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Colleges and universities have been among the leaders nationwide in adopting green initiatives, partly due to their demographics, but also because they are facing their own budget pressures. Virtualization has become the poster child of many schools' efforts, because it provides significant bang for the buck. However, more and more higher education IT departments are finding other, innovative ways to cut back on energy consumption and waste--and to reduce costs. This article profiles eight institutions that have shifted their efforts into high gear.

When it comes to getting the most out of IT, the majority of two-year schools face very real challenges. For starters, community college budgets are generally smaller than those of most four-year schools. Then, of course, there's the issue of refresh: Because students come and go every two years, there's the expectation that schools will continually invest in the latest and greatest technologies. This one-two punch creates a true conundrum for many of the nation's feeder schools. No wonder both community college tech administrators and their users feel frustrated at times. But the challenge needn't be insurmountable. A number of community colleges, including Santa Rosa Junior College (California) and Macomb Community College (Michigan), have managed solid, highly cost-effective technology deployments simply by putting an eye to getting the most out of every dollar they spend. This article presents six top tips from tech officials at these schools and IT leaders at other community colleges on how they get the biggest bang out of their IT bucks.

In the corporate world, the notion of customer relationship management (CRM) is nothing new. That particular technology sector is now jam-packed with software that enables organizations to monitor and manage every interaction with a customer, from the very first experience on, throughout the lifecycle of the relationship. That relationship spans the gamut from prospect to customer; from referring customer to repeat customer; from displeased customer to satisfied service recipient, and so on. In the world of higher education, however, CRM takes on an entirely different face--a face once known as client, or constituent relationship management and now generally referred to as "student lifecycle management," or SLM. In this scenario, the "customers" are the students themselves, and the technology manages all interactions from the moment students express interest in a school as potential recruits, through their first day on campus, then to graduation and beyond. In their book, "Strategic Marketing for Educational Institutions" (Prentice Hall, 1995), authors Philip Kotler and Karen Fox put the notion of SLM into perspective by equating students to customers (a concept that really rankled higher ed administrators, when they were first exposed to it some years back). SLM is now broadly accepted as the process of developing and maintaining long-term relationships with students. The author provides scenarios in which a school can set the stage for SLM to expand naturally into other areas, moving beyond recruitment and retentions into human resources, financials, and more.

MySpace and Facebook may have been pioneers in the world of social software, but nowadays, colleges and universities across the country are embracing better and more targeted forms of technology, to enable their campus users to interact. Today, the world of social software includes traditional venues and formats: (1) blogs; (2) wikis; and (3) podcasts. It also features fresh spins on these old standards, as well as newer, more robust technologies designed to facilitate collaboration for students and administrators alike. In this article, the author explores the social software revolution and its impact in an academic setting.

With tuition on the rise, Auxiliary Services departments at a variety of colleges and universities are proving that they can innovate and still save their parent institutions cash. Primary areas of innovation include: (1) With advancements in technology, institutions are moving campus purchasing programs into the wireless space; (2) As junk mail proliferates, learning centers are finding new ways to eliminate paper waste and improve efficiency across the board; and (3) As environmental conservation becomes a bigger concern, schools are embracing buildings that don't harm the Earth, and many of the services involved in those efforts make use of "green" approaches and innovative technologies. The author reports on how auxiliary services are used at various institutions.

This article discusses the rise of cut-and-paste plagiarism in schools. Students are constantly searching for essays online, however, they did not know that their teachers are using the same technology to catch them cheating. Plagiarism is happening on campuses nationwide. Yet, with veritable libraries at their fingertips, students see nothing wrong with borrowing a sentence or paragraphs or page from something they find online. Teachers are so busy to track down original sources unless the offense is obvious. Therefore, students have been getting away with plagiarism for quite a while. Now, educators are fighting back. Some have taken matters into their own hands, using free internet technologies to nab students in the act. Other schools have turned to vendors to help fight their battles--with solutions from companies such as iParadigms and Questia. Finally, a small group of academic experts has taken a more philosophical approach, rethinking key facets of the educational process and proposing to eliminate cheating by changing the nature of the assignments. All of the solutions have merit, the key for school district officials is finding the one that works best.

The benefits of deploying a communications system that runs over the Internet Protocol are well documented. Sending voice over the Internet, a process commonly known as VoIP, has been shown to save money on long distance calls, make voice mail more accessible, and enable users to answer their phones from anywhere. The technology also makes adding and transferring extensions around a district easy. Despite its growing popularity, however, VoIP has generated a certain amount of frustration. Even though communications tools have proliferated, users' increasing mobility has made the users difficult to reach on the first try. In response, some school districts are expanding their IP communications to include a whole host of other technologies in addition to VoIP. This article discusses unified communications, an approach that links together a variety of communications applications and runs them over the Internet, providing parents and users alike with virtually limitless ways to get in touch. As indicated by case studies from academic organizations such as Farmington Municipal Schools (New Mexico), the Santa Clara County Office of Education (California), and the School District of Cheltenham Township (Pennsylvania), unifying communications has improved communication across the board.

Technology product procurement can be a daunting task for a college or university--especially a smaller institution--to accomplish alone. Perhaps this is why schools are tackling it by banding together. When it comes to purchasing technology, a little help from friends is the key to economies of scale, which frequently net schools the best bargains available. Simply put: Buying in bulk can offer significant advantages. Over the years, a number of consortia have experienced these benefits firsthand. In the Midwest, the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities buys laptops as a unit, and distributes the hardware among its 20 member schools. In Appalachia, via the Maryland Independent College and University Association and the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, educators do the same with other technologies. In fact, each of these academic federations spend millions on technology every year. But without the consortium approach they have adopted, the individual schools that comprise each of them would be spending a great deal more. In this article, the author explores the realities of technology purchasing consortia by talking with prominent leaders of two such organizations: (1) the Claremont University Consortium in California; and (2) the Massachusetts Higher Education Consortium (MHEC). While Claremont is a relatively small consortium consisting of seven schools, MHEC is mammoth, comprising 83 schools, with more to come. Across both consortia, many campus leaders hail the pros of the collaborative buying approach, while some are keenly aware of the cons. Still, there is no disputing that consortium buying has changed the face of procurement forever. Perhaps two heads really are better than one.

Keeping a history of peace studies. Cataloging audio and video broadcasts important to the Northwest. Digitizing images and other documents older than the state of California. All of these efforts are important steps toward preserving the history of the nation's development. Digital library initiatives are nothing new; the effort to digitize data for posterity has been alive and well now for the better part of two decades. Still, the world of digital libraries changes furiously every month, and it seems there's always something new to explore. This article provides details on some library digitization projects.

A long time ago, revamping a school's telecommunications infrastructure was up there with scaling Mount Everest as one of the toughest challenges around. First up was the task of finding a new PBX. Then came the chore of rewiring the campus. Before long, project costs skyrocketed. Even well-funded IT departments struggled to get the job done. Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) changed everything. Suddenly, with the installation of a simple server and some new phones, IT administrators were able to run telecom over existing data lines, saving money and manpower all the while. In this article, the author discusses how two institutions--the San Mateo County Community College District (California) and Robert Morris University (Pennsylvania)--made this switch and have survived to talk about it. As the two institutions learn firsthand, revamping telecommunications infrastructure is not as difficult as it may seem.

Advocates of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) say it saves money on long distance calls by sending them over the Internet, improves communication by eliminating the Private Branch Exchange (PBX), and offers a host of neat features such as call forwarding, e-mail accessible voicemail, and more. When it comes to measuring the dollars-and-cents impact of this technology, however, K-12 districts frequently find themselves in a bind. Such was the case when officials at Tift County Public Schools in Tift, Georgia, set out to invest in a new telecommunications system. Tift was paying approximately $4,700 per month for local phone service. Determined to save dollars, Harris Tucker, Tift's technology services director, put out a request for proposal for a VoIP system and later entered into a Local Service Agreement with Bellsouth Communications. The district's service bill dropped to $2,600 per month--a savings of $25,000 per year. While VoIP may seem cost-effective, there are still several reasons why some school districts are not so keen about it. This article presents several disadvantages of VoIP.