BUSINESS INSIGHTS FOR CAMPUS TECHNOLOGY IIIMPROVED OUTCOMES & STRATEGIC INITIATIVES – THE CASE FOR COLLABORATING ACROSS DEPARTMENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

By Matt Loecke, Apogee

Talk of collaborating across departments is everywhere.

It’s become quite common in the private sector,

and for good reason. It’s being identified as the

fundamental differentiator in achieving strategic

objectives and paramount to a company’s success.

Just as in the business community, today’s challenging

higher education environment can benefit from more

collaboration, particularly between IT, business and

finance leaders. A recent EDUCAUSE/NACUBO 2017

Enterprise IT Summit, which focused on cross-enterprise

relationships, noted that by working together, IT

and business leaders can make a powerful impact on

solving institutional challenges. The summit identified

four main areas that can enhance collaboration: the

development of institutional relationships and

partnerships, the improvement of analytics and data

governance initiatives, a forward

-thinking leadership team to align unit goals with

university goals, and the cultivation of a better

understanding of IT costs and its strategic value.

The Case for Collaborating Across Departments in Higher Education

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The summit report also cited both NACUBO and EDUCAUSE presidents speaking to the power of collaboration with these remarks: “We need to encourage strategic financial thinking together with strategic technology think-ing to face these institutional challenges,” said NACUBO president John Walda, while EDUCAUSE president John O’Brien added, “The future of IT lies in working collaboratively across the C-suite.”

In another example, Business Officer Magazine reports

that at one private university which had embarked on

a capital campaign, there was close collaboration

between the VP for advancement and CBO. Early on,

the CBO was part of conversations about the right mix

of new capital, such as how much to designate for the

endowment, for facilities, and for operating, so the

VP of advancement could tie his asks to strategic

initiatives. By working together, they devised a feasible

multi-year capital and operating budget that furthers

the work of both divisions.

eCampus News provides an example that showcases

the fruits of collaboration that can accrue for higher

education institutions. At Emory & Henry College in

Emory, Virginia, IT, finance and housing collaborated

for the last few years to transform the campus into

one of the most digitally-connected campuses of its

size. “The promise of technology is that things can get

done better, faster and cheaper. But to make that

happen, collaboration needs to happen among all the

different groups of decision makers on campus.

Technology cannot be siloed. It is not a technology

issue that can simply be handed to the CIO to solve,”

says Rick Gaumer, vice president of business and

finance.

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This is not to say that collaboration is easy in a university setting. Team collaboration is more difficult in that higher education is so unique, what with multiple constituents, goals, and purposes. But nonetheless, collaboration is ultimately the mechanism that can strengthen the institution's ability to get things done.

Cultural Shifts in How We Collaborate for Better Financial Decision Making

It’s a different story these days, as more

companies encourage – or even require – cross-

functional collaboration. For example, a Robert

Half Management Resources and Robert Half

Technology survey last year found that 51 percent

of CFOs report they’re collaborating more

frequently with their company’s CIOs, compared

to three years ago. Business has become more

complex and organizations continue to invest in

technology to make strategic decisions. A few

years ago, it wasn’t necessary to work together –

now it’s essential.

Higher education is significantly more complex –

where the difficulties of collaboration are

exacerbated by the complexity of various depart-

mental goals. Some departments are focused on

student experience, others on research, teach-

ing/learning, fundraising, cost reduction, communi-

ty outreach, political importance, public opinion,

etc. Add to that an increasing reliance on

technology to meet the needs of new generations

of “digital” students and to provide them with the

experience they expect.

In the past, the only time the corporate tech depart-

ment and those in finance or business operations

might have interacted was at the annual holiday

party. But even then, the employees pretty much

huddled with their own department.

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As business officers, CFOs, CIOs, provosts and

presidents execute on their strategic plans, creat-

ing better communication internally will only help

drive more intelligent investments and outcomes.

The best focus would be on understanding and

measuring accountability—and constant evaluation.

So, how can we in higher education encourage

and implement ways to move past the obstacles

to reap the benefits? How can university leaders

collaborate more efficiently to improve outcomes

and advance the strategic plan? Here are three

high-level actions higher education administrators

can implement:

Today’s complex environments require

collaborative leadership to help campuses become

nimbler and more responsive to needed changes.

Administrators now face a very different set of

challenges: declining budgets, rise of international

partnerships, greater accountability pressures,

need for new business models, new technologies,

and changing demographics. While higher

education has undergone periods of significant

change, today’s environment is unique in terms of

the sheer number of areas that demand change.

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As technology drives much of the university

experience today, business leaders in higher

education will benefit from educating themselves

and becoming more knowledgeable about

technology. Create an environment for

teamwork—not silos. Sit with CIOs and IT staff

to understand what’s working and what’s not.

Foster an open and learning environment for

transparent feedback mechanism and knowledge

sharing about software, cloud services, servers, etc.

As Shel Waggener wrote in a recent EDUCAUSE

Quarterly article, "The days of a silo controlling all

aspects of an IT solution are gone." Success in IT

demands shared leadership that can navigate the

constant and complex factors of change.

And, IT staff would be well-served to better

understand the university mission, P&L and balance

sheets. As part of a cross-functional collaboration

team, they would meet regularly with business

leaders on the importance of financial and

operational efficiencies.

To truly make cross collaboration work in higher

education, incentives should be aligned across

the organization for a better understanding of

total cost of ownership. Do we need a dedicated

FTE on digital signage? Can we create work/study

programs to cut costs and increase learning

opportunities for students? It’s not about

eliminating jobs but refocusing them to

mission-critical activities.

And so, for example, the CIO and CFO can build

a closer relationship. It would be beneficial for

the CIO to be financially strategic while the

CFO is more technically educated.

IMPROVE TECHNICAL & FINANCIAL TRAINING1

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For many, collaboration doesn’t come naturally. Let’s be frank, in almost every company, accounting,

engineering, marketing, and sales all often have a hard time understanding one another.

It’s no different in higher education.

What is different is that cross-functional teams in corporations generally have incentives aligned –

simply drive the top and bottom lines. Not so in higher education. In higher education, the rewards

are real, if subtle.

While monetary incentives can be useful, recognition tends to be more effective. It builds culture. It’s like the janitor at NASA who says he is helping get a man to the moon, not just cleaning floors.

One-on-one time between mid-level managers and the C-Suite can bea big incentive for both groups.

The ability to help foster the creation of something positive, and actually see it bear fruit; that can be incredibly satisfying.

Seeing a difficult situation improved, the better to fulfill the college's mission, can provide strong motivation.

Winning respect through a particularly thoughtful or creative approach to problem-solving. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's worth savoring.

Incentives to finishing projects on time and receiving high adoption rates.

ALIGN INCENTIVES TO DRIVE OUTCOMES2

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A critical competency of collaboration is that

leaders across all parts of the university be

conversant and knowledgeable about each leader’s

responsibilities—academics, administration,

and technology, aligning efforts to the strategic

directions of their institution, and lowering

operational costs to increase the funding

available for investment in the academic mission.

Administrators can share institutional knowledge

in many ways—through regular inter-departmental

and “engagement” meetings, setting up

collaborative SMART goals, reading publications

not in one’s field of expertise (like a CBO reading

EDUCAUSE and a CTO reading Business Officer),

and attending education consortiums, seminars,

and conferences.

As just one example of how sharing institutional

knowledge can result in better decision making is

that of Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY. A recent article

in Business Officer explains that a close CIO-CBO

collaboration facilitated work within different

reporting structures with sometimes-differing

goals, ensured a level of openness and

transparency, and fostered trust among

stakeholders. For the broader institution's goals,

they instituted monthly "Dollars and $ense"

meetings, during which staff from any department

can participate to better understand the financial

and operational facets of the college. At these

meetings, there’s a briefing from both the CBO

and CIO. “This new line of communication has

been a smash hit so far, with attendance swelling

from a mere seven attendees at the first meeting

to more than 100 interested parties who now

attend monthly,” noted Gerald Hector,

vice president, finance and administration.

This type of sharing, as exemplified by Ithaca,

drives accountability and improves institutional

habits. And, it creates centralized practices and

awareness across the organization. It is ultimately

the mechanism that strengthens the institution's

ability to make better decisions and get things

done.

Clear and shared responsibility—top down and

bottom up—is important on the strategic initiatives

undertaken by any university. Collaborative teams

focus on meeting a shared goal. Everyone should

feel responsible for and critical to the success of

these initiatives. Without this feeling of shared

responsibility, all too often the best laid strategic

plans lose steam after year two or three.

SHARE INSTITUTIONAL KNOWLEDGE FOR BETTER DECISION MAKING3

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CONCLUSION

Collaboration among different functional units provides the institution with a huge

opportunity to align the whole organization to the core mission of the university. Promotion of

that understanding of common mission serves to mitigate the 'us vs. them' mentality, which in

turn translates into a more productive and purposeful campus community.

With technology—and particularly bandwidth and Wi-Fi — driving much of the university

experience today, communication and collaboration between the CIO and IT staff and other

business leaders is critical. It’s everyone’s job to understand and ensure that technology is up to

scale. Institutions will benefit from choosing partners who possess expertise in both higher

education and technology to ensure a seamless transition and achievement of the best results.

As officers of your institutions, what is your role in creating this type of collaboration?

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By Matt LoeckeExecutive Vice President, Apogee

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ABOUT APOGEE

As higher education’s largest provider of managed technology services,

Apogee helps colleges and universities transition to and excel in today’s digital era.

Its comprehensive Managed Campus Suite includes network services that connect the

campus to enhance learning outcomes, video that transforms student interaction, and

new digital engagement technologies that captivate students and drive meaningful

engagement. Partnering with Apogee enables schools to derive greater return on their

IT investments and increases student satisfaction while achieving budget

stability and predictability.

apogee.us

VISIT US AT NACUBO'S ANNUAL MEETINGJuly 13 - 16, 2019

Austin, TXBooth #631