Part of the AVISIAN Publishing Expert Panel series to be published throughout December 2006
Tom Bell, Vice President Industry Relations, Blackboard, Inc.
Campuses are changing. There is a great deal of public and legislative attention being paid to issues in Higher Ed. Cost control, spiraling tuition rates, higher levels of parent involvement and the ubiquitous Millennial Student represent change agents to the new college and university. In the true sense of partnership, we must change to meet new campus demands.
Given my experience and recent research, the following list represents my top 10 predictions for 2007:
- Tuition-dependent schools will become more service oriented to compete for The Millennial Student.
- The Library will become the new Student Union and will serve as the gathering place requiring all types of new ID-related services.
- The mobile phone will become a transaction platform for students, beyond communications. Payment, authentication and enhanced, secure messaging will make this ubiquitous device even more indispensable on campus.
- Campus card systems will begin to be treated like enterprise-class technology.
- Everyone will understand the term “Helicopter Parent.”
- Banking via the campus card will see renewed interest, and will see new players enter the industry.
- The investment in ERP systems and their need to co-exist with discipline-specific applications (e.g., library, housing, health center) will create an increased need for integration technology.
- Campus card systems that don’t deliver services on-campus, off-campus and online will become increasingly irrelevant.
- Campuses and campus card systems will “capture” students starting during their high-school career and retain them as alumni. Off-campus and on-campus services and innovative third party partnerships will be critical to this process.
- Institutions will increasingly demand technologies that adhere to U.S. and international standards.
Keep an eye on…
The higher education ID technology sector has historically led the U.S. ID technology market in innovation, integration and mass and continues to do so. As the U.S. federal government realizes the impact of FIPS-201 and HSPD-12, colleges and universities will no longer simply offer lessons-learned in identification applications, but will begin to see new products, partnerships and benefits made available as a result of significant efforts and investments in the federal government sector.
Compare FIPS 201 ProductsResearch and evaluate FIPS 201 Approved Products and get the latest info on compliant credentialing systems at FIPS201.com. Click to visit FIPS201.com.
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