Staffing Structure for the 21st Century
Augusoft Journal of Lifelong Learning
By Greg Marsello

The continuing and corporate education units that are successfully transitioning into the 21st century use a web-based software system built for their industry. These units operate in a structure where revenue-generators can focus on revenue generation and not get tied down in day-to-day operational tasks. Read more >

Creativity, Knowledge, and Invention
Community College Entrepreneurship
By Robert J. Goetz

Creativity, knowledge, and invention: These have always been, and still remain, the ultimate drivers of American capitalism. When the Founding Fathers crafted the United States Constitution more than 200 years ago, they were keenly aware of the power of invention and were careful to specifically include patent law in Article l, section 8. So that being said, let’s recognize that innovation is a basic economic asset. Kind of like an inalienable right protected by the Constitution. Read more >

Cloud computing — simple and cost-effective IT
The Hindu-Online edition
By Shanthi Kannan

When Netscape launched its Internet browser, nobody anticipated the kind of changes Internet would bring about in human behavior and the interface with the external world. The much talked about “cloud computing” promises to change the way Information Technology people look at delivering IT and the way business people look at IT. Read more >

Look beyond the obvious places for stimulus funds
Community College Times – AACC
By Matthew Dembicki

Community colleges are sifting through the federal stimulus bill to see what funds they can tap. Some of the funds may come from obvious federal programs, such as ones that specifically mention community colleges, higher education or job training. But grant seekers may have to read between the lines for others. Read more >

Staying Positive in a Negative World
Augusoft Journal of Lifelong Learning
By Trenton Hightower

Everything happens for a reason. Every cloud has a silver lining. When times get tough—on the job, or off—no one wants to hear
clichés like this. If your company is merging with another, and
you’re worried about your future, this type of bumper sticker logic
isn’t much comfort. Nor is it when you’re not-so-gently downsized
out of a job you had hoped to retire from. Or when the economy
has taken such a toll on your 401(k) that you’re wondering if you’ll
ever be able to retire. It is possible, however, to train yourself to think positively and stay motivated even in a negative world. Read more >

Cloud Computing
Why this paradigm shift in IT isn't just lofty thinking
e-CampusNews.com
By Cara Erenben

What is cloud computing? There is an amusing video on YouTube.com that tries to answer that very question.

The video's author, an employee of a cloud-computing company called Joyent Inc., asked that question to several top tech editors and CEOs at the Web 2.0 Expo last May and pieced together their responses in a short, comical video. Read more >

Out is In
Campus Technology
By Matt Villano, Senior Contributing Editor

WHEN IT DOUBT, FARM IT OUT. This catchy phrase was a mantra of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) movement of the 1990s-- a push to outsource all superfluous IT applications so that administrators could focus on core competencies to get ahead.

While times have changed, the mantra is back, big-time. As the national economic climate worsens, and college and university endowments, coffers, and funding sources shrink, schools are forced to get the most out of every dollar. That means that administrators are bending over backwards to see that all new investments provide maximum return on investment (ROI) over the long term.
Read more >

Security, ERP are top campus IT challenges
Educause Report
By Debra H. Allison, Peter B. Debloois, and the 2008 Educause Current Issues Committee, May 28, 2008

Security, administrative or enterprise resource planning (ERP) information systems, and funding are the three most critical information technology (IT) challenges in higher education for the sixth year in a row, according to the 2008 Current Issues Survey from Educause, a higher-education IT organization. Read more >