Online Community, Documented Savings, Identity Managers & Green Procurement
A recent survey of 120 community college presidents found that 93 percent report rising enrollment in online courses. Roughly 40 percent say online-course enrollments increased 5 to 10 percent, while one-third report a gain of 10 percent or more in the number of students enrolled in online courses over the past 12 months. Nearly 90 percent of the presidents say their campuses are offering more online courses and programs in response to student demand, while 39 percent agree that their institutions are moving to expand online programs as a way to reduce the cost of instruction.
Documented Savings
A document management system at the University of Miami has delivered impressive results: The school reports a return on investment within 11 months, and a $10.3 million net savings over 10 years. Purchase-order cycle time was shortened from 12 business days to three. Digitizing many business documents has also helped UM save a significant amount of paper, contributing 47 percent to the overall economic benefits of the system. By avoiding the storage and physical filing of paper documents, UM has been able to reclaim and repurpose space, accounting for 22 percent of the system’s overall savings.
Source: Thoughtware Worldwide
Identity Managers
The desire for centralized identity and access management has now turned to action. Among 189 colleges and universities surveyed, 37 percent have implemented a centralized IAM solution; 29 percent are in the process of doing so. Twenty percent began implementing IAM in the past six months.
Source: Gartner
Green Procurement
A study on green procurement trends has found that activity at colleges and universities is picking up. While only 24 percent of the more than 100 purchasing managers surveyed say they have a green-procurement policy in place, double that number — 48 percent — are currently developing such a policy. On the downside, only 30 percent say they have the technology to promote green-certified suppliers, and 60 percent have no way to determine how much money is spent with such suppliers or on environmentally friendly products.
Source: SciQuest; National Association of Educational Procurement
Text Me Please
A recent survey of 1,200 college students found that 95 percent own cell phones. The top two applications students spend their cell phone time on are texting (39 percent) and voice conversations (26 percent). Students spend about 5 percent of their phone time checking e-mail and 4 percent taking photos. Listening to music and web surfing both registered at 3 percent.
Source: Student Monitor
