ECAR Symposium 2008

The 2008 Program—IT and Higher Education: Minding and Closing Gaps

Education has always been about closing gaps—the literacy gap, the learning gap, the achievement gap. Higher education is now understood to be the source of the wealth of nations and key to narrowing the gaps in social mobility. As with all challenging races, just as we appear to be closing the gaps in society's race to advancement, new gaps appear. New gaps are, perhaps, the wellspring and driver of innovation in both higher education and in information technology. As we scan today's horizons we see gaps in scholarly literacy; gaps in mutual comprehension between CEOs and CIOs; gaps between Net Generation students, their teachers, and campus IT providers; gaps in innovation; gaps in crises and institutional preparedness; and gaps in Web 2.0 and a campus community often struggling to fully assimilate Web 1.0! IT leaders are often viewed as those most likely to spot new gaps early and to catalyze measures to narrow the gap.

ECAR Symposium 2008 will continue to consider how emerging networked services and the social practices that go with them redefine the boundaries of the IT unit and the institution. In particular, the 2008 Symposium will focus on the gaps—on their early detection and strategies for closing them.

Agenda

You can view the full conference agenda, detailed program information, or follow the links below for schedule information for specific dates.

• Symposium agenda (Full details)

Symposium Overview

The ECAR Symposium is a subscriber-only event, held at the Boca Raton Resort and Club in Boca Raton, Florida. Up to two individuals from ECAR participating subscriber institutions may participate and receive complimentary registration. The Symposium brings together world-class researchers and analysts whose study of higher education and information technology evolves either from work occurring under the aegis of ECAR or from complementary efforts. The ECAR Symposium program is designed in particular to balance experts from academe with ECAR fellows and research partners. Participants in the ECAR Symposium help shape the ECAR research agenda for the next 18 months. Significant time is allocated to an open-forum assessment of research priorities and evaluation of hot topics for research and analysis, including discussion of speaker and topic priorities for the 2009 Symposium.

To assist you with travel plans, the ECAR Symposium schedule is:

• December 3: Reception and dinner (5:30 p.m.)
• December 4: Symposium sessions (8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.)
• December 5: Symposium sessions (8:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.)

Confirmed Speakers

• Paul Courant, University Librarian and Dean of Libraries, Harold T. Shapiro Collegiate Professor of Public Policy, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Professor of Economics and Professor of Information at the University of Michigan
• Lisa Guernsey, New York Times Writer and Author of Into the Minds of Babes
• Anne Thomas Manes, Vice President and Research Director for Burton Group Application Platform Strategies
• Ernest James Wilson III, Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California