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17 How Faculty Use Information Technology At A Small Liberal Arts College: A Case Study
Jay
Pitocchelli, Saint Anselm College
Tom Murphy, Saint Anselm College
Bruce Chakrin, Saint Anselm College
Colleges and universities have made large investments
in Information Technology resources and support personnel for those
resources. One goal of this technology
initiative has been to supply faculty with computers to enhance productivity
and integrate technology into the curriculum.
However, there is little or no information on assessment of these
resources including the frequency of use, how users are utilizing these
resources, ability levels of different faculty, faculty preferences for
different types of computers and whether college-owned computers are able to meet
the computing needs of faculty. We
studied the computing habits of faculty across all academic departments to
answer some of these questions.
We found that 100% of the faculty surveyed were using their computers on a regular basis in their teaching, scholarship and committee work. A majority of faculty were using their computers for word processing, web browsing and e-mail. Faculty vary in their preferences for desktop versus notebook computers or Apple versus Windows platforms. We feel this is useful information for IT personnel for planning support and training programs. It is useful for administrators involved in planning and budget decisions. It is our intent to make public issues we have experienced at our institution and share them with other small colleges that are going through similar growing pains with developing plans for IT on campus.