The State of Campus Computing

Inside Higher Ed | The State of Campus Computing

Wireless is ascendant, security breaches are (despite the headlines) on the decline, and support for open source technologies remains strong — stronger, at this point, than actual deployment.

Those are among the findings of the 2006 version of the annual survey by the Campus Computing Project, which will be released today at the annual Educause meeting in Dallas. Campus Computing, 2006, the 17th edition of the survey by Kenneth C. Green, the project’s executive director.

The survey, which includes responses gathered from information technology officials at 540 colleges and universities in September and October, finds that network and data security remains at the top of tech administrators’ worry lists for the third straight year. Nearly 30 percent of respondents said security was their “single most important IT issue,” followed by instructional integration of information technology (17.3 percent) and upgrading and replacing campus administrative information systems (16.3 percent). Security was the top issue at every type of institution in the survey, but the runnerup varied depending on institution type. Public and private universities listed upgrading their administrative systems as their second most significant issue, while community colleges and four-year private colleges cited instructional integration...