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  • An EDUCAUSE missionary: spreading the word about student affairs and technology

    By Eric Stoller October 14, 2010 2:00 pm EDT

    It is now day 3 at EDUCAUSE 2010. I've been to countless meetings, sat in on a few sessions, and had a great time touring the exhibit hall. The amount of high level strategic thinking that's taking place has been phenomenal. The future of higher education technology is being shaped as I write this post.

    As a student affairs professional, I have made a concerted effort to ask every vendor that I speak with about how their product, service, or solution will benefit student affairs divisions and/or functional areas. Very few of the conversations taking place at EDUCAUSE 2010 involve leaders in student affairs administration. I've felt like a missionary at EDUCAUSE. I cycle through the list of student affairs functional areas in my head as I peruse the exhibit hall thinking about how we fit in. Most of my conversations with vendors have started out with their "pitch" and ended with me telling them all about how student affairs could benefit from their product.

    I started thinking about what would happen if more senior student affairs officers were in attendance. How amazing would it be to have student affairs leaders at the same conference as our leaders in information technology? The possibilities for cross-disciplinary collaboration coupled with conversations with industry leaders could create space for amazing higher education technology breakthroughs. Student affairs needs technology solutions just as much as technology solution providers need student affairs. Enhanced services and expanded business opportunities would abound.

    What do you think? Should student affairs have more of a presence at EDUCAUSE? Is EDUCAUSE ready for us? Are we ready for EDUCAUSE?

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Comments on An EDUCAUSE missionary: spreading the word about student affairs and technology

  • EDUCAUSE and Student Affairs
  • Posted by Ed Cabellon , Director, Rondileau Campus Center at Bridgewater State University on October 14, 2010 at 4:45pm EDT
  • Eric, you're blog post supports our continuing claim that we (in Student Affairs) are well behind the technology curve, and I wonder if we are ready for what EDUCAUSE has to offer. I assume that I (along with many #sachat folks) would probably be interested in going and learning, but getting more SSAO in these broader conversations is key.

    In a time of tight travel budgets, if they would give up going to NASPA, ACPA, etc. to go to EDUCASE instead?
  • Where student affairs and technology are embraced
  • Posted by Cali Morrison at WCET on October 14, 2010 at 5:01pm EDT
  • Up front I will admit my bias, I work for WCET, however, as a former student affairs professional who is working more on the technology side, I say #WCET10 is the better conference for a meeting of the minds of technology leaders and student affairs leaders. We have a strand focused on student success which focuses on student services - http://wcetconference.wiche.edu/strand.php?id=5

    As a previous NASPA attendee, where they didn't even have wifi for purchase, attending essentially a technology trade show might have been too overwhelming for me. But I first attended WCET's annual conference in 2007, prior to working for WCET, and I found lots of helpful information to take back to my campus dealing with implementing technology to improve student success (not that all my ideas generated at WCET were implemented but that's a whole other can of worms!). And even as a 'newbie' I felt very welcomed within the community of WCET.

    Hope to see you in La Jolla next month!
  • EDUCause the place to be
  • Posted by Lulu Kaliher , complex coordinator at University of Delaware on October 15, 2010 at 1:00am EDT
  • I would be there in a snap if I had a large professional development funds. It would replace ACPA/NASPA but I think it would be worth it. EDUCause is the place to be and learn ways we can use technology to enhance our practices. Keep twitting and blogging about your experience. Send some pics too!
  • technology use in student affairs
  • Posted by Allen Taylor at West Chester University on October 15, 2010 at 11:15am EDT
  • I couldn’t agree more. Student Affairs has some catching up to do with regards to its use of technology. I wonder, though, if part of that is due to the (somewhat misconceived) notion that technology diminishes the “high touch” environment found in student affairs. I also wonder if student affairs offices have a slower adoption rate for technology projects due to the lack of institutional support found at some institutions when compared to support for teaching and learning projects. The path to project implementation can sometimes have us jumping from one IT office to another. Finally, in my experience, technology vendors usually have difficulty connecting and explaining their products to student affairs professionals and the work that we do. I’d be interested to hear about your experiences with this at EDUCAUSE having never been myself (but like many, always wanted to go).

    But to address your original questions, I wonder if EDUCAUSE offers enough sessions/presentations that would be of interest to student affairs professionals with limited technology experience. And as Ed questioned, I’m not sure that student affairs professionals would exchange an opportunity to attend EDUCAUSE instead of the national meeting of their professional organization. Perhaps, in the future, we could convince one of the large professional organizations to host a joint, slightly overlapping, and back-to-back conference with EDUCAUSE. Maybe even an EDUCAUSE lite?
  • Collaboration
  • Posted by Kristen Abell , Associate Director, Residential Life at UMKC on October 15, 2010 at 3:15pm EDT
  • I have to admit, I'm jealous of you being able to attend EDUCAUSE, Eric, but I'm probably the only one (or maybe one of two) of my student affairs colleagues here that is. I find continuously that I'm still in the minority, and I'm the missionary for technology in student affairs. I think it would be great if there was a student affairs track at EDUCAUSE - not because the two areas are exclusive, but I wonder if that might not be the stepping stone that some student affairs folks need at a technology conference.
    Enjoying your coverage and looking forward to more interesting posts and tweets.

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