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In This Issue
Seen & Heard: After Katrina…
9/19/2005
A sobering look at people, process and tools.
In the days immediately after Hurricane Katrina devastated Gulf Coast cities
and towns, I canvassed the area’s higher ed Web sites and hotlines, trying
hard to pull my mind away from the human heartbreak and objectively assess the
role of technology in the schools’ disaster responsiveness. What I found
as I called the hotlines and scanned the Net for the Web sites of those hardest
hit, was universal (and understandable) institutional shock, and varying degrees
of rudimentary business continuity—where it existed.
At Tulane, as the university community prepared for the storm, President Scott Cowen explained via the campus Web site that the university was taking preventative measures by a) shutting down e-mail to “protect the equipment and allow restoration as early as possible,” and b) directing everyone to Tulane’s emergency Web site (housed off campus) and alert lines. Via the emergency site, he communicated over ensuing days as he and his staff evacuated from New Orleans to Houston, where power and Internet service would allow more frequent communications. The toll-free and local alert lines, when I called them, were non-functional.
At the University of New Orleans, campus Web site updates four days after the storm advised that the site would be the primary source of information. The university was establishing new office space and trying to restore computing systems, was the message at that time. In an open letter, Chancellor Tim Ryan explained that students would have the option of taking courses electronically for degree credit— an unforeseen benefit of eLearning.
For Southern University at New Orleans, a few lonely lines of text inhabited the space where the university Web site had existed, offering two hotline phone numbers: one for staff/faculty, the other for students (both out of the Baton Rouge campus). The faculty line worked; the student line was disconnected, although I discovered that those manning it were unaware of the problem. For the Louisiana Community & Technical College System, a 50-word message dated five days after Katrina made it clear that LCTCS was struggling to address problems and concerns. A Web site was under construction to “provide answers to your pressing questions,” the message advised; a central/eastern Louisiana telephone number was given for payroll, insurance, and benefits questions.
When I tried to find Xavier University of Louisiana and Loyola University of New Orleans on the Web, ominously, the sites would not load. I found myself wishing for an annoying “Site Under Construction” message—anything, to indicate that life existed somewhere for the Xavier and Loyola university communities.
Recommended Reading
- Sun, Stanford Working To Archive History
In May in San Francisco, experts from leading universities, libraries, and research institutions around the world met as part of an ongoing effort to address a pressing issue: archiving the world's history, right up to today.
- The Quilt Coalition Rolls Out XO Communications for High-Capacity Network Services
The Quilt, a coalition of 28 regional network organizations, has added XO Communications Services to its authorized vendor list. The Quilt represents 200 universities and thousands of other educational institutions across the United States. With this new relationship, Quilt members can purchase XO's high-speed IP transit and network transport services at competitive rates.
- Wimba Classroom 5.2 Expands Classroom Capture Support, Adds MP3 Downloads
At the NECC 2008 conference in Texas this week, Wimba launched a new version of Wimba Classroom, the virtual classroom component of the company's Collaboration Suite. The new 5.2 release expands options for classroom capture and adds a variety of other functional and ease of use features.
- Automation Chimera: Education Is Not Management
The lure of automating workflow online so human intervention is minimized is continually reinforced in the minds of higher education administrators by examples of automated campus systems such as financials, student information systems, and other enterprise systems. But what's good for management is not always good for learning.
- Cognos Releases BI Software for Linux-based IBM System z Mainframe
Cognos, which IBM acquired in January, has released an update to its business intelligence software that will run on the Linux operating system on IBM System z mainframes. IBM Cognos 8 BI was being developed by the two companies prior to the acquisition, but assimilation of Cognos into IBM accelerated development.
- Facebook and Collegiality: A Serendipitous Social Niche
Facebook is a way to greet a colleague as if she or he is on your own campus: a wave at a distance, a hello at the corner burrito place, a honk as you both leave the campus parking lot. Informal collegiality has been extended over the miles.
