IT Services conducted our annual faculty/staff technology survey for the 2008-09 academic year in December, 2008. Information gained from this survey is very helpful for us in responding to campus technology needs, and for planning future technology initiatives.
We received completed surveys from 151 employees. The survey provides a variety of interesting information on faculty and staff use of technology including:
82% of faculty and staff believe our current 3-year replacement cycle is the appropriate refresh timeframe. 8% thought we should replace computers every 2 years, and 10% thought we should replace computers every 4 years.
84% have high-speed Internet access from home.
70% think the Help Desk should only be available during regular business hours (that is the current schedule). 18% think the Help Desk should be open from noon-1pm; 12% from 4:30-5:30pm; and 10% from 7-8am.
Email was ranked as the most critical service in terms of systems requiring response from IT Services in the event of after-hours outages, followed by Internet access and the campus phone system.
88% of faculty used Moodle for at least one class in the fall semester (75% for two or more courses). Nearly 90% of faculty indicated that Moodle was comparable or superior to Blackboard, and nearly half of all faculty reported they were up to speed on Moodle very quickly.
In addition to assessing current use of technology, we asked employees to rate the priority of a number of potential new technology initiatives. The five highest ranked items on the faculty list were: expand green IT practices for printing and energy use; increase Internet bandwidth; improve disaster recovery resistance and recovery of critical services; provide more support for faculty to identify and implement technology in their teaching; and help departments provide more information and services via the web.
The five highest ranked items on the staff list were: improve disaster recovery resistance and recovery of critical services; expand green IT practices for printing and energy use; improve ability to access and manipulate information in Datatel; provide more technology training; and help departments provide more information and services via the web. For the complete rankings for both faculty and staff, see the pdf file linked at the bottom of this story.
Employees provided strong ratings across the range of technology services. The following table shows satisfaction (ranking of "excellent" or "good") in four primary areas. Results for the 2007-08 survey are included for comparison:
| % Excellent or Good rating, by category |
2007-08 |
2008-09 |
| Office/Departmental Technology |
96.3% |
97.3% |
| Classroom Technology |
98.2% |
99.0% |
| Web Site |
93.1% |
89.4% |
| Network Services |
98.7% |
96.5% |
| Technical Support Services |
98.7% |
97.9% |
| Overall Assessment |
100.0% |
96.4% |
For more information see: