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Volume 3 Issue 3March 1999

Technology II Planning

Ric Matthews
Coordinator, Technology II
California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office

For three years, the California Community Colleges (CCC) have had in place a system-wide technology plan known as the Telecommunications and Technology Infrastructure Program (TTIP). The plan, and the budget associated with it, will run out in one year.

Chancellor Tom Nussbaum has asked Ric Matthews, biology faculty member from San Diego Miramar College and former technology chair for the Statewide Academic Senate, to coordinate the development of a Technology II plan for the state. Through an intra-jurisdictional exchange, Matthews is on loan from San Diego Community College District to the California Community College’s Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO).

The Technology II plan is being developed in collaboaration with the Technology and Telecommunications Advisory Committee (TTAC), a cross-section advisory committee. The committee consists of five faculty appointed by the Statewide Academic Senate, five CEO’s appointed by their statewide organization, and one member from each of the following statewide groups: chief instructional officers, chief student services officers, chief information services officers, chief business officers, California Association on Postsecondary Education and Disability(CAPED), 4CNet, @ONE, and three members of the CCCCO staff.

In January, the TTAC held a vision activity which was facilitated by three members from the Bakersfield College Center for Professional Development. From this meeting, and a follow-up in February, the group will submit a draft plan to Chancellor Nussbaum.

It is a daunting task to predict the future technological needs of the CCC in the year 2005. As most readers are probably aware, technology professionals identify a generation as 18 months. So where will we be in five years - three and a half generations from now? The recommendations of this group will be made available through a web site after the TTAC and the Chancellor’s Office have approved them. (The address will be announced here in TIPS News and on the TIPS web site at http://www.tipsnews.org).

Areas of shared concern within the draft are access, support, and training. How do we provide technology sophistication to the campuses, faced with some students arriving with expectations of multimedia rich content and connectivity, while other students lack the equipment and skills for even the most basic technologies? How will we support the instructional and student services technology that is arriving on campus, with limited existing staff in a competitive job market? What mechanisms do we create to provide for ongoing training for faculty, administration, and staff?

The Gartner Group, a technology think tank, states that the true cost of ownership is 15 percent hardware and software acquisition, 16 percent technical support, 17 percent administration, and 52 percent end-user operations (training and support). Most boards, local and statewide, are concerned with the acquisition expenses, with little consideration for the other components. Technology will be an ongoing expense, like building maintenance. The Technology II plan will attempt to address these issues, and should be available for review by late spring.