University Business - December 2008 - (Page 17)

4.5 million S TAT S W AT C H DATA P O I N T —Americans ages 18 to 24 who are not in school, not working, and not high school graduates. —The Measure of America: American Human Development Report 2008-2009. C O U R S E C ATA L O G Chip Burkey, Stevenson University IT Departments Making Strides, Facing Cuts CAMPUS IT DEPARTMENTS MADE GREAT STRIDES IN IMPROVING emergency notification systems between fall 2007 and fall 2008, according to the 2008 Campus Computing Survey. The number of colleges and universities reporting no operational emergency notification system fell to 5.5 percent in fall 2008; last year onequarter did not have one. Community colleges are least likely to have a system, with 13 percent of them reporting not having one. All public universities participating in the survey reported having systems in place. The use of delivery methods for these systems also increased, with text messaging rising by more than 75 percent, voicemail to campus phones and off-campus phones increasing by about 50 percent, and e-mail notification growing by nearly a third. “Campus officials have come to recognize that technology is an essential component” in managing campus crisis strategies, says Kenneth C. Green, Campus Computing Project’s founding director. For the first time, the survey included Software as a Service (SaaS) and Open Source administrative applications. Respondents were asked if their schools would migrate to either by 2013. About a fourth reported a high likelihood of choosing an Open Source Learning Management System, and nearly 13 percent reported likely migration to an Open Source ePortfolio application. Less than 5 percent predicted moving to Open Source ERP applications. About one-quarter said they might migrate to a SaaS-based LMS; others anticipated an SaaS-based content management (12.2 percent) or ePortfolio (11.1 percent) system. With e-mail, about 40 percent of institutions have migrated or are about to migrate to an outsourced student e-mail service; three in 10 are reviewing it. Just 14.8 percent have migrated to outside services for faculty. As for the effects of the economic downturn, more than two-fifths of public colleges and universities reported cuts in their central IT budgets for fall 2008. One-quarter of private universities, private four-year colleges, and community colleges reported cuts. The survey reports the responses of IT officials at 531 two- and four-year institutions. It can be purchased from www.campuscomputing.net. —M.H. Participants in the mock trial at the end of the masters of science in forensic studies program practice real-world teamwork. CSI: Accounting IN LIGHT OF THE RECENT MELTDOWN ON Wall Street, if job availability after graduation is a determining factor when students select a major, those enrolled in the masters of science in forensic studies program at Stevenson University (Md.) shouldn’t have a problem. The program, launched in 2004, trains students to investigate white-collar crimes and serve as expert witnesses for fraud cases. All students in the program take a group of core courses, then move to specialized tracks such as accounting or IT, explains Joyce Becker, dean of graduate and professional studies. In addition to classes, all students participate in a mock trial, which brings them together in an interdisciplinary setting. “They pool their knowledge and work together as a team,” she explains. When an online option for the program launched in 2006, enrollment surged. Two hundred students are currently enrolled (Stevenson currently has an undergraduate and graduate enrollment of about 3,000.) “It’s meeting the demands of employers,” Becker says of the program’s popularity. “It’s addressing workforce issues, particularly in today’s climate.” Potential employers range from local and state law enforcement to accounting firms. Pointing to Enron, WorldCom, and the mortgage crisis, she adds, “Employers are putting systems in place to detect and prevent fraud.” —A.M. December 2008 | 17 universitybusiness.com http://www.campuscomputing.net http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - December 2008

University Business - December 2008
Contents
Editor's Note
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Behind the News
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Human Resources
2009 Annual Directory to Financial Services
Future Shock
Independent Outlook
Endowment Management
Look Before You Leap
50 Best Branding Ideas
Remedial Nation
What's New
Facilities Focus
End Note

University Business - December 2008