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Intersection of Technology and Student Services Explored at AACRAO Technology Conference

How can you use technology to serve your students more effectively? The answer to this and many other questions drew more than 500 participants to this year's Technology Conference in Minneapolis. Attracting a diverse audience of IT professionals and administrators from the registrar's and admissions office, the 2007 conference broke registration records.

The conference received positive reviews from both attendees and exhibitors, with one attendee calling it "An excellent conference! I enjoyed hearing about various institutional approaches to technology services and systems."

The past, present, and future of technology and its application in support of student services was explored throughout the event. Sunday's pre-meeting workshops delved into identity management, business process re-engineering, and XML tools for data exchange.

The workshops were followed by Becky King, Director of Information Systems & Services at Baylor University. In her Opening Plenary presentation, she provided an overview and background of administrative computing and how it has developed as institutions have advanced.

This segued well into Michael Rogers' Monday plenary presentation on "Virtuality: Keeping it Real in a Distributed World." Emphasizing his role as a practical futurist, Rogers gave the audience a glimpse of some of the technologies and issues that will become more prominent over the next five to ten years. The generation of Millennials that are 15 and under has grown up with the Internet and will change the way we view virtual worlds. Mobile devices will become our core communications vehicle. Rogers then highlighted the role of privacy and security as one of the main challenges we will face as technology becomes more advanced.

More than 60 sessions followed on topics such as document management and imaging, developing an institutional CRM system, tips on evaluating your institution's Enterprise Resource Program (ERP), and Open Source. Participants can download session handouts from the conference.

The conference closed on Sunday with a presentation by Robert Kvavik, Associate Vice President for Planning at the University of Minnesota. Focusing on the intersection of IT and student administration, Kvavik presented his ideas on the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. He outlined the major factors driving change and then focused on what the next steps will be to create more efficient and effective administrative systems.

Conference Director Jeff Von Munkwitz-Smith also announced that next year's conference will be held Thursday, July 10 to Saturday, July 12, 2008 in Baltimore, Maryland. Look for the Call for Proposals to be announced in the fall.

Note: Playing host city, Minneapolis provided the perfect backdrop to this year's Technology Conference. Less than two weeks after the event, the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapsed. Our thoughts are with the many attendees and presenters who live and work in Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota, as well as all those affected by the collapse.

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