Shelter from the Storm: IT and Business Continuity in Higher Education

Abstract

Abstract

This study looks at IT unit readiness to foster and support the functioning of colleges and universities that are challenged by disruption. Responding to a well-documented increase of interest in business continuity and disaster recovery issues among higher education chief information officers (CIOs), ECAR designed the study to inform executives about how institutions approach continuity issues and to identify practices that are associated with good business continuity outcomes. The study methodology included a literature review; consultation with a select group of CIOs and business continuity experts for the purpose of identifying and validating research questions; a quantitative survey of IT administrators (mostly CIOs) at 340 higher education institutions; postsurvey interviews with 15 executives and IT staff members involved in business continuity; a quantitative survey of institutional business officers (mostly CBOs/CFOs) at 247 member institutions of the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO); and four case studies looking at business continuity planning and operations Florida State University, New York University, Pace University, UC Davis, and UCLA.

Table of Contents
Entire Study Shelter from the Storm: IT and Business Continuity in Higher Education [PDF 3,463 KB]
  Foreword [PDF 102 KB]
Ch. 1 Executive Summary [PDF 214 KB]
Ch. 2 Introduction [PDF 127 KB]
Ch. 3 Methodology and Respondent Demographics [PDF 194 KB]
Ch. 4 Institutional Perspectives on Business Continuity [PDF 462 KB]
Ch. 5 Risk Assessment and Business Continuity Planning [PDF 499 KB]
Ch. 6 Business Continuity Technology and Infrastructure [PDF 405 KB]
Ch. 7 Awareness, Training, and Testing [PDF 328 KB]
Ch. 8 Incident Management and Response [PDF 464 KB]
Ch. 9 Preparedness and Performance: Assessing BC Outcomes [PDF 330 KB]
Ch. 10 CBOs and CIOs [PDF 398 KB]
Ch. 11 Toward Resiliency: The Future of Higher Education Business Continuity [PDF 125 KB]
Appendix A Institutional Respondents to the Online CIO Survey [PDF 63 KB]
Appendix B Institutional Respondents to the Online CBO Survey [PDF 60 KB]
Appendix C Interviewees in Qualitative Research [PDF 55 KB]
Appendix D References [PDF 73 KB]
Case Studies
Seizing the Moment: A New Model for Disaster Recovery at Florida State University [PDF 561 KB]
Shared Responsibility for Business Continuity: The Team Approach at UCLA [PDF 555 KB]
University of California, Davis: Creating and Institutional Framework for Business Continuity [PDF 565 KB]
Post-9/11 Emergency Response and Business Continuity Changes at Pace University and New York University [PDF 569 KB]
Online Supporting Materials
Key Findings [PDF 322 KB]
Roadmap [PDF 179 KB]
Survey Instrument-CIOs [PDF 326 KB]
Survey Instrument-CBOs [PDF 89 KB]

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