Decentralized IT Governance and Policy in Higher Education

Abstract

This ECAR research bulletin focuses on the challenges and strategies related to integrating IT governance and policy across multiple university entities (schools, colleges, departments, and campuses). The topic of IT governance and IT policy is addressed from the perspective of the relationship between policies that serve specific distributed or decentralized units of the institution and policies developed on behalf of the parent institution at large. The bulletin draws on the findings of a 2008 study involving a quantitative survey of chief information officers at 28 American Veterinary Medical Association–accredited colleges of veterinary medicine as well as telephone interviews with CVM senior IT leaders. In addition, in-person and telephone interviews with university CIOs and IT leaders from other distributed units were conducted to generalize the findings in this study. From the quantitative and qualitative results of this research, the bulletin offers recommendations related to IT infrastructure, governance, and policy for central and distributed IT leaders and the constituencies they serve.

Citation for this work: Krueger, Donald A. “Decentralized IT Governance and Policy in Higher Education” (Research Bulletin, Issue 5). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research, 2009, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

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