Subject: Campus Technology Assessment

Dear Colleague,
 
As part of the Center for Academic Technology Support’s ongoing commitment to address the technology needs of our faculty and student constituencies, this semester we will be conducting a campus-wide technology assessment. As such, I wanted you to be informed, in advance, of this upcoming project.

This year we are collaborating with the EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research (ECAR) and 225 other higher education institutions to collect responses from more than 112,000 undergraduate students about their technology experiences and expectations. The findings are distilled into four broad themes to help institutions better understand how students experience technology on their respective campuses and the ways in which new, better, or more technology can impact students’ relationship with information technology. This year, EIU will participate in this collaborative effort. 

The 2015 work includes the twelfth iteration of our exploration of undergraduate students’ technology experiences and our second survey of faculty technology. Both surveys ask respondents to share their current technology experiences, needs, and expectations about technology and technology issues at their campus. The results of these studies will be combined, when possible, to provide a two-sided view of these stakeholders’ technology experiences.

At this time, there is no action required of you. However, I felt it was important for all members of the EIU community to be aware of the upcoming study and be introduced to the survey administrator. Clinton Brown, a senior in Communication Studies, will be the campus-wide administrator for this project. In addition, he will serve as the contact person for this study and as the campus liaison between EIU and EDUCASE. All future communications concerning this project, as well as your invitation to participate, will be sent by Clinton. 

Once the survey data is analyzed, the CATS department will prepare a report for the campus community. The forthcoming document, will report on major findings from the survey. I would like to thank you in advance for your participation in this important project and for your continuing support of the Center for Academic Technology Support. If you have any questions about the administration of the survey, please contact Clinton Brown, CATS Graduate Research Assistant at 217-581-5656 or clbrown3@eiu.edu.

Sincerely,

John Henderson
Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs for Technology
Center of Academic Technology Support