To determine computing needs, Information Services (IS) surveyed and interviewed a random sample of campus users. Results indicated that IS dealt most with the "power users" for the campus. In interpreting the findings, management concluded that IS products and services must be targeted at upgrading the user literacy level. The survey included recommendations for both academic and administrative computing and suggestions for management actions, including restructuring.
Network enhancements addressed certain identified needs.
The Survey
Like individuals, organizations are creatures of habit and tend to slip into routine behaviors. For Information Services (IS), those routines limited contact with campus faculty, administrators, and staff to "familiar faces"-a handful of key users in central offices on the administrative side and a small number of faculty who actively sought IS assistance on the academic side. Unfortunately, focus on these small groups was causing the organization to fail in providing IS support to the entire campus.
Convinced of the need to reach out to the campus as a whole, IS management nonetheless felt they lacked a clear understanding of the type of computing support campus users required. Thus, they asked, "To what degree are the users we presently have contact with representative of the entire campus?" If the users currently receiving support represented only a subset of sophisticated users, IS management would have to evaluate how services were delivered and how quickly new technologies such as client/server applications were offered.
Survey Methods
The survey was structured using a two-step approach, with written instruments in addition to one-on-one interviews.
Early in the development phase it became apparent that different written instruments were needed for the administrative and academic areas. Thus two were developed and sent to randomly selected faculty, administrators, and