2025 EDUCAUSE Top 10
#8: Putting People First

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In a time of rapid technological change, excitement and consternation about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), and increasing financial pressures, higher education institutions face unique challenges in maintaining a skilled and motivated IT workforce. As every CIO knows, using technology and data to advance strategic priorities depends on the people who implement the technology and manage the data. A great workforce is priceless. To attract and maintain one, IT leaders will need to develop more sophisticated management skills and influence culture change at their institutions.

The Promise

Hiring and keeping great people. Finding superstars is difficult. Mis-hires happen, and they are damaging. When people leave, institutions take a big hit in productivity and institutional knowledge. But staff are more likely to stay and less likely to burn out when institutions invest in people. Those staff are also more likely to appreciate and contribute to their workplace. A great workplace can be an excellent recruiting tool when managers need to hire new people.

Increasing productivity. Everyone is under pressure to do more with less and to increase staff productivity. One way to do these things is by fostering effective teams. Groups of people tend to be more effective in solving problems and innovating when they work well together—especially when they collaborate across teams and disciplines. When people feel valued, they are more engaged. If they are valued and empowered to be more autonomous, they will be more comfortable and effective collaborators.

Competing for talent. Higher education can't compete with corporations on salary, resources, or, in some cases, flexibility. But colleges and universities do compete on mission. Leaders and supervisors can create an environment where people feel valued and see themselves as an integral part of the institution and its mission. Institutions that are people-focused, rather than skills-focused can help staff feel seen and known, rather than like interchangeable parts. If people feel valued, they will be more engaged and collaborative.

Helping humanity become more of who we are. The human experience is becoming increasingly digital. We are teaching and learning about new things in new ways. Technology leaders can work with other institutional leaders to figure out how to navigate, work, and be together in this developing digital environment. Helping staff adapt and thrive in an increasingly digital world involves exploring how we learn, how we know what we know, and other big questions. If we in higher education can figure out these things, then maybe we can contribute to figuring them out in our communities, in our politics, in our places of faith, and the other places where people come together.

The Key to Progress

Build a culture of trust. Staff who trust their workplace are more productive, engaged, and loyal. The four most important components of trust are empathy and kindness, open communication, competence and follow-through, and a flexible, supportive work environment.^Footnote1

QuickTakes

Foster relationships and collaboration. Relationships can move mountains. Collaboration will give people more access to colleagues with the skills, experience, diverse viewpoints, or authority to solve problems and contribute innovations. Collaborating and forming networks within and beyond the institution are both invaluable. The former gives people leverage within the institution, and the latter can help staff learn what works and what doesn't (and why) at other institutions.

Learn how to use AI to save staff time. No institution can afford all the staff they actually need. AI has the potential to augment and assist staff, make their workloads manageable, and extend their skill sets. Provide staff with permission to leverage these emerging tools and examples of how AI can be built into their existing workflows.

Practice active listening. Active listening involves listening to achieve understanding: attending to what the person is saying as well as perceiving their feelings and viewpoints, responding without judgment to verify your understanding, and retaining the information for later.^Footnote2 Active listening can help staff feel respected and recognized and can help managers build stronger and more productive relationships.

Connect the work to the mission. Many people are drawn to higher education because its mission is inspiring. Not every staff member will easily see how their work connects to teaching and learning, research and scholarship, and community service. Managers who can make those connections and can share their passion about our industry will help staff develop a potentially career-long commitment to higher education.

Create career paths. Colleges and universities offer students excellent education and career preparedness, but surprisingly they often neglect staff training and growth. Managers need to collaborate with HR to create career paths within and across job families. They need to coach and mentor staff and help them figure out what they want to do next. They need to prepare staff for advancement by incorporating into staff goals (and time) formal training, especially through consistent and relevant staff development programs, and new work opportunities such as job rotations.

Ask Yourself

How can leaders help staff use AI and other disruptive technologies creatively and productively without threatening staff job security?

The Bottom Line

The future of higher education hinges on nurturing the human talent that powers innovation and adaptation. Institutions that successfully put people first will be better equipped to navigate change, drive innovation, and fulfill their educational missions.

Data Point

Compared with people at low-trust companies, people at high-trust companies report 74 percent less stress, 106 percent more energy at work, 50 percent higher productivity, 13 percent fewer sick days, 76 percent more engagement, 29 percent more satisfaction with their lives, and 40 percent less burnout.^Footnote3

From Strategy to Practice

What You're Saying

"Reskilling is going to be critical in the age of AI."

"Making learning resources available to staff that meet institutional needs at a low cost is vital for the future."

"We will leave our staff behind if we are not proactive in sharing and setting expectations, and then supporting our staff to meet those expectations. We need to provide roadmaps, and not expect staff to fill in all the gaps on their own. "

"Our CIO has said, 'Focus on people first, they matter the most.' People come first in all that we do. All services are for people and in service of people. As such, they should have a way to influence our strategic direction."

"Our team always come first since they are the individuals who enable us to develop and implement strategies and projects to realize both strategic and operational goals. The increasing demand for adopting new and emerging tools and technologies requires them to upscale their skills at a rapid pace. Therefore, investing the in workforce is very important."

"This is an ever-evolving task."

Solution Spotlights

"We have a strategic initiative around investing in people both with professional development dollars, better salaries, and a focus on work-life balance. We want folks to continue to invest in us, so we are doing the same for them."

Miranda Novak, College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University

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"At Florida State University, we launched a new IT strategy to rethink our investments by creating a professional development and retention plan for each employee. This effort went beyond the traditional IT and focused on how we invest in one of our most valuable assets—our people. As part of this process, we launched the first-ever IT bonus plan, setting aside over $1M for employees to be financially recognized for upskilling, innovation efforts, and certifications. To date, hundreds of our staff have participated in professional development activities, and retention rates have increased to historic levels."

Jonathan Fozard, Florida State University

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"Within IT, this is the name of the game! We are committed to developing an IT strategic workforce plan, ensuring we have the skillset for today and tomorrow. Part of that plan will be expanding on our 'grow your own' program to include additional 'gig' opportunities for staff to partake in once they have completed the necessary certifications and/or training."

Isaac Abbs, Pima County Community College District

What You're Working On

Comments provided by Top 10 survey respondents who rated this issue as important

Change management

• Introducing project management quantified what each person was doing. Productivity skyrocketed, and by showing other departments the gains we were making, the concept is gaining a foothold in other departments. Furthermore, our ITS infrastructure team was able to complete thirty-one projects, in one year, with just eight people. We currently have twenty-two projects in progress.
• Change management and training of staff as we employ and deploy new technologies.
• Increase technology adoption by stepping up marketing and communications about benefits to staff, faculty, and students.
• We are hosting a tech day in the fall for faculty and staff to showcase new technologies.
• All jobs are tech jobs initiative.
• In the past year, a new committee was formed to explore emerging technologies and digital literacy to better prepare the entire campus community on everything from responsible use to policy and risk to preparing for the rapidly changing landscape.

Compensation

• We are working within budget constraints to ensure that staff have equitable compensation and access to the appropriate level of training to support their current roles and responsibilities and to prepare them for the future.

Continuous learning and professional development

• Foster a culture of continuous learning and invest in staff training by providing access to various technology training platforms.
• We are shifting emphasis to a culture of learning for all and applying "year one" focus to develop learning paths targeted for specific jobs at risk of becoming outdated due to technological advances or consolidation/redirection of our technology platforms.
• Promoting a learning environment by including training and professional development as a performance goal.
• Continuing our decades-long investment in staff leadership training partnering with the MOR institute.
• Staff skills advancement is a priority and part of the annual evaluation process.
• Encouraging and supporting professional development opportunities, equipping staff to meet the challenge of rapid change.
• Professional development continues to be my highest priority. We are using the Train the Trainer model and continue to educate IT staff first so they can continue to train others on campus.
• Building professional development programs featuring specific skills.
• Developing professional development plans to advance our team and help them gain new expertise.
• Staff are on a continuous development cycle and are monitored closely to ensure they are pursuing new skills.
• Focus on internal and external resources for staff development.
• We are investing in our people on multiple fronts: management training for those who have not had it and skills training in BI and AI fields.
• Promoting LinkedIn Learning and other low-/no-cost staff-development resources.
• Recurring investment in training and conferences to keep staff engaged and help plan for the future and growth.
• Working on ways to manage high volumes of incoming work. Creating training paths for each role.
• Providing staff access to self-paced training tracks, assigning HR staff to retention of staff with focus on skills growth.
• We have a C-suite-sponsored and supported program for faculty and staff professional development. Professional development is a key goal for the university.
• Investing in training and professional development programs to empower staff and faculty.

Culture focus

• We have developed a strong "people-centric" culture for security and privacy education on campus. We now have a savvy community that expects a certain level of protection and proactively raises questions when new needs (threats) or uses arise.
• Fostering an environment of work-life balance as the institution implements new technologies.
• Using the equity leadership framework to emphasize the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Implementing a people and culture plan to reemphasize that people are the core of our work.
• Developing overall departmental resilience due the amount of change as well as a growth mindset.

Holistic talent management

• We know that our impact is a byproduct of people and the experiences they enable. We also know that our investment in talent is key to that outcome. Further still, we know there is a great untapped potential for technology and data to significantly elevate these experiences. To achieve this, investing in people to leverage these outcomes is foundational.
• Retooling staff to adapt to new container-based technologies. Also being mindful of new roles and staff promotion models that these changes present. The difficulty here is that upskilling staff can and does result in staff attrition.
• Conducing an organizational development assessment to institute a comprehensive talent management program.
• We launched a new IT strategy to rethink our investments by creating a professional development and retention plan for each employee. This effort went beyond the traditional IT and focused on how we invest in one of our most valuable assets—our people. As part of this process, we launched the first-ever IT bonus plan on campus, setting aside over $1M for employees to be financially recognized for upskilling, innovation efforts, and certifications. To date, hundreds of our staff have participated in the program, and our retention rate has increased to historic levels.
• The technology team is consistently encouraged to figure out where they'd like to go with their careers and what next things they'd like to learn, and we do our best to empower them to move in that direction, whether or not they remain on our team.
• Partnering with the campus HR team to update the employee performance-review process, measure engagement, survey the market for compensation, and encourage employee growth.

Process automation and systems to transform the work

• We are undergoing an ERP conversion that will really revolutionize the ways that our faculty, staff, and students experience our institutions.
• ERP conversion.
• Making processes less complicated. Automating processes and reporting.
• Automating processes such as performance management.
• Developing our M365 roadmap to identify and prioritize apps to add to our toolbox for increased efficiency, training, and promotion of these new integrations.
• Training on modernization data platforms like Snowflake.
• Ongoing weekly training sessions for our newer reporting tool, ZogoTech.

Restructuring for the future / organizational development

• The institution has undergone perhaps the great personnel upheaval in its history since the late 2010s, driven by significant enrollment loss and the revenue impact of that loss. Divisions, colleges, departments, and the accompanying staff have been reorganized and downsized. However, the institution is also committed to streamlining processes in many ways, such as ensuring all academic colleges have very similar staffing, skill sets, and administrative business processes.
• We have a future of work steering committee that is focused on the campus culture and competencies as we face many changes. It is a cross-campus committee of experts and has been working on important activities related to processes, guidelines, training, frameworks, etc., to help ready our campus for the future of work.
• Next-generation IT operating model for the IT department.

Revising jobs and competencies

• Redesigning and recalibrating job descriptions to include elements of machine learning, artificial intelligence, data governance, and other emerging topics/skills/competencies that did not exist when the department was first created.
• We have created a strategic capabilities framework that describes the skills and capabilities every member of our professional-services staff community needs to have across the "Top of the T" in a T-shaped-people arrangement across four clusters: "Our Ways of Working," "Our Customers," "Our People," and "Our Business Capabilities" (which includes digital, data, business acumen, and sustainability).

Student development

• Conducting a skills assessment to identify areas where students need development, and providing flexible learning options like microlearning modules, online courses, and mentorship programs. This is part of our educational model.
• As a faculty member, I've been able to help student organizations use AI to streamline their reporting processes.

Training and tooling for faculty and staff

• During the pandemic, teachers had to regularly switch from 100 percent physical to 100 percent online to a mix physical-online, and so on. Teachers grew in digital competences at different speeds. They often had to move quickly and did not have the space to sufficiently master everything. But even in post-pandemic times, technology evolves at lightning speed. By setting up our Education & Learning Labs, we created a beating heart for educational innovation and effective didactics. The labs make it possible to experiment with available and new digital tools. Together with teachers and students, we determine the best solutions based on the following principles: ease of use for teacher and student, technical quality of the content offered, and an acceptable cost and technical workload after deployment. But our Education & Learning Labs are not just about technology. Teachers with a design-oriented focus can make their teaching more qualitative and thus better support the learning processes of students. In collaboration with the Department of Education & Innovation, pilot lessons are being designed so that we can measure the effectiveness of the new digital tools.
• We've created a number of institutionally organized and funded centers of excellences that help our administrative teams become more efficient in leveraging technology for automation but also in training around analytics usage (BI tools like Tableau).
• The university has designed and delivered personalized and flexible learning programs for its staff, helping them adapt and upskill. This program is coordinated by the Human Resources division, and university staff are responsible for delivering much of the training available in the learning program.
• We are developing resources and trainings to upskill faculty and staff concerning emerging tech—mostly AI.
• Promoting AI and digital literacy.
• Enhancing our staff experience with new tools, systems, and training.
• We have created a series of video tutorials to guide our faculty on using hybrid classrooms. We have also enriched all the supported materials by creating videos for new user orientation and digital service selection tailored to their needs.
• We conduct trainings for faculty and staff on the use of GenAI and other tools.
• I am meeting with all academic and administrative departments to provide information security and awareness training to augment our phishing campaigns and online training.
• Investing in a PDF editor site license for all faculty and staff.
• We are developing training and awareness programs regarding the responsible and ethical use of artificial intelligence.
• Digital District efforts are ongoing to help faculty upskill and become digitally fluent so they can pass along those skills to students through coursework using active learning initiatives.

Training and tooling for IT staff

• Intent-based leadership training, ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) training (foundation and beyond), agile training, and individual role-based training.
• We are conducting an internal training program (co-op style with job rotations of IT folks to experience areas like the help desk). We've increased our faculty/staff professional development by six-figures, specifically on AI to help guide from the side faculty training and exploration.
• We just hosted a "Skills Blast" month, including basic and intermediate data training, business process training, and a variety of other tools and technologies.
• Ensuring a training budget to upskill staff on new technologies.
• Developing technical skills, especially around cloud, service management, and product management.
• We have embarked on system transformations to cloud-based solutions. So, in addition to end-user functional training, we must develop our IT staff to advance and support the needs of the new environment.
• Focusing on developing staff skills, knowledge, and capabilities to support and enhance our technology environments.

Notes

1. Ashley Reichheld and Amelia Dunlop, "How to Build a High-Trust Workplace," MIT Sloan Management Review, January 24, 2023. Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.↩
2. "What Is Active Listening?" Center for Creative Leadership, September 1, 2024. Jump back to footnote 2 in the text.↩
3. Paul J. Zak, "The Neuroscience of Trust," Harvard Business Review (January-February 2017), 84–90. Jump back to footnote 3 in the text.↩

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Andrea Childress is Chief Information Officer and Assistant Vice President for Information Technology at University of Nebraska at Kearney.

James Frazee is Interim Vice President and Chief Information Officer at San Diego State University.

Brian Paige is Vice President for IT and Chief Information Officer at Calvin University.

Don Welch is Vice President for IT and Global University Chief Information Officer at New York University.