Every year, Educause releases the Top 10 IT Issues in higher education. This year is a bit different as schools are recovering from all the shortcomings the pandemic brought to light, and innovating in new ways.
As higher education is being redefined, so is ITs role in it. Rather than just providing services or bending to budgets, IT teams have been deeply involved in rebuilding campuses and reimagining course offerings.
These changes are reflected in the language Educause uses to describe the top 10 IT issues facing higher ed leaders for 2022.
A new way to talk about IT issues
The language of the year’s top 10 IT issues has changed in urgency and perspective.
Previous years used big picture words that encouraged universities to slowly invest more in IT or start thinking about a change in direction.
However this year, Educause breaks the mold with urgent, active and even contentious words. The pandemic and recovery efforts have created a huge shift.
The pandemic years have shown us what forward-thinking leaders have offered for some time: that students aren’t just customers of higher ed, they are people with ambitious dreams and complex needs. It’s the institution’s job to create opportunities with all of these considerations in place to ensure each student’s success.
As many institutions have learned, making these changes requires a significant investment of both time and financial resources.
2022 IT Themes
The top 10 IT issues this year are divided into 3 themes:
Shared Vision, Shared Strategy
Student Success as Institutional Success
The Sustainable Business Model
Educause themes
Here’s the recap of each issue:
Educause 2022 Top 10 IT Issues
Cyber Everywhere! Are We Prepared? Developing processes and controls, institutional infrastructure, and institutional workforce skills to protect and secure data and supply-chain integrity
Evolve or Become Extinct: Accelerating digital transformation to improve operational efficiency, agility, and institutional workforce development
Digital Faculty for a Digital Future: Ensuring faculty have the digital fluency to provide creative, equitable, and innovative engagement for students
Learning from COVID-19 to Build a Better Future: Using digitization and digital transformation to produce technology systems that are more student-centric and equity-minded
The Digital versus Brick-and-Mortar Balancing Game: Creating a blended campus to provide digital and physical work and learning spaces
From Digital Scarcity to Digital Abundance: Achieving full, equitable digital access for students by investing in connectivity, tools, and skills
The Shrinking World of Higher Education or an Expanded Opportunity? Developing a technology-enhanced post-pandemic institutional vision and value proposition
Weathering the Shift to the Cloud: Creating a cloud and SaaS strategy that reduces costs and maintains control
Can We Learn from a Crisis? Creating an actionable disaster-preparation plan to capitalize on pandemic-related cultural change and investments
Radical Creativity: Helping students prepare for the future by giving them tools and learning spaces that foster creative practices and collaborations
To dive into each issue, visit the Educause Top 10 IT Issues page.
As we can see from these issues and themes, transformation is no longer an option or an ambition, it’s a survival strategy. And the strategy will require significant action and investment moving forward.
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