2008 Woodie Awards
New vice chancellor wants better technology
By Ryan Johnston
Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: News
Originally published: 4/17/08 at 3:04 PM CSTLast update: 4/30/08 at 4:17 PM CST
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Dr. Thomas Cleary, who started as the vice chancellor of planning, performance and information systems four weeks ago, spoke on the problems the colleges are having with IT at district.
"The college personnel seemed to be pleased with their IT providers," Cleary said. "However, that does not seem to be the general sense for district IT."
A major problem, Cleary said, was when he asked the employees at district IT what their job was, they stated what area of technology they had expertise in.
"They didn't say what they did to help students or faculty," Cleary said. "IT is not about technology; it is about the people, those are just the tools of the trade. The district cannot be successful unless the colleges are successful."
For advancements to happen with IT, the governance structures at the individual colleges need to come together and make their voices heard, he said.
Cleary added he would like to start a committee for IT that would include faculty, in which the governance structures, such as Faculty Senate, can appoint someone to have access to provide input on issues.
"You need to represent the district-wide IT committee," Cleary said. "Encourage the non-IT folks to participate because they are the users on there."
Cleary said while he worked in Florida, they started using the Banner system all at once, whereas the Alamo Community College District is going at it piece-by-piece.
"I thought it had already started here," Cleary said. "When you have any migration you have a lot of pushback, but you've got to work through that. Honestly, it hasn't been fleshed out in the plans."
He added that the district is a multi-college institution; therefore, there are more problems to be faced, but they are still attempting to have everything finished and implemented by fall 2010.
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