E-business is raising student expectations

EDUCATION

Many of us in higher education are working hard these days to cope with the demand for more Web services - like registration,' grade lookup and even delivery of courses.

However, the concept of e-business in higher education provides more than just better customer service. Internet technologies also cause a more meaningful transformation of key relationships: those between institutions and suppliers, between faculty and students and between the college and students.

E-business is about the way customers make decisions, changing the way we conduct business, capturing imagination and loyalty of students, faculty and staff and creating new customer service opportunities.

E-business leads to a change in the service culture of many academic institutions. Each student or employee can be presented with an opportunity to interact with the institution in ways that make sense to the individual - as opposed to a generic way set by the institution. More broadly, e-business is about building community and nurturing the development of learning communities (alumni, current students, faculty, public) through a group of people engaged in collective inquiry and research on the Web.

E-business also facilitates changes in teaching and learning methods. Internet technologies will give colleges more opportunities to customize courses and programs and give them more flexibility in delivering services.

While most academic institutions are struggling to redefine their strategic plans to respond to the current socio-economic climate and fiscal challenges, it's equally important for institutions to respond to the influences of e-business. Students are taking Internet access and e-mail for granted, and e-- business is becoming a competitive marketing edge to attract and retain these students. An e-business strategy and management system will be helpful to provide principles, directions and guidelines.

An e-business strategy should also define tools and techniques necessary to react and respond to these challenges. Questions that need to be raised and answered include: Would off-campus advertising be permitted on institutional Web pages? Can students run businesses from the residence's Internet connection? Can faculty members sell online course materials to other institutions? Can online education replace instructors? Does departmental brand compete with institutional brand? Can departments and organizational units sell goods and services online? May departments collect credit card numbers on their servers? What kind of online payments should the institution be prepared to handle?

Many of these issues are not technology issues, but policy concerns. This means e-business cannot be driven by technology; it must be an institutional strategy.

The issue of internal infrastructure with legacy systems, silos of databases and lack of integration, will remain an ongoing struggle for many of us. But institutions that successfully adopt a culture of continuous change will benefit from emerging technologies and thrive under these influences rather than getting stalled by the challenges.

By Lan Nguyen

Lan Nguyen is the chief information officer at Centennial College in Toronto. She has particular interest in applying IT to international development. Lan can be reached at Inguyen@Lmail.cencol.on.ca.

Copyright Plesman Publications Ltd. Dec 2001
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