Introduction
The 2008 ResNet Survey seeks to develop a longitudinal view on certain topics from the 2005 survey, assess technology and other changes in residential student computing support since that time, and take a peek into the future as to what issues might be over the horizon. The results offer an assessment on the present status of student computing in higher education, assist you in understanding your program’s present status and how it aligns with other residential support programs, and provides insight into potential future challenges.
In 2005, over 220 institutions responded to a comprehensive survey that focused on residential technology support groups, their responsibilities in supporting technologies to residential students, the service issues they addressed, and their organizational structure. The 2008 survey, completed by 120 institutions, continues this effort to assist residential technology support areas and their institutions in assessing their program offerings, evaluating IT services to students, and planning strategic initiatives to address present and future student computing needs.
Participation in the 2008 survey was limited to American and Canadian institutions of higher education and was completely voluntary. Information provided by participants is not and will not be publicly linked to their institution although a list of participating institutions is available.
Results
Section 2: Overall Responsibilities and Organization
Section 3: Staffing
Section 4: Support and Services
Section 5: Infrastructure
Section 6: Fees and Budget
Section 7: Security and Policies
Deadline
The deadline to complete the survey was May 30, 2008.
Survey Organization
The survey is divided into 7 sections. The number of questions per page and per section varied depending on your selected answers. Questions marked with an * required a response. We estimated that respondents needed approximately 40-45 minutes to complete the survey. However, the exact amount of time varied depending on their responses and the length of their responses to the open ended questions.
Survey Instrument
The survey was conducted online and you may view/print/download a copy of the survey instrument.
Protocol and Human Subjects Review
The Human Subjects Review Board (HSRB) at the University of Delaware classified this research as exempt from review. The full protocol as approved can be downloaded and reviewed.
Incentive Information
Upon completion of the survey, each respondent’s institution was entered into a drawing where two (2) institutions each received $100 off registration to the ResNet Symposium 2008 at the University of New Brunswick to be used by any individual attending from their institution.
Thanks
We thank the University of Delaware for their support in using the survey tool, ACUHO-I for their assistance, the survey reviewers, and many others within and outside the ResNet community for assisting us in the survey development process.