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IT Funding & Finance
Balancing Dollars & Demand
9/1/2007
CT: As a private college, I'm assuming that Villa Julie has a somewhat different budget process. Steve, how would you describe the health of your IT budget?
Engorn: Our college is continuing to grow. Seven years ago we had 1,200 students; now we're close to 2,500. Our goal is 3,000, so our challenge is going to be to maintain and enhance our infrastructure. The college is very willing to support that, because of the increased enrollment. I have not seen any decreases in my budget, and I have a strong relationship with the president, the cabinet, and the comptroller. We sit down as a team and decide what we need to fund for the coming year, based on the goals and objectives, and it seems to work. I'm not given carte blanche, so we have to do a lot of digging to make sure we have the right solution, and make sure it's the right price. But we also see some savings because of the statewide consortium that was actually started by the university systems of Maryland, where we now are able to buy at a very, very reduced rate. Even as a private institution, I can buy off of the state contract, which gives me some leverage. That doesn't mean that [the state] always gets the best price, but it gives me a starting point when I'm negotiating with vendors.
Steve Engorn, Villa Julie College
"We're planning to pilot a laptop initiative in the fall, based on the University of Wisconsin-Stout model, where they give every incoming freshman a laptop—either an Apple, a standard, or a higher-end laptop, based on what each department is requiring. We're going to see significant savings in general maintenance of labs and so forth."
Gatewood: We have a similar situation. Basically, we negotiate statewide contracts, so any state agency under the governor of the state of Georgia can purchase out of these contracts. We have a tremendous amount of buying power; we just need to make sure that everybody knows about it, because we get even deeper discounts when everyone comes together at the same time to make major PC purchases, for instance.
CT: Are any of you doing what the University of Denver has done with its laptop initiative? Are you finding such programs help keep your costs down?
Engorn: We're looking at that now, and plan to pilot a laptop initiative in the fall. We're actually looking at the University of Wisconsin-Stout model, where they give every incoming freshman a laptop. They have the Apple component, a standard laptop, and a higher-end laptop, based on what each department is requiring. We believe we're going to see some significant savings overall in general maintenance of labs and so forth.
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