
services done through e-procurement models.
Consip, a limited company totally owned
by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, has been in charge of this process for
a couple of years. The initiative
involves putting the e-procurement models in place, targeting three main
objectives:
·
cost saving
·
simplification of the
purchasing process
·
transparency.
Three
e-procurement models are being introduced: electronic catalogues
(where "common" goods and services are offered on the basis of large
frame contracts), on-line auctions (used to purchase more
"specific" goods) and market-place (designed for highly fragmented expenditure
categories, such as stationery). The first two models have been
already implemented while the market place is going to be introduced by early
2003.
The
project, which at first was conceived only for the administration of central
government, has later been considered with increasing interest by other public
administration offices such as health agencies, local government and
universities, especially those who were more eager to foster innovation and
organisational change.
The
University system in Italy is responding to the project in a very positive way.
Many new purchasing formulas have been
introduced through web technologies as
well as standard framework agreements for certain types of goods and services
categories.
To date, we have achieved significant
results as about 80,000 purchases have been made through Consip's electronic
catalogue, leading to an average saving of about 31%. Also, a number of on-line auctions have been carried out on a
trial basis, leading to an average saving of 35% in terms of standard prices.
Moreover, the use of on-line orders has allowed the various forms of public
administration to hugely simplify the overall process of acquiring goods by
eliminating “no added-value” steps within the procurement process, thereby
reducing the time involved compared to the previous system.
The
presentation will emphasise the savings which universities have achieved and
the further advantages to be obtained through the application of the
e-procurement models to the various categories of goods and services.
Illustrations of good practice will be given with specific reference to typical
situations found in the university world.
The
e-procurement web portal designed and developed by the company Consip S.p.a.
will also be on display and commented on by the presenters.
Leading a Horse to Water: Success & Failure in IT
Projects
Claire Surridge: Project Leader,
EVINCE (based at the University of Reading)
Daniel Neyland
EVINCE
(www.reading.ac.uk/EVINCE) is a
HEFCE[10]
project, supported by the Development of Good Management Practice Fund. It is using three case studies across two
HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) to investigate and analyse the social and
cultural issues surrounding the initiation and implementation of IT
projects. It was conceived
·
following major
failures within an IT-related project (where the actual technology had worked
well!)
·
from the need to
address information strategy issues,
·
and with an aim of
better understanding what makes the difference between success and failure in
IT-related projects.
So
far this has involved EVINCE looking at issues concerning information strategy
and auditing process, together with questions surrounding the definitions and
identification of project success and failure.
We anticipate drawing these threads together in the context of
organisational structure, culture and social relations. This paper will present an analysis of two
of those issues – the notion of ‘success’ in the context of information
strategy.
Is success defined? When?
How? By whom, or what? In what context? How is it then identified?
The
answers to all these questions can be crucial to the development of a(n IT)
project. Furthermore, the
re-negotiation of what counts as success throughout a project life cycle (and
perhaps beyond) is fundamental to the progress of that project and to the
consequent operational system.
Moreover, definition isn’t everything.
The gaps between definitions, perceptions, identification and acknowledgement
of success can be important, too.
In order to analyse success, this paper will use an analogy
of water technology (the African Bush pump) and will present a case study,
examining the various roles played by people, processes and technology within
an IT-related project.
And what of
information Strategy? Conclusions concerning success connect with
ideas arising from EVINCE studies of information strategy. This paper will outline case study material
and analysis, drawing on stories ranging from hotel keys to Portuguese sailing
routes. It will then propose models for
HEIs to explore in their development of information strategy: These models could also prove useful for the
successful implementation of IT projects.
From this, the paper will draw conclusions about the need
for robust information pathways, enabled via flexible and fluid communications,
and the implications which this has for the role(s) of professional
administrators.
[1] The girl’s name Janet provided the original acronym for the Joint Academic Network when it was first established. As it became faster and more impressive it became SuperJANET, with various later developments indicated by stage numbers.
[2] To “outweigh” is to be heavier in the balance – a literal use would be in a description of the heavier of two boxers.
[3] Exeter is in the administrative county of Devon; Cornwall is the next (and last!) county on the mainland of south-west England.
[4] See further detail in the following paragraph.
[5] To “clog up” is an expression based on the word for a heavy shoe (clog), and refers to obstructing some kind of mechanism or process with bulky or unwanted material (often the phrase is “to clog up the works”).
[6] The “in” thing is the current, most fashionable thing to do or have.
[7] Open and Distance Learning
[8] (That is) others will not go equally slowly.
[9] See third paragraph for further detail.
[10] Higher Education Funding Council for England.