Directors Seminar Plenary Sessions

Clair Maple Address: Educational Economics: A New Accountability

Monday, August 06, 2001
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. DGS02

Karen A. Stephenson, President, NetForm International Inc.

For centuries, higher education has been characterized by opacity, not transparency. The revolution in technology makes the invisible visible, the intangible tangible, and the opaque transparent. Is higher education ready for this revolution? Or will it simply try to resist rather than rethink? Dr. Stephenson will discuss implications of this pending change on governance, policies, and politics.

Postconference Resource

Closing Remarks/Adjournment

Wednesday, August 08, 2001
12:00 p.m. - : a.m. DGS06

Evening on Own

Tuesday, August 07, 2001
4:30 p.m. - : a.m. DGS05

Opening Remarks

Monday, August 06, 2001
8:45 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. DGS01

Paul B. Gandel, Professor of Information Studies, Syracuse University

Why Do We Do What We Do? (And Other Hard Questions)

Wednesday, August 08, 2001
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. DGS05A

John W. McCredie, Senior ECAR Fellow and Associate Vice Chancellor & CIO, Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley

Are we just not very bright, a little crazy, or too insecure to do something else? Or are we having fun, working with some of the brightest people on the planet, and building applications that may actually change things for the better? Most of us enjoy wrestling with difficult technical issues. I, however, tend to avoid some of the really tough non-technical questions that come when I least expect them. For example, "what are you going to do when you grow up" stops me in my tracks. In this session, we shall explore some hard questions like "why is it so hard to get things done in higher education, particularly improving learning with technology," "how can we learn to avoid mistakes others have already made," and "how can we help to make things improve faster?" In addition to my own ideas, I shall provide some potential answers to these questions from IT leaders who have preceded us and also from current Snowmass attendees.

Postconference Resource

Yarns into Gold or Can Good Research Trump Good Stories?

Tuesday, August 07, 2001
8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. DGS03

Richard N. Katz, Vice President, EDUCAUSE

It comes as no surprise that managing in higher education (itself an oxymoron) entails managing contradictions. One of those contradictions is the unwavering belief in research that forms the basis of the faculty belief system and the dominance of the anecdote as a driver of institutional administrative behaviors. It is an old saw that "anecdotes trump data" in political organizations. As information technologies grow in cost, complexity, and impact on the institutions they serve, can we any longer afford to fly by the collective seats of our pants? The EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research is being created to support higher education by creating a new body of applied research to support technology and management decisions of consequence.

Postconference Resource